Keila Alvarez, 21, from Piura, Peru, successfully completed her 4-skill MET in October of 2023 at a C1 level. Since she was 15 years old, she has been passionate about learning English because it will help her advance in both her personal and career goals. With her new certification and passion for English, she can achieve anything she sets her mind to.
The Universidad Cesar Vallejo promoted MET as an option for students who sought an English certification. After speaking with her counselor, Keila decided that this was the best testing option for her for a variety of reasons including cost, available practice resources, and accessibility.
“I decided to take the Michigan English Test because it is really reliable, renowned and achievable. When I found out its importance and types of exercises, I really liked the structure and the difficulty,” Keila said.
Currently, Keila teaches English as a second language to elementary school students while majoring in translation interpretation. She hopes to continue a career path in linguistics as a teacher or translator. Beyond inspiring other students to pursue English studies, she also inspires her two younger siblings to do the same. Keila’s MET success and passion for a diverse knowledge of languages has shown her family and friends the importance of breaking down language barriers.
Keila has always lived in Peru and dreams of being able to travel and globalize her perspective. Given how interconnected the world is through technology, she notes it’s important to be able to understand where others are coming from and remain open minded.
“When you are speaking another language, you are speaking to another community,” Keila said. “Languages open doors you would not have otherwise been able to go through.”
Keiila speaks English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. She admits English was the most difficult of those to learn, but it was a challenge she tackled and overcame. In particular, she finds the wide variety of English accents tough but very intriguing.
Taking any language test can be daunting. However, Keila felt prepared and confident for her MET by browsing resources available on Michigan Language Assessment’s website and watching YouTube videos. She felt that the test itself was not difficult. Registration was facilitated through her university and testing took place at her university on a computer.
“It was super easy to take the test on the computer and very user-friendly,” Keila said.
If she could give advice to future MET test takers, it would be to prepare at least a few months ahead of time and to practice speaking with others every day. For Keila, immersing herself in the English language through conversation and various real-world materials helped her the most in achieving her MET score.
After completing her degree (with excellent grades), Keila plans to study abroad in Europe or the U.S. Michigan Language Assessment wishes Keila the best as she embarks on the next steps in her journey.
Interested in starting your own journey with MET? Start by visiting our website.