Singaporeans Try: Can We Pass South Korea's English CSATs?

We are equal parts horrified and ashamed.
Follow The Smart Local on Social Media!
/ thesmartlocal
/ thesmartlocaltv
/ thesmartlocalsg
/ thesmartlocaltv
Featuring:
Bolin Chen - / doughnutcookies
Amanda Feng - / amandalpaca
Jeslene Chia - / jeslenec
James Rainier - / justispao
Fauzi Aziz - / mynameisfauzi
Brenda Tan - / brendatjy
Produced, Filmed and Edited by:
Jessalyn Chua - / jessalyncly
Additional Filming by:
Charmaine Sew - / charmainesew
Business Enquiries:
[e-mail]

[@TheSmartLocal]

How would you have fared? Fun fact: There are 45 questions in the English test.

[@Zepherlix]

What’s fared?

[@s0l3il]

Badly. After question 3 I died.

[@joshualee6765]

@@Zepherlix fared means how good or bad u did basically

[@joshualee6765]

the white dude got 1 right and AFTER that i just lost interest 😂😂😂 34 year olds just dont give a F

[@soumiyamahendran7657]

uhh :| it’s okay I’m only 13 young blood not interested in this kind of shet

[@polobuncharsiew]

it is pointless if you can score well for the CSAT but hardly can converse in day to day english. Same goes to local singapore education where you can get flying grades but hardly able to apply it to everyday use.

[@BeachBoi1000]

Looks more like they have gone out of point.

[@pocarisweet8665]

beeg brane

[@tsubakilee1728]

Honestly if they are setting such difficult papers that even native english speakers have a hard time understanding and yet most korean students that take that paper can't even speak basic english, it's literally a joke.

[@johndoe3797]

As a Korean, I can tell you exactly what the Korean CSAT is. If you want to say "It's high noon" on the exam paper, you HAVE TO say... "Us homo sapiens refer the present passage of continued progress of existence and events that occur in irreversible succesion from the pass through the future as twelve o'clock in the afternoon where the sun in which this Earth revolves around is at its highest elevation in the sky and homo sapiens can usually be found eating a light meal which is typically eaten after breakfast and before dinner." Sucks.....

[@callietoh1226]

Wow.

[@emporiogame]

this is accurate

[@RonLarhz]

I immediately saw what u mean..

[@linnychern]

Omg what you have to write that in an exam paper??? Memory work?

[@saraht5]

Uh... But that shouldn't be the way to write. In university, we are told to be clear and concise in academic writing.

[@jolnnnnn]

This is not an english paper, its more of a comprehension, testing ones understanding, it can really be in any language under the sky, which is why CSATs are pointless

[@delusionalfan]

@Edward Tay your deduction is interesting

[@Rohit-mb9bm]

Wah good English ah

[@okeydokeysan]

I would understand if its more of a test on comprehension, but korean english CSATs don't even make sense. Attempting the paper was like doing a test that is set by someone who is not a native English speaker, most likely the setter just put a bunch of classy words and sentences together without even knowing the meaning of them.

[@alui5362]

Eh.. honestly the test questions seem like they were created by someone who isn't a native speaker, or is one of those academic professors who write articles using a thesaurus to act/sound smarter than they are. Plenty of such people in the academic circles because they need to justify their pay but aren't actually insightful enough to actually do so. If I were to guess, the exam board probably commissioned an English professor to come up with the tests, but either (i) they aren't native speakers themselves so can't tell that the prof is full of shit, or (ii) there's bureaucracy so they are happy to let the appeal to authority stand.

[@grassbreath]

Is it me, or were there typos in the questions...

[@winw4548]

These questions are for those who want to be Shakespeare.

[@okeydokeysan]

Yes preach! thank you for putting it out so neatly.

[@bootata]

It was funny seeing Rainer and Jes spiral into a mini mental breakdown cause of a paper

[@ohyouaremyday]

you didn't pass the paper, but you got free hairstyling!! @ rainier and jes 😂👍

[@kyeolul]

As an English teacher, I thought that the answer for Question 3 was wrong as B-A-C can't possibly be the right answer. The headline given is not a question but a statement, and hence it makes no sense to have the following paragraph start with "the simplest answer." Personally, I thought that C-B-A is the correct answer because C is posing a question in response to the headline - why are there still so many people watching movies if movies perpetuate a dominant culture? And B follows nicely behind to answer the question in C. A is the final paragraph as it elaborates on the "stories that... we find satisfying" and concludes with how that is why movies still appeal to audiences. I also went to check the 2020 Korean CSAT (I understand a little bit of Korean) and the correct answer is C-B-A.

