27 October 2024

ABC (insert English certificate name here) is not for life

Someone somewhere sometime in the past, in the world of selling certifications (and possibly books, materials and courses), made a smart decision. S/he would start promoting this certification as "for life", and so a myth was born. Sadly, this is at best misleading, if not verging on the untrue.

The sales pitch was smart because it appeals to three different groups. The first is the "one and done" : now I have my certificate, I am covered, I have met my professional and/or employment needs, and I do not need to worry about it in the future.

The second is the financially-motivated : these things are so darn expensive that if I make the right investment now, I will reap the rewards for the rest of my time on this mortal coil.

The third is that which sees a contrast with another well-known and widely-trusted certificate : why take that which lasts only for two years, when I can take this which goes on like the Energiser bunny.

All three are bult on the sands of a misrepresentation. You see, certificate ABC says only that on this date, candidate XYZ showed this CEFR-level of English. No more (and no less). 

And yet the myth lives on ...

Does your Grade 10 Swimming certificate mean that today and in the future you can still swim in that event and at that speed? Does your university basketball championship certificate mean that today and in the future you can still sink those three-pointers? or dunk? Or your ten, twenty or thirty year-old boxing title mean that today and in the future you can still float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?

One certificate does indeed provide a two-year guarantee of level, aka "date of expiration". Others do not. Given who developed that certificate, and who continues to monitor and improve it, we can extrapolate that any certificate is to be doubted after a period, perhaps two years, and is certainly not "for life".

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Image by Jana Shnipelson on Unsplash

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