We have always been asked after the launch of PROGOS®, “What makes PROGOS® different from TOEIC?®”.

What difference does it make?
How should I differentiate them?
Which exam should learners take?

The fact that PROGOS® is drastically different from common language exams is not well understood.
The crucial difference is that PROGOS® is the exam to measure and prove your English proficiency like TOEIC®, TOEFL®, and IELT(TM) but at the same time this is the diagnostic exam to analyze your English language skill. Let us explain the differences further.

A proficiency exam is an exam that proves your English level by a certain indicator that can be recognized anywhere. TOEIC®, TOEFL®, and IELTS(TM) visualize examinees’ skills by scoring and their results are utilized like a certification in promotions and job screening.

On the other hand, such proficiency exams have not provided information to analyze strength and weakness of examinees’ English language skills in detail and improve their skills. The purpose of a proficiency exam is to confirm examinees’ English proficiency as “proficiency” implies. In other words, a proficiency exam doesn’t have an aspect of a diagnostic exam to give feedback to improve the English skills of examinees.

However, most examinees take exams because they want to learn and improve their English skills, don’t they? This is why PROGOS® was developed as the proficiency and diagnostic exam, which breaks the well-received notion in English language exams.
Therefore, PROGOS® is a bit different from the exam that Japanese people think that they have to get a good score on.

The new attempt to populalize PROGOS® which developed based on a new learning concept is the initiative by RareJob to challenge the stereotype of language exams. The RareJob group has the vision on the background of this initiative to focus on improving language learning results.

There were only big challenges in the early days of RareJob.
Tried to break out of the norm by providing actual experiences

This is not the first time for the RareJob group to break preconceptions.
We used to face a big difficulty in the company’s founding business, providing online English tutorial classes.

“English is something you can learn only offline at a school.”
“I don’t want to learn English from a Filipino. English teachers have to be native speakers.”

The late 2000s was the dawn of online services with the advancement of internet technology. It is easy to imagine that people were more unwilling to learn online in the past than today. In addition, many Japanese people preferred studying English from native speakers, so it was difficult to tell them that learning English from non-native speakers, Filipinos with high English proficiency as a second language is as effective as learning from native speakers.

Providing free trial lessons was a good idea to stop such a preconceived notion which Japanese people had because they could see how convenient and effective online learning from Filipinos was. This was the reason why “Rarejob Eikaiwa” has offered free trial lessons since its launch.
We were able to break down the preconceived notion little by little by free trial lessons.

Needless to say, learning English from Filipinos is now par for the course for Japanese learners of English.

All what we have done for learners
The path led by PROGOS® as the diagnostic exam to help learners acquire practical English skills

PROGOS® is also challenging the well-received notion which Japanese people have regarding language exams.

People should get a good mark on an exam.
A good strategy and learning method are important to get a good mark.
An exam is the goal, so once people finish taking the exam, they stop studying.

These happen with TOEIC® and other exam takers, don’t these?

On the other hand, we recommend taking the PROGOS® exam “before learning” as well as after learning. This is because the exam is designed to help learners study more effectively and efficiently. If they really want to improve their English skills by learning, it is necessary to measure their current English proficiency properly at first and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.
If they start learning without analyzing their current proficiency, they will not be able to find a solid strategy or goal to acquire a practical English skill.

PROGOS® gives learners feedback as a “diagnostic report”.

The reason why PROGOS® returns score results in only a few minutes after taking the exam is that when learners are still motivated it motivates them more and more to keep studying by showing their current English skills and suggesting next paths which improve their learning efficiency. The reason why PROGOS® has six indicators to evaluate English skills is to visualize each learners’ different weak points and help them learn to overcome their weaknesses. The reason why the exam fee is reasonable with automatic scoring by AI is to make measuring English speaking skill of a routine.

All has been done for learners.
This is also the answer to the question of why the company with an English-related business developed the English exam.

Learners can clearly see where they are and how close they are to their goals by properly measuring English speaking skills. The RareJob group can provide the necessary learning to achieve their goals. Therefore, effective learning is achieved and learners can see learning outcomes.

This is the essence of PROGOS®, the diagnostic exam.

Even if the first step is small, we steadily move forward to the future we are aiming for.

PROGOS® was developed based on the certain concept of a “diagnostic exam for learners”.
PROGOS® is still halfway to being recognized well and it’s a big challenge to break out of the well-received notion about the English language exam.

Even though what a big challenge is, what we should do is only to overcome them.

PROGOS® has been offered a lot free of charge to corporations and universities. A free trial exam has also been provided with the release of the mobile application. These initiatives which increase contact with English learners give opportunities to let them experience the value of the exam.

This is just as in the past, “RareJob Eikaiwa” has transformed the preconceived notion of the Philippines and learning of English speaking which Japanese people had by providing free trial lessons.

We have been making progress while exploring ways to tackle our challenge and we have already got some confidence.
PROGOS® has already become the most popular speaking exam in Japan one year after its release. A large number of employees have taken PROGOS®, and more and more companies provide level-based training programs based on score results of employees.

Measuring skill and it leads to effective learning…this idea is spreading slowly but steadily.
We will not stop moving forward. We will push forward on the path toward challenge, until we realize the future we are aiming for.

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