GAT English test study preparation...

[4evermaat]

I recently started to tutor someone in speaking/writing English more fluently at the request of her mother and a friend of her mom. She is 18 years old and in grade 12 at her school, about 2 months away from graduation. I just found out that she has a college entry exam. From what I can gather, GAT seems like a Thai equivalent of a mini SAT/ACT that some universities use to measure a student's aptitude in certain subject areas.

This student currently attends a private Catholic school in Chumphon Town (the name escapes me, but I think there is only one in the town, on Dead End Road). She has had no other contact with foreigners to study English other than at the school and watching YouTube videos. I must admit that her English writing skills are surprisingly good. I have heard about how dismal the English learning (and overall education standards) is at Thai schools. (But if she is any measure of the quality, I would like my kids to go to that private school or something like it as an alternative to an international school @ 7,500 baht per term + up to 2k baht yearly books (books must be purchased NEW, never used). That's another thread altogether.).

She is able to write complete sentences with acceptable punctuation. I can speak and she can understand the sounds of the words and can write with about 85-90%.accuracy. I can pronounce an English word and she can look up the English spelling in an English/Thai dictionary. and pick out the correct spelling most of the time. This is much better grasp of English than the majority of Thai teachers that I've seen teach English.

Her difficulty is being able to speak confidently and not thinking too much in English. In conversation, her grammar needs work. Her vocabulary needs to be improved greatly so she can handle more sophistication in conversation. She can write many sentences based on sound, but not know the meaning of many of the verbs/nouns/adjectives.

Her mom did sign her up for EnConcept Academy and she is going to Nakorn[-srithamasat] province for a 5 day course to help her prepare. Then I will resume tutoring her afterwards when she returns. I wonder if a lot of this is overkill, as this is something that she should have been preparing for over the last 4-6 months at least. She already takes a private minivan to school and back, so her normal days are like 13 hours between when she wakes up and when she arrives home, PLUS additional tutoring from myself (not sure if she will continue with Enconcept on the weekends in Surat Thani). She's already a bookworm from what I can tell and her ultimate ambitions are to study law and be a judge someday.

The test date is on 07 December 2013 and it seems like she is very nervous about it as is her mom. I have seen a copy of an older GAT english exam from 2011, and I must admit that it is a rather comprehensive English test for such a short period of time she has to prepare. There are some native English speakers (high school level) that would get tripped up on some of the questions I saw.

So I am wondering some of the following:

1) Is there any practice GAT tests that any members here have? I prefer an electronic format, but a printed format is ok also.

Any recommended books that teach how to tackle different types of questions? I remember tons of these type of books for SAT/ACT preperation in USA. Plus electronic (or paper) practice tests that simulate the actual exam very closely with actual test questions.

2) How is the GAT scored? Are points awarded only for correct answers, or is there any penalty for incorrect answers. (Is there penalty for guessing?)

3) any tips on how to best prepare for the exam? I have some knowledge on using elimination, looking for clues in the questions, etc.

4) how do you mitigate the student's fear? I think her world would end if she cannot get into the law program at the university.

Any other advice is helpful.