[@turquoisie]

I too felt that C-B-A was the right answer. Thanks for looking it up!

[@urfavchickenlegs8797]

CORRECT! I ANSWERED THE SAME. THERE'S NO WAY THAT COULD BE POINT 2, THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AT ALL. After watching this video tho, my impression to CSAT test is that it's nonsense LMAO

[@bangargaurav1636]

Ohh i also answered cba , thanks for your comment

[@johcx1994]

I did my poly internship in Korea a few years back in one of their universities (not SKY, for sure). Other than research and writing our own reports (like doing FYP), a part of it was to help the Korean university seniors correct their English. Tbh, no use scoring for the English CSAT (I find the tone quite philosophical) and yet they cannot even get basic vocabulary right. A senior had even told me that he wanted to impress the lecturer by adding slangs (honestly, slangs are for speech or informal use, not for a formal, graded report: their English is AmE). Even speaking English casually is a chore to them. Almost nothing is in English there (except movies or searching online media). Even the subway stations that are announced in English are usually tourist hotspots or major interchanges. Even the questions themselves... Question 4, is there such a usage "On the one hand"? I think CSAT in Korea is just a way to prove that Koreans can score an English paper, but it doesn't really prove their proficiency (not saying all are like that). There are tricks to score (watch God of Study, old but gold drama), but I do feel the English CSAT is not achieving and showing the reality of English proficiency realistically.

[@Chessplayer81837]

Yes, on the one hand is a phrase

[@hillry6345]

I’ve watched so many videos of English-speakers trying the Korean English SAT but this is the funniest one yet😂

[@yapjordan9257]

Omg jes is killing it with her hair!! Is this the first time she's not wearing a cap on camera?

[@oatman9714]

I can't take it anymore, brenda beauty is mesmerising, James quirkiness is likeable, bolin energetic prescene is overwhelming, and that fauzi forehead is still huge as ever.

[@keing6256]

's

[@lilychua7866]

Kei Ng - can’t stop laughing!🤣🤣🤣

[@bethlee271]

haha omg Jes look so cute sia with her hair liddat

[@inaayahanini8053]

Thank god malaysian exam paper wasn't ridiculous like this, and many people are able to understand and speak

[@bangargaurav1636]

I loved the fact that they showed questions as well so that general audience can also participate, thank you for doing that☺️

[@tata_suace]

I honestly don’t see the point of their csat paper It test more on your ability to analyse the passages but how often are you gonna be analysing passages as hard as this one 💀 Must as well just give them a paper that will benefit them more

[@emlgaming5911]

Bolin: “I got F1 for English.” Also Bolin: “VRMMMMM VRMMMMMM.”

[@amandalim8733]

These questions gave me anxiety just from the length of it😂

[@Blueberrydaydream23]

HAHAHA THE EDITS super on point omg kudos to the editor!!!! what a funny cast omg - when jes sang bad guy, i tell u, i died,,,,,,,,, and when amanda started dysfunctioning, i died a second time,,,,

[@cupcakehimmy]

How does this test their English exactly? BRUUUHH

[@sitikhadijah-co4fd]

Malaysian and singaporean learn english not for exam but for their daily basic. English is second language for malaysian but today is a primary.

[@sillydibby4543]

omg my brain hurts so much, I can’t even understand it... GOOD JOB TO YALL WHO CAN SCORE CORRECTLY!!

[@vansonthewall8]

I think the Korean students also have to answer these questions really fast, probably have less than a minute per question, which really tests your ability to read and understand the passage quickly

[@uwuwu6635]

Jess and Rainier is so relatable and funny !

[@basirahhassan157]

omg jes and rainier is me everyday HAHAHHAHA

[@fusion5424]

the paper tricks you by having alot of words to make it look fancy and shit when in reality its just a simplified version of o level english

[@deanab-se5op]

My favorite casts, Amanda & Brenda 😍 LOL Easy? I watched a video where British answer the question. Even THEY COMPLAINED IT'S DIFFICULT.

