I'm taking a break from preparing for the looming final leg of the Studieprøve (which, for me, is tomorrow morning), as I realized that I haven't done a breakdown of this part of the exam.
So, it breaks down like this:
After we took the listening portion of the exam, we were handed a paper with a list of three umbrella topics, under each of which were a variety of possible directions to go in when talking about each topic. This time around, the umbrella topics are "sport's role in society," "the welfare state," and "public health in Denmark."
Unlike for the PD3, where we only needed to prepare a 2-minute presentation on a topic, for this exam we are expected to prepare three presentations, one for each umbrella topic. Each one needs to be 5 minutes long.
The day goes as follows: First, we come in and give a 1-minute presentation about ourselves (who we are, why we're taking module 6 Danish, what we're doing with our lives, etc.). We then choose, at random, one of 3 cards. That card will correspond to one of the umbrella topics we have prepared, and it's that presentation that we give. After that, we then take the remaining 20 minutes or so to have a discussion of the topic presented with the censor.
It's a lot more work that any of us expected. Because not only are we preparing 3 topics to present, we're also expected to know enough about each topic to discuss it for another 20 minutes after the presentation.
So, the exam sure does go out with a bang.
Luckily for me, I leave on Friday for a much needed trip back to the US to visit my family and friends. Even if I manage to forget every word of Danish that I've ever learned while I'm away, it's okay as long as I pass tomorrow, because I'll never have to take another Danish class EVER AGAIN.
Showing posts with label PD3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PD3. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Tempest in a Håndtaske
Having a wallet stolen is always disconcerting, and almost always comes with a host of inconveniences.
Such has been the case for me since I had my wallet stolen while walking around Magasin du Nord near Kongens Nytorv about a month ago.
I did all of the standard things as soon as I realized it was gone: cancelled my bank cards and ordered new ones, called the police to report the theft, etc. What I wasn't expecting was that I would later have issues when I showed up for the Studieprøve...
As is also the case with the Prove i Dansk 3, you're told to show up to the exam with photo identification, so that you can prove that you are the person that they have listed as signed up for the exam. What they don't quite make clear is that you're also supposed to be proving that you are a legal resident.
This is all well and good if you're an EU citizen, as you're allowed to live in Denmark just by virtue of living in the EU. But for those of us who are not from an EU country, our status as legal resident isn't proven just by showing a passport.
I showed up to the exam with my passport, completely unconcerned. There were two censors in our testing room, and the one who checked my legitimation insisted that I needed to prove my residency. Luckily, the other censor was actually my teacher from modules 3 and 4, so she vouched for me, but I was told that I needed to be sure to bring proof of residency to the next two parts of the exam.
Okay, fine, fair enough.
Off I went yesterday, to see what I could do about getting myself a new residency card before June 4th. The people I spoke to at the State Administration were very nice, and I filled out my form and ordered my new card without any issue.
Well... almost without any issue.
The thing is... according to the woman I spoke to, the cards are made by a different company, and so the State Administration can't really predict how soon my new card will come.
She said it will take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months.
So... As you might expect, I had to go to the office at Studieskolen to explain the issue, and see what I can bring with me to prove that I'm allowed to be here. It seems that this isn't an issue that comes up very often, as the chances of having a residence card stolen right around the same time as an exam are pretty damn slim.
As of right now, I still don't have an answer. The women in the office at Studieskolen are looking into the issue, contacting an "expert," trying to figure out the solution.
So, that's today's little bit of advice - If you're not an EU citizen, bring your residence card.
Better safe than sorry.
Such has been the case for me since I had my wallet stolen while walking around Magasin du Nord near Kongens Nytorv about a month ago.
I did all of the standard things as soon as I realized it was gone: cancelled my bank cards and ordered new ones, called the police to report the theft, etc. What I wasn't expecting was that I would later have issues when I showed up for the Studieprøve...
As is also the case with the Prove i Dansk 3, you're told to show up to the exam with photo identification, so that you can prove that you are the person that they have listed as signed up for the exam. What they don't quite make clear is that you're also supposed to be proving that you are a legal resident.
This is all well and good if you're an EU citizen, as you're allowed to live in Denmark just by virtue of living in the EU. But for those of us who are not from an EU country, our status as legal resident isn't proven just by showing a passport.
I showed up to the exam with my passport, completely unconcerned. There were two censors in our testing room, and the one who checked my legitimation insisted that I needed to prove my residency. Luckily, the other censor was actually my teacher from modules 3 and 4, so she vouched for me, but I was told that I needed to be sure to bring proof of residency to the next two parts of the exam.
Okay, fine, fair enough.
Off I went yesterday, to see what I could do about getting myself a new residency card before June 4th. The people I spoke to at the State Administration were very nice, and I filled out my form and ordered my new card without any issue.
Well... almost without any issue.
