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abelkwh

Hero Member
Jul 30, 2009
523
15
Anyone can help answer my queries? I have just recently submitted the applications under FSW and i have a a masters of Business from an Australia Uni, a masters in Finance from HK and a Bachelors degree from USA. All taught in english and i have received my education from young in english and am from Singapore. Do i need to take the ILETS test to prove my english proficiency?

Thanks
 
if your mothertongue's not English, then it's highly recommended to take the English Exam.
 
Thanks for the replies but what is defined as mother tongue here? i speak english at home, think in english and does everything in english from young till this very time, so does this classify as mother tongue?
 
Mother tongue Recognized by country language and Singapore is not officially English speaking country. so that’s way you have to go for IELTS.. it doesn’t make any point that you speak English at home or outside since form childhood.
 
Dear abelkwh,
According to you, you are from Singapore so your mother tongue is NOT english. Save yourself some time. Go and do IELTS asap because CHC will at some point ask for it. Good luck.
 
vamsi001 said:
Dear abelkwh,
According to you, you are from Singapore so your mother tongue is NOT english. Save yourself some time. Go and do IELTS asap because CHC will at some point ask for it. Good luck.

they don't ask for IELTS these days... The IO awards you points based on his judgement (read mood)... better keep it objective.. give IELTS
 
unless your mother tongue is english and you hold a passport from USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, you should give IELTS. else, you will completely leave yourself on the discretion of visa officer. i believe that a person with your profile and your level of education will not find this hard to crack the IELTS.
 
Malay is the official national language for Singapore. The national anthem is in Malay.

But for day-to-day dealings, English is the linga franca. Most Singaporeans "1st language" since kindergarten is English, 2nd language is Mandarin(Chinese Singaporean), Tamil(East Indian
Singaporean) and Malay(Malay Singaporean).

Many obtained their tertiary education in US, Canada, OZ & NZ.
So, is the IELTS test necessary for someone with the above background?
 
According to CHC website,
Proof of your language abilities:
If you have some proficiency in both English and French, decide which language you are more comfortable using. This is your first official language. The other is your second official language.

If you claim to have language abilities on your application, you must provide conclusive proof of your level of proficiency. There are two ways to do this. You can:

1............take a language test or
2............provide other written proof of your abilities.

We strongly recommend that you take a language test from an approved organization. You will find a link to a list of approved English language testing organizations under the Related Links section at the bottom of this page. You will also find a link to additional information on language testing.
I got this information from http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/factor-language.asp
 
sure... you still should take IELTS.. why do you want the fate of your application inthe hands of an immigration officer's hands.. he may have fought with his neighbour on the morning h processes your application, for all you know...

They sometimes ask 3rd or 4th generation Americans Indians to write IELTS just because their name is Indian :)
 
abelkwh,i have been living in the US for 12 years now,i have a bachelor degree from the US,i'm fluent in french and english,
however i'm senegalese therefore english or french are not my mother tongue and i'm taking the IELTS, i'll recommend you to do the same.
 
deep117 said:
Mother tongue Recognized by country language and Singapore is not officially English speaking country. so that's way you have to go for IELTS.. it doesn't make any point that you speak English at home or outside since form childhood.

Singapore is officially English (together with Chinese, Malay and Tamil) and English is spoken more in SG so than many countries that have English as their official language in their constitution. Many ethnically Chinese in SG only speak English at home.

Abelkwh-ah, there is no way for CIC to distinguish you from someone of your ethnicity who speaks Chinese, Malay or Tamil at home, so it would be better for you to do the IELTS rather than be at mercy of the IO who can give you from 0 to higher points at their discretion. A similar country to Singapore is South Africa where English is really the lingua franca of the country and CIC has previously allowed those from urban area in South Africa get away without doing IELTS. Unfortunately in Singapore, it is not possible to distinguish between someone who lived in an urban area from a person who lived in a rural area (since there is no rural area). I would suggest that you take IELTS even though your chance of getting away without IELTS is better than someone from a country where many people don't speak English (like South Asian countries) even though English is somewhat of a lingua franca in those countries, at least in commerce, business and education.