Firstwords study guide
Firstwords · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Firstwords is a multiple-choice English proficiency exam organised around four domains: Vocabulary and Word Meaning (30%), Grammar and Sentence Structure (25%), Reading Comprehension (25%) and Listening Comprehension (20%). The weighting tells you what the exam values: word knowledge carries the most points, and the two comprehension domains together make up nearly half the paper. It suits candidates who need a demonstrable, general-purpose English credential - learners preparing for academic study in English, job seekers whose employers screen for English, and self-study learners who want a structured target rather than an open-ended course. The exam is delivered in English and tests English, so there is no translation layer to lean on. Topics on this exam: Vocabulary and Word Meaning, Grammar and Sentence Structure, Reading Comprehension, and Listening Comprehension. The Firstwords study guide has 4 sections and about 1,139 words.
01Vocabulary and Word Meaning
Vocabulary and Word Meaning checks whether you can connect a word to its meaning quickly and accurately. Questions may ask you to match a word to a picture, choose the best word for a sentence, select an opposite, or group words by topic.
308 words, about 2 min02Grammar and Sentence Structure
Grammar and Sentence Structure checks whether you can build correct English sentences: word order, verb forms, articles, prepositions, pronouns, and subject–verb agreement. Items are often short gaps or sentence-ordering tasks.
275 words, about 1 min03Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension checks whether you can understand short texts: notices, messages, simple stories, and information passages. Questions ask for a fact, the main idea, the order of events, a word’s meaning in context, or a simple inference.
294 words, about 1 min04Listening Comprehension
Listening Comprehension checks whether you can follow short spoken English: conversations, instructions, announcements, and simple descriptions. Questions often ask for a time, place, price, action, or feeling.
262 words, about 1 min