Are you taking your ALTA language exam?
Don’t let it catch you off guard.
Check out the ALTA Spanish Language Test Questions for your high performance!
What is ALTA Language Services
ALTA Language Services is an institution that provides language assessments in more than 100 languages. These services are aimed at businesses, healthcare organizations, and government agencies across the country.
Through an exam, these agencies objectively measure the language skills and performance of their professionals. Especially those who are applying for a bilingual position.
ALTA exams vary in format depending on the skills to be tested. If you have to take the Spanish exam, this is your opportunity to prepare yourself better.
ALTA test Spanish questions
ALTA test Spanish questions have seven sections. Speaking and Listening, Interpreting, Writing, Reading, Translation, Clinical and Cultural, and Qualified Bilingual. Below we will break down 3 of them and show you what you will see on your test.
1. Speaking and listening
The ALTA Speaking and Listening test is administered by telephone and lasts 15 to 25 minutes. The evaluator is a native Spanish speaker who will test your ability to express yourself orally in Spanish. ALTA provides you with a pin or access code so that when you call the phone number, you will be connected to the evaluator.
This code is valid 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after the scheduled test time. If you do not make the call within the established time, ALTA will directly notify the company that has requested your evaluation. The structure of this section is as follows.
Before you begin
- Your evaluator will ask for your full name.
- He/she will ask for permission to record the conversation.
- You must agree on a statement of honor.
- You may be asked another question about your identity.
During the test
Your evaluator will ask you a series of questions on various topics. Routine actions, expressing a preference, describing past or future situations, discussing a course of action, defending your own opinion. You will also be asked about specific topics of your work.
At the end of the test
- You will be instructed when to hang up the phone.
- You will be graded on categories such as communication, comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary.
- You will be assigned an overall score.
- Your results will be sent to the applicant’s company.
Suggestions and additional information
- Your tester cannot give you the test results.
- If you have telephone connection problems, you must notify your tester at the beginning of the test.
- The test is progressive; as you progress, the questions become more difficult.
- The evaluator does not stop the test.
- If you are unable to answer a question, you will be given a chance to answer it at the end of the test.
- Most of the questions are about conversational language and everyday topics.
- The tester uses common vocabulary, advanced vocabulary, and idioms.
- If you need a question rephrased or repeated, ask your evaluator.
- The use of language is evaluated more on the use of language than on the content of your answers.
- After two repetitions, the evaluator should subtract points from your score.
2. Interpretation
ALTA’s interpretation test covers all the important skills you need to apply in interpreting. You have 30 minutes to interpret a speech from English into Spanish. Various types of speeches, vocabulary, and dialogue units are covered here.
This exam is conducted over the phone with two testers and you will have to handle formal and conversational speeches. It´s designed for candidates who have practiced interpreting skills. So, if you do not have any instruction in the subject, it will be very difficult for you to take the test.
Before you begin
- You will have two evaluators, one for each language.
- If you need to take notes, have paper and pencil within reach.
- You will not be able to use devices to take notes or look up words.
- Non-progressive assessment.
- It starts with common greetings.
During the test
- You may take notes on paper.
- As soon as the evaluator stops speaking, you are to start interpreting.
- You will interpret from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English.
- You may request two repeat requests in the entire test.
- If you are unable to interpret a dialogue unit, the evaluator will move on to the next one.
- Easy and difficult vocabulary and structures can be presented in the same dialogue unit.
- Dialogues are structured to reproduce authentic conversation.
- Dialogue units are 30-35 words long.
- There are units with a short phrase or sentence.
- Varied vocabulary, general idioms, common slang.
- The vocabulary of your profession.
- You must demonstrate your ability to move from formal to informal speech and vice versa.
Suggestions and additional information
- Your accuracy and fluency will be graded.
- The overall score includes category scores.
3. Writing
The ALTA writing test is taken online with pre-selected questions. Its objective is to evaluate your ability to write in Spanish with an estimated time of 1 hour. Here’s what you should be aware of.
Before you begin
- The test consists of 5 questions.
- You must take it in a quiet place.
- You will have a timer in the corner of your screen that will give you an alert 5 minutes before the end.
- The questions elicit writing samples in a variety of styles and forms.
- Answers must be at least 100 words.
- You must answer all questions.
During the test
- Relate a personal experience, persuade, describe, give your opinion, and explain a procedure.
- You may advance to the next question and return later.
- You are not allowed to use reference material.
- Once you have started the test, you cannot stop or restart it.
- You must complete the test in one sitting.
- The quality and style of your sentences will be evaluated.
- Organization and expression of your ideas.
- Relation of the questions to your answers.
- Use of formal and informal structures.
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
At the end of the test
- When answering the last question you must click submit the test.
Suggestions and additional information
- Windows 10
- OSX 10.5 and higher
- Java Script
- Flash
- Broadband connection
- Chrome, Safari, and Firefox
- You must configure your keyboard for the English language.
- The copy and paste functions are disabled.
Questions are available
The ALTA Spanish test questions are available on their website. It includes demonstrations and sample questions that you might be asked.
There you will see structured all the content to be evaluated. Choose the section that corresponds to you according to your level or profession. Remember that the test for a flight attendant is not the same as the test for a surgeon or a firefighter.
If you still have doubts, you can review your Spanish lessons as many times as necessary. Success depends only on you; don’t let it pass you by!