Tips for taking the OPIc

You will be presented with 15-20 prompts at various levels of difficulty based on your selections from a Background Survey, and your Self-Assessment based on Can Do statements. There are often several questions in each prompt to give you some ideas about things to talk about and suggestions about details to provide. If you do not fully remember every question contained in a prompt, simply address the primary question to the best of your ability. 

Select the set of statements that you believe most accurately represents your ability. However, the OPIc is structured so that each OPIc provides opportunities to test a range of skills and to provide opportunities to perform at the next higher level. Additionally, you are rated not only on your ability to perform the requested tasks, but also on the level of the response. For this same reason, you cannot improve your rating by trying to choose an easier set of Can Do statements.

The OPIc itself is not a timed exam, but the response/record time allowed for each question varies depending on the difficulty level of the prompt. The more advanced prompts will provide more time to respond. The test averages about 20 - 40 minutes to complete. 

Each prompt gives you a topic and a speaking task to perform. Because the OPIC is a measure of interpersonal speaking ability, the prompts are presented in a conversational format. Each prompt is specifically structured to elicit a speaking task for a level of the ILR Scale from 0+ through 2. 

You should be able to respond to every prompt on the OPIc. It is very important to give the best response one can give rather than skip a prompt altogether. 

The OPIc is designed to mimic a true conversation, so that for each topic, follow up questions are usually asked that will require you to expand on what you have said. This ensures that you demonstrate the ability to spontaneously create with the language, and it may give you an opportunity to perform a task for a different level, but on the same topic. Your rating is based on your ability to specifically address what is being asked of you. 

You can influence the topics you will be asked questions about by picking topics of interest to you at the beginning of the test. If you are asked a question that you are unfamiliar with, simply explain why you are unfamiliar with it and volunteer something on a related topic. Again, this is a proficiency test that is only measuring your ability to communicate in the target language. 

When taking the OPIC, listen to the prompts carefully and address the specific task in each prompt. This is a test of proficiency. You will not be rated on your knowledge of specific topics or factual accuracy, but rather on how well you speak in the target language. Be sure to answer all prompts as fully and completely as you can, in as much detail as possible. 

The OPIc provides you with numerous opportunities to demonstrate proficiency over a variety of content areas so that there is a substantial sample of speech. In this way, the OPIc ensures that you have ample opportunity to overcome anxiety, and are not penalized due to a lack of familiarity with a given topic.