For Students

The abbreviation CEFR used in the course descriptions refers to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which describes A1 - C2 language levels.

CEFR assessment grid (pdf)

Quick OJZ Placement Test

The test is based on grammar and vocabulary. Download it, do it, correct it using the key and you can find out your approximate level of English in the table below. The test won't take you more than 40 minutes.

• Test
• Key
  

Evaluation of the test

This evaluation only serves as a basic reference. There are more detailed and more accurate placement tests that test language skills available on various webpages (e.g. Dialang, TOEIC placement test).

TOEIC Listening Test

A short TOEIC Listening-skills test is available here.

• 25 questions
• 15 minutes
• Beginner to Advanced (A1 to C1 on the CEFR)
• Tests the candidate's listening skills
• Instant results
• Use your existing ETS account or register

More information about the TOEIC and TOEFL tests: ETS website
and more information on the Language Department website.

LanguageCert Placement Test

Quick online placement test – 25 multiple-choice questions. The test is available on the LanguageCert webpage here.

"I recommend to you to take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of themselves. I am very sure, that many people lose two or three hours every day, by not taking care of the minutes." 

– Earl of Chesterfield, Letters to His Son (1774)

"Earl of Chesterfield" is a title, not a surname – the author's actual name was
Philip Dormer Stanhope (1694–1773). The letters were published posthumously by his son's widow.

Language Exploration:

Even if you don't know every word, try to understand the meaning of the sentence. This is good practice for tests.

You can find the answers and a possible translation of the quote below.

1. Many learners know the phrase "care about" something. Why can't "about" replace "of" in "take care of the minutes" here?
2. What word could replace "for" here without changing the meaning?
3. What does "themselves" refer to, and why plural?
4. Would you put a comma before "that" in modern English?
5. Why present simple, not present continuous, here?
6. In 'two or three hours', what does 'or' tell us about how many hours Chesterfield means exactly?
7. What does "by + verb-ing" express in this sentence?
8. Why "the minutes" here, and not "a minute" or no article at all?

Note: Positive, motivational quotes in English for every day are offered by many applications and groups on social networks, such as Action for Happiness or Brainy Quote.

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Answers to the tasks above:

1. "Care about" means to be concerned/interested in something (e.g. I care about the environment); "take care of" means to look after/manage something. Different meaning, different preposition – they can't be swapped.
2. Because. "For" as a conjunction meaning "because" is formal/literary and rare in spoken modern English – recognise it, don't overuse it.
3. Hours – the reflexive pronoun must agree in number with its subject (hours = plural → themselves).
4. No – this comma is 18th-century style. Today, no comma before a that-clause after verbs like think/believe/be sure, unlike Czech, which requires a comma before "že".
5. Present simple for habitual/general truths, reinforced by the frequency marker every day.
6. Approximation – "two or three" = roughly 2–3, not an exact count.
7. Method/means (= "through the way of..."). Note the negative gerund: by not doing something, not by don't do something. Prepositions are always followed by the gerund (-ing form), never the infinitive or base verb.
8. The refers back to "the minutes" already mentioned earlier in the sentence – this is called the anaphoric the. Both speaker and reader now know exactly which minutes are meant.

References

This educational section may include content which is adapted from AI-generated responses.