The thing is... according to the woman I spoke to, the cards are made by a different company, and so the State Administration can't really predict how soon my new card will come.
She said it will take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months.
So... As you might expect, I had to go to the office at Studieskolen to explain the issue, and see what I can bring with me to prove that I'm allowed to be here. It seems that this isn't an issue that comes up very often, as the chances of having a residence card stolen right around the same time as an exam are pretty damn slim.
As of right now, I still don't have an answer. The women in the office at Studieskolen are looking into the issue, contacting an "expert," trying to figure out the solution.
So, that's today's little bit of advice - If you're not an EU citizen, bring your residence card.
Better safe than sorry.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Studieprøven - How to Prepare
Under two weeks until the first part of the Studieprøve exam, and I'm feeling surprisingly calm.
My grades on the practice exams have been steadily improving, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I still have the most issues with the listening and dictation portion of the exam, but that part isn't until next month, so I've got a bit more time.
Today, I had a comment on a previous post from someone who is studying for the exam on her own, asking for suggestions for books or other resources to buy online. We didn't actually use any books this module, so here are my two suggestion for anyone looking for ways to help study for the Studieprøve:
1. Read the newspaper. We spend a lot of time in class reading through recent news articles about topics from Danish and European politics, to climate change, to Greenland, and more. Not only does this help with building vocabulary, but it also gives a lot of context that can be included in both the written and oral portions of the exam.
2. Practice, practice, practice. Nearly every day in class, we practice for the exam with one or more portions from previous exams. It's really helpful to get a feel for the layout and timing of the exam. For example, similar to the PD3 exam, there is a reading portion in which we're given a pamphlet and asked to scan through it and find short answers. Easy enough, but we're only given 25 minutes for this portion of the Studieprøve, so it's important to practice scanning and knowing how much time to take for each question. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you'll find examples of the various sections of the exam from previous years. SOOOOOO important to take advantage of these and keep yourself strictly to the time allowed for each section.
Hopefully those tips are helpful to those of you heading into the exams soon. I'd love you hear how it went for all of you when you're done.
My grades on the practice exams have been steadily improving, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I still have the most issues with the listening and dictation portion of the exam, but that part isn't until next month, so I've got a bit more time.
Today, I had a comment on a previous post from someone who is studying for the exam on her own, asking for suggestions for books or other resources to buy online. We didn't actually use any books this module, so here are my two suggestion for anyone looking for ways to help study for the Studieprøve:
1. Read the newspaper. We spend a lot of time in class reading through recent news articles about topics from Danish and European politics, to climate change, to Greenland, and more. Not only does this help with building vocabulary, but it also gives a lot of context that can be included in both the written and oral portions of the exam.
2. Practice, practice, practice. Nearly every day in class, we practice for the exam with one or more portions from previous exams. It's really helpful to get a feel for the layout and timing of the exam. For example, similar to the PD3 exam, there is a reading portion in which we're given a pamphlet and asked to scan through it and find short answers. Easy enough, but we're only given 25 minutes for this portion of the Studieprøve, so it's important to practice scanning and knowing how much time to take for each question. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you'll find examples of the various sections of the exam from previous years. SOOOOOO important to take advantage of these and keep yourself strictly to the time allowed for each section.
Hopefully those tips are helpful to those of you heading into the exams soon. I'd love you hear how it went for all of you when you're done.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Studieskolen - Module 6 is Melting My Brain
Oh, hi there!
Remember me? I'm that terrible blogger who hasn't written anything in nearly a month in a half. Yeah, that one!
The truth is, module 6 has us writing so much that I just haven't been able to bring myself to write more. Strangely, we took the entire class today to do a practice of the writing portion of the studieprøve exam, which is 3 hours of writing.
And yet, here I am. Go figure.
So, let's catch up a bit.
Firstly, module 6 is hard. On the very first day of class, we were already doing practice portions of the exam, which isn't until May/June. And everyone in the class got high scores on their PD3 exam, which means everyone is really damn good at Danish.
That being said, I at least would have passed the portion that we practiced that first day, which is reassuring. And the majority of university programs that require the studieprøve exam only require that you pass it with a score of 2 or higher.
As I mentioned, we're doing tons of writing, and often on topics that I struggle to stay interested in. For example, we spent a couple of weeks discussing the EU parliament and the Danes who sit on it. I wish I could care about EU politics, but as of yet, I haven't been able to.
Our teacher is tough, but nice. She knows a lot and expects a lot, but is also perfectly willing to go off topic on occasion.
And she reminds me of my sister. She actually looks a bit like her, and drinks huge amounts of coffee out of pint glasses, just like my sister does.
We'll be continuing to practice all of the many different bits of the exam for the next few months. Not only does this exam include the reading, writing, and speaking portions like the PD3 exam, but it also includes a listening portion, which includes some dictation. Dictation in which every word has to be spelled exactly correctly, otherwise the answer is considered completely wrong.
