Technically, as far at the Studieskolen module calendar is concerned, this module doesn't end for another 2 weeks. However, since påskeferie (or Easter vacation) is next week, our teachers decided it would be better to have our module test the Friday before the break. I know I don't expect to speak much Danish during my week off, so I can understand the logic.
One small problem...
My husband and I booked tickets to go see the family in England long before they decided when they were going to have the exam, and I leave on Thursday.
Luckily, the folks at Studieskolen are generally pretty understanding about the fact that their students are adults and have lives outside of Danish class, and are totally accommodating. What that means, however, is that I'll be taking the test by myself in a different room during class on Thursday morning.
As far as what the test will involve, here's what I know: There's no spoken section of this exam, and no listening section either. As far as I know, the test is made up of a few sections that involve reading texts and choosing correct answers based on that test, and then a writing section in which we'll need to write a formal letter and possibly an informal email.
We spent the last class working on informal emails, and we spent one previous class working on understanding the formal and commonly used expressions in formal emails. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, I feel like this is a skill that would have been helpful MUCH earlier on. At the very least, earlier on on module 3. Hell, even closer to the beginning of module 3.2.
But I don't write the curriculum, so...
We'll see how it goes.
And a quick update on this post: I went to the hospital on Friday, and they took a family history and and gave me some additional information about the implications and preventative measures if I do end up having the gene (all of which was actually more distressing than I'd previously thought), and then sent me downstairs to get blood drawn for the test itself. And now, I wait. I wait somewhere between 1 and 2 months...
Showing posts with label Module 3.2 test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Module 3.2 test. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 3.2, Frustrations
I'm about a week away from my module 3 exam, and there's definitely tension in the air in my class. It seems that quite a few of my classmates are frustrated with the class for various reasons.
Some feel like they're not learning anything new, or they don't feel like we're focusing on the things they need help with. Others are simple lost completely. Still others (myself included) are getting tired of our Monday/Wednesday teacher's teaching methods.
It's been a very different vibe in class during module 3, and not always in a good way. Especially on Mondays and Wednesdays, when many of us feel that even the teacher doesn't know the correct answers. And if he doesn't really know what the answers are, then how are we supposed to learn?
Today was especially frustrating. We spent part of the class working on the "tryk" or stress on words in sentences. Danish is a sort of musical language, and the inflection has a sort of rhythm to it. Unfortunately, our teacher doesn't seem to be a terribly rhythmic guy, so even when he's saying a sentence with the stresses clearly on one word, he tells us that the stress is on different words. It's baffling and frustrating. It's never been an exercise that I've had problems with until I started taking classes with him.
As far as the module 3 exam, it's entirely made up of reading and writing exercises. No listening or speaking this time around, which is fine with me.
However, we've just now started learning how to write the more formal letters that we'll have to write for the exam. Things like job application letters and formal requests for various things. If it were up to me, that's the kind of thing we would have been working on from the start. The Danish job application letter is very different from an American cover letter, and I just today found out that I've been writing them incorrectly since I got here.
It's frustrating.
More frustrating still, it looks like I'll have the same teachers for module 4. I still really like our Thursday/Friday teacher, but Monday/Wednesday-guy needs to get his act together.
Some feel like they're not learning anything new, or they don't feel like we're focusing on the things they need help with. Others are simple lost completely. Still others (myself included) are getting tired of our Monday/Wednesday teacher's teaching methods.
It's been a very different vibe in class during module 3, and not always in a good way. Especially on Mondays and Wednesdays, when many of us feel that even the teacher doesn't know the correct answers. And if he doesn't really know what the answers are, then how are we supposed to learn?
Today was especially frustrating. We spent part of the class working on the "tryk" or stress on words in sentences. Danish is a sort of musical language, and the inflection has a sort of rhythm to it. Unfortunately, our teacher doesn't seem to be a terribly rhythmic guy, so even when he's saying a sentence with the stresses clearly on one word, he tells us that the stress is on different words. It's baffling and frustrating. It's never been an exercise that I've had problems with until I started taking classes with him.
As far as the module 3 exam, it's entirely made up of reading and writing exercises. No listening or speaking this time around, which is fine with me.
However, we've just now started learning how to write the more formal letters that we'll have to write for the exam. Things like job application letters and formal requests for various things. If it were up to me, that's the kind of thing we would have been working on from the start. The Danish job application letter is very different from an American cover letter, and I just today found out that I've been writing them incorrectly since I got here.
It's frustrating.
More frustrating still, it looks like I'll have the same teachers for module 4. I still really like our Thursday/Friday teacher, but Monday/Wednesday-guy needs to get his act together.
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