English Proficiency Proof - 10/10

Although I am Swedish, important parts of my professional and personal life have been spent in English speaking environments. I feel comfortable with my English language, but for curiosity I took a test to have an objective rating, to see how good – or bad! – I really am. The result was flattering!

TOEFL iBT
This was not my first English exam. When I came back to Sweden after a year as an exchange student in Pennsylvania, USA, I took the TOEFL iBT test, which is a test for non-native English language speakers who want to  study at U.S. universities. My score was very high, and that made me feel confident I could pursue a career where English proficiency would be necessary.

Duolingo
Duolingo is a platform for language learning and translation. From this year Duolingo offers English exams that they claim relate very well to tests like TOEFL. The tests are taken online, and via a web camera a human proctor makes sure that no assistance is received. It took me only about 20 minutes to get my proof of proficiency.

Practical use most important
With all due deference to exams, the real test of language skills is the practical use. For my own sake, I don't care about the exam at all. I know that I can manage all situations in English, my second language.

However, some potential customers might think there will be a language problem when they see that kalmstrom.com is a Swedish company. I hope they will not hesitate anymore when they read this. Some Swenglish might sneak into my speech even if it does not do so in an exam situation, but there will never be a problem with the understanding.

The Doulingo statement
The text under Language Status in the certificate above reads as follows:

"Expert. Can understand virtually anything heard or read, even intellectually demanding material such as an academic lecture or a book on philosophy. Can use the language fluently and spontaneously in a way that can even be more advanced than an average native speaker."

Next step is to reach the same excellence in Spanish!
Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions