Interview/ Insight into English Language Proficiency Test Prep

• What specific exams were you preparing for? IELTS and GRE
• Why was this exam of importance to your career, education, or life in the states? They were important for my doctoral study . they were the US universities' requirement for  admission.
• What is the purpose of the exam? ILETS purpose was assessing the test takers English proficiency. GRE purpose, I think it was to evaluate test takers intellectual and critical thinking.
• What were the steps you have taken to study and prepare? For IELTS, I took some class just for being familiar with exam questions and  strategies for answer the questions. For  English knowledge part, I had a self study. For speaking, I practiced my speaking with my American friends via Skype. 
• What were some other exams that have tested your English proficiency? TOEFL IBT
• What were your concerns on English exams? Time were too limited for answering all types of questions. I strongly believe that these commercial exams increase test takers anxiety by putting pressure on test takers because it is beneficial for the test administration if test takers resit the exam for many times.  
• How you do feel about your language learning, do you feel I.e. confident, nervous? Before coming to the US, I thought my English was great, but when I arrived here, I lost my self confidence as I could not understand Americans very well especially if they talked very fast. I think I should keep working on my English in order to understand what people say.  I understand them around 90%. 
• Any other thoughts on your experience in English proficiency exams? I believe that these exams are not fair for two reasons: First, they cannot assess language learners competence, they just judge your performance in a very limited time. Time pressure is very challenging as well as exams duration that make test takers exhausted. Secondly, some people are skillful to answer multiple choices. They may not be fluent in English but they are good at finding the right answers. All in all, I did not find these exams very fair and academic.