[SlavicCPA]

In addition to the challenges that getting CPA brings, individuals that aren’t native English speakers have additional issues that they have to deal with and consider when studying. Anybody? Anybody who just began their CPA journey?

[Son]

Yep, that would be me, and judging by your name you're a fellow Eastern European:) I've just started studying for the CPA exam, took my first test a couple weeks ago. Are you living in the States now? Or do you travel here every time to take the test?

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[SlavicCPA]

I live and work in U.S. Almost done with my CIA and decided to get CPA too. I used Gleim for my first certification and see that some info in CPA materials are similar.

What are you using to study?

[sweetmoon]

That would be me too ! And I use Gleim for preparing too. I felt good with Gleim and the FAR,BEC & AUD.The subject was fairly the same with what I had studied in my home country,but REG is really tough f or me. The taxation here seems to be totally different and I am struggling to get hold of US Taxation. REG will be my last exam and I hope to be done with that within the next few days. Lets see.

FAR : 71, 83
AUD : 73,88
BEC : 87
REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

[Anonymous]

I am also slavic. Yeah, studying for audit was really difficult for me, I can't easily distinguish these passwords you need to answer the question correctly.

I also decided to leave BEC with its written communication for last hoping to improve my legalese in the process of studying for other exams. I also think I should have taken audit after REG for this same reason.

[Anonymous]

I was just thinking the same thing yesterday. I'm American and I'm currently studying Audit. I would say that I'm very strong in English language, but sometimes I come across words or sentence structures in my practice MCQ's that leave me absolutely speechless. The language used in these exams is sometimes more difficult to penetrate than the actual question.

I have a lot of respect for those of you who pass these exams with English as a second language….

[SlavicCPA]

Sweetmoon, good luck to you and fingers crossed 😉 Question for everyone: what is your profession and did it affect your choice of what CPA parts to take first? I am in audit and I was thinking of taking the exam in the following order: BEC and REG (study for both and schedule exams near each other) and then FAR and AUD. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

IMO, take FAR first. So much material in FAR underlies the rest of the exams. If you can gain a good foundation in FAR, the rest of the material in the other exams should make a lot more sense…

[Martin]

How do you determine if English is your second language? I came to the US at the age of 12 from Spain, I cant write in Spanish to save my life,but I'm fluent in both languages. I read a lot faster in English than I do in Spanish. I have a group of friends who only speak Spanish and another group who only Speak English cause they were born here. I dream in both languages too,so is kind of hard to tell if English is my second language.

Through God all things can happen!

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

FAR= 72-84
Audit= 73-82
BEC= 74-75
Reg=77

[Galina-Virginia]

Hey there, I am Slavic also, just in the very beginning of my preps… planning to take the FAR first.

[Son]

SlavicCPA, I use Becker and I think the materials are awesome, although many people say it's overpriced. Check with your employer if they are willing to cover the cost (Big4 companies do that, for instance). As to the order of sections, I would agree that you should take FAR first. I don't have an accounting background, so studying even for AUD was a bit of a challenge since there’s some overlap in the materials covered and Becker assumes you know the basics.

Martin, I think it's safe to say you're bilingual since you came at such a young age and likely don't have an accent.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[stoleway]

@martin

IMO, with the exception of being born and bred in Britain, English becomes a second language if you speak it with accent.

Whenever accent gives you away, you should know that you're ESL. In your case, I wouldn't consider you as ESL simply because you came here very young and passed through the American education right from elementary, high school and college, you basically lost all your accent at a very early age.

I don't have any evidence to back this, but I think if you came to the states after 18, it will be hard to get rid of accent.

To the OP, I'm also ESL and the only section I really struggled with is BEC simply because of the WC, but I made it and it feels good. I will advice anyone to start with FAR, REG, AUD and take BEC last.

AUD was tricky but the good thing about it is that you don't have to be a seasoned auditor to pass it.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[SlavicCPA]

Martin, I would say if you spent the majority of your adult life in the U.S. (High school, college, and professional career) and later, you are bilingual. Individuals that came to the U.S. at later age, e.g. after college, I'd say they consider English as their second language. The accent is definitive and it is not going to go away. The accent becomes permanent after 14-15 years old.

[SlavicCPA]

To Charlie: way to go with your exams! And what was the amount of time you spent on average a day to study?

[Anonymous]

@SlavicCPA, I usually spend around 4 hours per day every day when I'm in study mode. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less…

[SlavicCPA]

Is it better to do a self-study or enroll into a program and do on-campus plus online courses if you are ESL?

I am interested in completing CPA ASAP 6 months top.

[Author]

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