Are you studying Portuguese? Are you planning to join an undergraduate or postgraduate course at a Brazilian University? You might want to learn more about CELPE-Bras, the only examination of Portuguese language proficiency officially recognized by the Brazilian Government.

The Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese for Foreigners is a standardized test developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) which is granted to foreigners with satisfactory performance in Brazilian Portuguese as a second language.

Universities in Brazil require its foreign students to take the Celpe Bras before being allowed admittance and some companies in Brazil might require taking the test before considering hiring someone. It´s accepted internationally as proof of Portuguese language competence.

The Celpe-Bras tests oral and writing comprehension, speaking and writing production.  It´s not a multiple choice test. The test is divided into two parts:

• – Written part (lasting 3 hours): candidates must write four essays to prove competency to discuss topics in Portuguese. Two of them integrating reading and writing production and other two essays based on one audio and one video;
• – Oral part (lasting 20 minutes): test-takers are interviewed individually by a Portuguese professor trained as a certified proficiency tester for the exam. Conversations involve general subjects suggested through provocative elements, such as pictures and headlines.

The test measures proficiency in four different levels: Intermediate, Higher Intermediate, Advanced and Higher Advanced. To obtain the certificate, the examinee must achieve quality performance in both parts of the exam. Because the evaluation focuses on both, a person who receives the grade “avançado” (advanced) in the written part but receives “intermediario” (intermediate) in the oral part cannot receive the higher certification of the two. This person would then receive the grade “intermediário” (intermediate).

Celpe Bras has grown quite a lot since 1998 when the test was held for the first time. Back then there were about 127 people taking the test in 5 different testing centers. Since then the number of testing centers have grown to 90, distributed in over 36 countries in the world. In April 2013, the Celpe Bras had 3.972 test takers.

There are a couple requirements to take the exam:

–Be of minimum age 16.

– Provide the institution offering the exam with a photocopy of an identification document and a registration fee.

The test is only held twice a year in the months of April and October. All test-takers must register at the Celpe-Bras site first.The deadline to submit online applications can be found on the INEP website, it´s generally two months prior to the test and the examination results are published around two months after the exam dates. So you need to plan yourself ahead if you are willing to enroll at a Brazilian Institution.

INEP (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas) is responsible for the exam. On their website you can find more information on test centers, view samples of previous exams and register online for the Celpe Bras.