[@nobodyk8]

I got 3 right, pretty good but my head is spinning now

[@joshualee6765]

at the end of the day everyone did well because u can speak better then the average korean... this test does not constitute into anything when compared to koreans actual english unless they studied abroad....

[@joshualee6765]

​@@omgynay1763 stop stalking bruh LOL!!!! BTW i love u too sugar nips

[@SophiaNI921]

joshua lee “sugar nips” should call my crush that

[@tankailing1389]

To be fair, the editor did an excellent job in this video!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@darkhuilong]

I feel like I need a new brain just to even understand what that paper is talking about XD

[@dannyvlogz9793]

Wah! If their English were this difficult then why majority of the Koreans can’t even speak simple english. The numbers don’t tally at all🤔

[@user-tm8ki6tm9j]

Because being able to read and write well in a language does not necessarily mean that you have great oral and listening skills in the same language. I took third language back in secondary school and I never really had a problem with reading and writing. But I had major problems when it came to listening and speaking skills. I could write a composition pretty fluently but actually verbally speaking in the language was a huge struggle for me. I soon realised that the reason this was so was because I was not exposed to the language very much beyond its written form in textbooks and worksheets. It was only after I started watching tons of dramas in the language that I was finally able to pass listening comprehension tests. Even then I still struggled with oral although it improved quite a bit after watching dramas. I would say the Koreans probably don't get many chances to practice speaking English. Honestly I think the lack of oral practice is one of the reasons why so many countries may have English as a compulsory subject in their curriculum and yet their people can still barely speak English.

[@ElyseLol]

DannyVlogz written and applications are two different things hun

[@grassbreath]

But there seemed to have typos in the qns too... Or is it just me...

[@soapy2587]

My second language get A1 and my oral fail 🥴🥴

[@saraht5]

@@user-tm8ki6tm9j yes I agree. I'm studying in NZ and there are many foreign students from China who could pass the English proficiency test to get into the university, but struggle to understand spoken English, and so struggle to understand lecturers.

[@shinsoujuuzou8423]

Why ans B A C ah B answers a question but there isnt any question for it to answer

[@CatsComPop]

shinsou juuzou omg ikr. searching for this comment! 2 is definitely wrong. i was thinking either 5 or 1 because B being first doesn’t make sense, there is no question (in the given headline) to answer. Also B is answering C’s question, so the only logical sequence should be C-B, answer should be either 5 or 1.

[@hahahairockyoursocks]

@@CatsComPop I'm no english guru, but from my understanding of that statement is that when they mentioned "Movies may be said..." it's hinting at a claim that was mentioned, thus isn't fully confirmed(?) or somewhat hinting that there's no certainty in that statement. So when I read it, it seemed to be presenting a claim and that claim is often posed as a question like "people often say that asians are stereotyped" and it naturally begs a question of "does it really?", thus answering the statement by starting with B "The simple answer to this question...". B also talks about the 'stories that we find satisfying', which leads nicely into describing the kind of stories that movies typically depict - 'bad guys, romantic couples, etc' And perhaps for those who didn't understand why A followed by C, is simply derived from the last line of A that says "....accounts for *why* we enjoy....", linking it to "but one may ask why audiences would find such movies *enjoyable*...". I may be wrong but here's my take! Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to say. I paused at every segment to try them out myself and got 4/5! Got Qn 2 wrong lol that was really tough hahahah. Great video TSL! Enjoyed this one alot!

[@CatsComPop]

Rayson Allen oh wow I see it now. Thanks for your detailed explanation, I guess most of us took the word ‘question’ in the phrase from B ‘the simple answer to this question’ literally so we assumed the sequence would naturally be followed after C with its ‘one may ask why’ (which we deemed a “question”). I like how you mentioned that A should come after B due to B mentioning ‘stories we find satisfying’ in its last line and A subsequently presenting the scenarios of stories “we find satisfying”. - The flow makes sense now after your clarification! Thanks for clarifying, and absolutely thank goodness Singapore’s English papers are (generally) quite literal in passages hahaha not so philosophical and ‘thesis-ish’ if not most of us would be damned.

