The CTCSOL (Certificate for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages) test is an international standardised test to assess candidates as Chinese language teachers internationally.

The Business Confucius Institute in Athens (ABCI) is currently the first and only official test centre in Greece to offer the CTCSOL certificate that includes a written test and an interview assessment for local candidates. Only those who pass the written test can apply for an interview. The results of the written test are valid for two years, and you can apply for an interview within the validity period; those who pass the interview can apply for a certificate within two years after the interview results are announced, with the interview results and an undergraduate university degree or higher (see Below “Test Eligibility”).

For more information, visit China’s CTCSOL site.

The CTCSOL (Certificate for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages) test is an international standardized test sponsored by the Chinese-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education to assess candidates as Chinese language teachers internationally in the following five domains:

• Basics in Chinese Language Teaching
• Chinese Language Teaching Methodology
• Instructional Design and Classroom Management
• Chinese Culture and Cross-cultural Communication

Professional Ethics and Disciplinary Development

The certification is used to benchmark the quality and standard of those teaching Chinese language anywhere in the world. The CTCSOL is the only certificate recognized by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) for teaching the Chinese language in the 1.500 Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in more than 132 countries around the world. This gives you immense global job accessibility and mobility. The CTCSOL is a testimonial to your higher quality / ability in teaching the Chinese language. This allows you to command a premium when it comes to negotiating for jobs or projects.

Note:

Registration link will be only open during the registration period indicated above.

Exam Registration and Payment in TWO steps.

Step 1: Online Registration to include your personal details.

Step 2: Payment. After registering online, pay the test fee before the registration deadline by direct deposit to the Athens Business Confucius Institute account at National Bank of Greece. You can do this at any National Bank branch, via an ATM or via web/mobile banking through your own bank. After you have paid, the test cannot be cancelled.

The name of the examinee should appear in the ‘Αιτιολογία’ field on the bank deposit slip or web/mobile banking transaction form.

You will need the following information for direct deposit and web banking:

Written Test: 120 euros 

Interview Assessment: 180 euros 

All fees are non-refundable, non-exchangeable for cash and cannot be transferred to another exam date.

The CTCSOL test is for candidates in Greece who:

1. Have an undergraduate university degree or higher; candidates with undergraduate or higher degrees NOT awarded by Greek Universities will also need to provide the official recognition by the Greek authorities (Hellenic National Academic Recognition Information Center “DOATAP”) and
2. Αre native speakers of Chinese holding a Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) passport, OR, are non-Chinese nationals who wish to teach Chinese language and culture and have Chinese proficiency equivalent to HSK level 5 or HSKK Intermediate level.

The CTCSOL test is comprised of a:

1. A written test and
2. An interview assessment.

You will complete on-site paper-based test at the Business Confucius Institute in Athens. The written test has a total of 150 questions. The test time is 155 minutes (including 5 minutes for candidates to fill in the answer sheet).

The written test is divided into three parts: basic knowledge, application ability, and comprehensive quality. Each part has 50 questions. The first two parts of the test questions, the basic knowledge and application ability parts, mainly adopt the case-introduction design, and the cases are derived from teaching practice and have various forms; the third part, the comprehensive quality part, adopts the form of situational judgment test, focusing on examining candidates’ cross-cultural adaptability and communication skills.

Candidates MUST have passed the written test within the last two years in order to register for the interview.

The interview adopts a combination of structured interview and situational simulation. The preparation time is 30 minutes and the test time is 25 minutes, including lectures, trial lectures, questions and answers and foreign language proficiency tests. 

Register and pay before the deadline (see above).

The interview focuses on the ability of candidates to comprehensively use various methods to design teaching plans, organize and implement the teaching process, complete teaching tasks, and use foreign languages ​​to communicate and assist in teaching. The examiner will provide a comprehensive score based on the performance of the candidates in the interview process, out of 150 points.

Candidates must successfully complete each section of the program, as required, before being able to do the next part.

At the successful completion of the written test and assessment, candidates can apply to receive their CTCSOL certificate from Chinese Testing International within two years. The Certificate for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages is valid for 5 years.

For more information and frequently asked questions, visit China’s CTCSOL FAQs.