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.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

– Martin Luther King Jr., in Strength to Love (1963);
an American Baptist minister, social activist, and a prominent leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, assassinated in 1968

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. Look at the negative modal verb in the first clause. How does its spelling differ from may not, must not and should not? What is its contracted (short) form?
2. Why is there no a or the before darkness, light, hate and love? When would the be possible?
3. Darkness is a third-person singular subject. Why do we not write cannot drives?
4. Find a phrasal verb in the quote. Now take the sentence Love can drive out darkness and replace the object (darkness) with the pronoun it. Where does the pronoun go? Can the noun go in the same place?
5. In only light can do that, what does that refer to? What is this technique called, and why is it useful?
6. Compare: Only light can do that. / Only by light can darkness be driven out. Why does the word order change in the second sentence?
7. Hate appears twice in the quote. What part of speech is it each time, and how can you tell? Is hatred a possible replacement?
8. Count the letters in light, then the sounds. What do you notice? Name three more words with the same ending.
9. Compare the structure of the two sentences. What technique does the author use, and why does it make the quote memorable?
10. How would you translate the quote into your mother tongue?

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. Spelling: Cannot is written as one word; the short form is can’t. Other negative modals are normally two words: may not, must not, should not. Can not in two words usually appears in special structures: You can not only read it, but also act on it.
2. They are uncountable nouns used in a general sense, so they take no article.
   The is needed for a specific case: the darkness of the cave. Light becomes countable with a different meaning: a light = a lamp.
3. After modal verbs, the verb stays in its base form (infinitive without to) for all persons: no -s, no to, no -ing. Correct: darkness cannot drive...
4. The phrasal verb is drive out. The pronoun goes in the middle: drive it out, never drive out it.
   A noun can go in either place: Light can drive out darkness or Light can drive darkness out. This type is called a separable phrasal verb. Long objects usually go after: drive out the darkness of fear.
5. Do that stands for the whole phrase drive out darkness. This technique is called a pro-form: a short word or phrase replacing a longer one. It avoids repetition and keeps the sentence short. Everyday use: Can you fix it? – Only Tom can do that.
6. In the first sentence, only light is the subject, so the word order is normal.
   In the second, only by light is an adverbial placed first, which triggers inversion (modal before subject). Same pattern: Only then did he understand.
7. Both are nouns: the first is the subject, the second the object of drive out. A verb cannot fill these positions. Hate can also be a verb (I hate it). Hatred is a noun only, so it could replace hate here.
8. Light has five letters but only three sounds: /l/ + /aɪ/ + /t/. The gh is silent.
   Same pattern: night, right, might, fight, sight. Common mistakes: ligth, and lite in formal writing.
9. Both sentences follow the same pattern (X cannot drive out X; only Y can do that). This is called parallelism. The key words form opposites: darkness / light, hate / love.
   Tip: use matching forms in lists too: reading, writing and speaking, not reading, to write and speaking.
10. Possible translation into Czech:
    Tmu nelze zahnat tmou; to dokáže jen světlo. Nenávist nelze zahnat nenávistí; to dokáže jen láska.

References

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