[@shannoonlime]

1:27 has rainer become a mop

[@pr9166]

How can the answer to 3 be (2) when that para starts with "The simple answer to this question..." simi where got question T___T Even people good at English would fail this test because the answers aren't even correct

[@xuan4109]

i agreed w you at first and im no english professor, but heres what i think of it now: i think that what the B was answering to was towards the headline of the passage. bc the headline said "movies *may* be said to support..." so maybe B was trying and answer towards the " *may* " in the headline. and also, at the end of A, it states that "...for why we enjoy them so much" and the start of C states "...such movies enjoyable..." so the 2 of the paragraphs were probably linked together, with A before C. and at the end of C, there wasnt any statements which was needed to be answered to, therefore making the order BAC

[@hellohellomoshimoshi]

I wasn't even paying attention to the questions during the video but I hear them discussing about it my brain want to explode already.

[@mingmangmung3051]

I think the paragraphs are full of words but mean nothing

[@kennice]

when ure early and wanna get a well liked comment but u don’t know what to write HAHAHA

[@michelleho8199]

hi guys that is so me haha

[@joshualee6765]

as bob ross would say.... "no mistakes just happy accidents." 🤣🤣🤣

[@shannoonlime]

the struggle damn that hit hard

[@Natali3F00]

Rainer and jes pairing is legit damn funny!!

[@fazilabegumabdulrazak6144]

Now it's Koreans who study in Korea turn to try English GCE O express stream exams paper. Please include listening Comprehension and English Oral and composition. And same timing as real GCE paper. Please get a real Singapore Secondary School English teacher to evaluate. I am curious to know how well they fare as their English language paper is of very super high quality standard. Above and beyond.

[@malamee9910]

the questions looks like its testing our patience to read HAHAHA

[@sparktae6595]

It already sounds difficult

[@samanthalim6371]

Rainier and Jes is a big MOOD lol

[@jonseilim4321]

I've never been disappointment by a video with this Beng in it

[@vonvoomz8163]

omg i wna see bolin and fauzi reading an english book in the next a video😫😫 it’ll be soo funny

[@leoraleo676]

i dont like read a long passage. my trick when did my eng exam was i read the question first and then search the answer😎

[@mohamadhafiz5800]

me too😂😂😂😅

[@bunnie2999]

The questions on this test made me feel dumb

[@Ct239Dzafirah]

I love how Bolin tried to understand the passage by rephrasing it in Singlish HAHAHAHA

[@Jialatt]

Did you guys make Rainer and jeslene record in 3am or something? They look damn tired!!

[@dawnho7744]

Wah liew....sibei hard siah! This kind of English confirmed will make my head explode. Correction. Implode should be the word. Who in the right mind can understand such cheem English? Rainier and Jes's hair became like mops.

[@dorischong2518]

For the first time, Bolin wasn't the one who made me lol the most but Rainer and Jes. Those two def lost their sanity midway through the paper. HAHAHA #canunderstand #sibeihard

[@dysayre888]

It's a huge diff to be able to converse in daily lives compared to having good grammers etc which is like an author

[@dariuschoo8495]

Ayo that shout out to The World of Dave at the end tho

[@dragonamu]

wow the whole questions are really something. as someone who also lives in non english country. that kind of exam is totally bullsvvt. i mean it s common that you have a great score in exam but you cant apply it well. sigh. in the end we only focus to pass it without understanding. btw i wonder is it some kind of tips and tricks to answer it?? bcs mine i do lol so you dont have to read a whole passage but you know the right answer

[@meganaire3003]

I got 2 and 3 "wrong." I think question 3 is problematic - cannot figure out why the answer is 2. It's totally problematic because you have the hypothetical question "but one may ask..." which cues you to line b behind c. Question 2 is based on grammar rules which are no longer consistently the norm so it's a failure to update to modern standards. I'm more a descriptivist than a prescriptivist so this qn was particularly annoying. The question itself has odd sentence structure, why didn't they fix that?

[@oho5648]

I was also one of those thinking that the answer of Q3 is 5. So I searched it, and found the answer actually being 5, not 2. I think they made some mistake in this video.

[@setiayah]

I did till question 3 and I’m tired alr... I mean I can get them right but really.. I wouldn’t wanna sit through this whole thing... it’s so long and I gotta read everything properly.. can’t imagine doing a 10year series of this .. omg no. I’d rather just don’t do college if I’m there but still be good in my English.. cos I know I am.. ahh idk.. haha hmm

[@melxieying]

This paper requires you to finish each question in 2 min. YO I took 10 min to read and to understand each freggin passage...

[@uwuwu6635]

Jess is so cute

[@bobjones3702]

How is this a test of proficiency in English when it’s all about deducing the meaning of what the article is about ? Singapore’s A and O level is more well rounded in accessing the various parts of creativity and proficiency in English I would say

[@bloooopsz]

This is totally unrelated to the video, but is it possible for y’all to try out like tarot readings / past life regression ?? :)

[@okeydokeysan]

OMG YES I WANT TO WATCH THAT TOO ON SINGAPOREANS TRY

[@rachfoongs]

idk how koreans are trained to score so high but if its not useful in daily life then why have it lmao

[@eastgate1111]

oxymoron a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).

[@skyla2258]

Why are all the questions so philosophical?

[@chrislo2533]

The question is ridiculous. Tbh some of it doesn't make any sense.

[@thinkthriceelf]

Bolin super no ink water sia 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[@soapy2587]

In conclusion, Korean English papers are STEP CHIM

[@valvetann]

One word: So full of jargon

[@ummikalsommy2666]

Me reading the question. Lost after 3rd line. How did the Koreans even do it.. 🤯

[@xuan4109]

i think the csats are kinda ridiculous to a certain point bc even if koreans can do well on a written exam, it does not mean that they can speak well or be able to understand by listening since they rarely get the opportunity to apply their skills, they obviously wont know how to. therefore setting the papers *so* difficult to the extent that even native speakers dont know how to answer to is obviously of no use.

[@sonderture]

All of the questions make no sense, that's why most of the answers are right as they depend on different interpretation of the questions. Who the hell wrote the papers and what are the papers supposed to do???

[@kelvinngnsp9161]

Fauzi corrected Brenda even when she said the correct thing it was present not pre-sent

[@sugarlove8064]

Fauzi can be the listening compre narrator

[@szz1070]

When I saw the title of this vid, I already knew these guys will die liao! Coz I've seen a few Korean videos on some of the questions.

[@punchepunche]

they should do the Korean’s CSAT Math paper. it would fry their brains 😭

[@sobaaluvr]

when i saw jes hair i 😳🥺👉👈

[@rainbowsprinkles1345]

That is basically what singaporean primary school students are learning now 🙄🙄 it's all the basic adverbs, nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.

[@ianwyj1]

I'm sure there are easier and more practical ways to assess English proficiency than the Korean CSAT. All of the questions shown seem to be little more than excusesto put the candidate under severe time pressure to complete the test.

[@MrFyce]

yes to Brenda's dress

[@ImBenGee]

is it even necessary to make it so complicated?

[@emlgaming5911]

Rainer’s English is like mine. But then u minus 2, then divide by 7. Then u minus 2 again.

[@mymilkshake3938]

I need Fauzi to be my English teacher.

[@xavier9577]

God bless I am in Singapore.

[@animemachinex3]

ooo leah gave you the dress???

[@caitlynhenricks-chua429]

I don’t understand, even as English being my first language. However I do know that there is a punctuation error in the first 😂

[@nastyayoyo4963]

Q2 --> huh? I don't think the model answer is correct...

[@soapy2587]

Scored 4/5 but for o levels last year didn't even get an A 🥴 education systems all sorts of messed up

[@sleepodeepo]

Reminds me of MCAT CARS passages...

[@epheatay8502]

BCA: Before Change After Table in Maths is a table to help you in Mathematics haha

[@pearlynlo8095]

LOL!!! This is too funny! 🤣

[@mega7325]

Can someone literally explains me why the answer for q3 is 2? I thought it was 5 or either 1 or 4 😭

[@evanification965]

yeah isn't question 3 definitely option 5 though TT

[@kokkikok1]

the questions hard or what sia

[@sydneyliu4825]

Some questions are so long but what they’re asking for has nothing to do with the passage it’s about grammar wtf

[@yoojihoon97]

If you are wondering which American youtuber that Amanda is talking about at 11:01 . Here is the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYmWgYBoatWlZsk

[@Nyctorenity]

how good is your english? me: erm im ok i guess? first question came and reading only first few lines... me: ok yknow what fk this

[@1stClassGenesis]

Where are the 4/5’s?

[@delusionalfan]

Indeed, I could read qn 2 the fastest in my own head

[@KP-ce6fx]

This is so easy? I knew most of them, but i though my english was very weak....guess not so much after all

[@azmanamin182]

Wow I got 5/5 Tine to change my citizenship