I'd like to go ahead and recommend a Danish dictionary. It's just Danish, not Danish-English, but I've found it really useful. It's actually just the updated version of one of the dictionaries that they have in every classroom at Studieskolen. Here it is:
Remember me? I'm that terrible blogger who hasn't written anything in nearly a month in a half. Yeah, that one!
The truth is, module 6 has us writing so much that I just haven't been able to bring myself to write more. Strangely, we took the entire class today to do a practice of the writing portion of the studieprøve exam, which is 3 hours of writing.
And yet, here I am. Go figure.
So, let's catch up a bit.
Firstly, module 6 is hard. On the very first day of class, we were already doing practice portions of the exam, which isn't until May/June. And everyone in the class got high scores on their PD3 exam, which means everyone is really damn good at Danish.
That being said, I at least would have passed the portion that we practiced that first day, which is reassuring. And the majority of university programs that require the studieprøve exam only require that you pass it with a score of 2 or higher.
As I mentioned, we're doing tons of writing, and often on topics that I struggle to stay interested in. For example, we spent a couple of weeks discussing the EU parliament and the Danes who sit on it. I wish I could care about EU politics, but as of yet, I haven't been able to.
Our teacher is tough, but nice. She knows a lot and expects a lot, but is also perfectly willing to go off topic on occasion.
And she reminds me of my sister. She actually looks a bit like her, and drinks huge amounts of coffee out of pint glasses, just like my sister does.
We'll be continuing to practice all of the many different bits of the exam for the next few months. Not only does this exam include the reading, writing, and speaking portions like the PD3 exam, but it also includes a listening portion, which includes some dictation. Dictation in which every word has to be spelled exactly correctly, otherwise the answer is considered completely wrong.
I'd like to go ahead and recommend a Danish dictionary. It's just Danish, not Danish-English, but I've found it really useful. It's actually just the updated version of one of the dictionaries that they have in every classroom at Studieskolen. Here it is:
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2014 Preview
A friend of mine once told me that odd numbered years tend to be the toughest. Not all odd numbered years, but when a year is tough, it always seems to be odd numbered.
Now, I don't really believe in that kind of thing, but I will admit that 2013 has been a tough one, with almost everyone I know going through very difficult times. And I'll also admit that the last year that I had that came anywhere near to being as tough was 2009.
The good news is that 2014 is just hours away, and while much of how the year will go is up in the air, I'm doing my best to think of it as a year of possibilities.
So, what can you expect to read about? A few things:
- On the 6th of January, I'll make my way back to the halls of Studieskolen to begin module 6. That's right, they actually let me in. My oral exam didn't shake out as I'd hoped, as I was unexpectedly and excessively nervous. Having walked out of my little presentation with only a 7, I had to call the student counselor to see if they would still allow me to proceed. Luckily, the writing portion of the PD3 is the most important for module 6, and I'd gotten a 10 on that, so they signed me up without any issue. So that means even more Studieskolen updates.
- In February, the university application website opens, and I'll be able to start applying for programs at several of the schools in the Copenhagen area. Once all of that's done, I'll try to give updates on that process and the process of applying for SU (the student stipend that Danish and other EU citizens receive when they attend university). I've heard horror stories about how much bureaucracy and misinformation there is when it comes to my particular SU loophole, so… that should be interesting.
- We may have a chance to make a trip back to America this year. It's strange that it's been a year and a half since we've been there. The time here has really flown.
- Hopefully, if everything goes as I hope it will, I'll be heading back to school in the Fall. Which program? I don't know yet. Which school? Also a mystery. But I'm sure I'll post as soon as decisions are made.
So, I hope you all have a lovely New Years, and I hope your 2014 is full of just as many possibilities.
Now, I don't really believe in that kind of thing, but I will admit that 2013 has been a tough one, with almost everyone I know going through very difficult times. And I'll also admit that the last year that I had that came anywhere near to being as tough was 2009.
The good news is that 2014 is just hours away, and while much of how the year will go is up in the air, I'm doing my best to think of it as a year of possibilities.
So, what can you expect to read about? A few things:
- On the 6th of January, I'll make my way back to the halls of Studieskolen to begin module 6. That's right, they actually let me in. My oral exam didn't shake out as I'd hoped, as I was unexpectedly and excessively nervous. Having walked out of my little presentation with only a 7, I had to call the student counselor to see if they would still allow me to proceed. Luckily, the writing portion of the PD3 is the most important for module 6, and I'd gotten a 10 on that, so they signed me up without any issue. So that means even more Studieskolen updates.
- In February, the university application website opens, and I'll be able to start applying for programs at several of the schools in the Copenhagen area. Once all of that's done, I'll try to give updates on that process and the process of applying for SU (the student stipend that Danish and other EU citizens receive when they attend university). I've heard horror stories about how much bureaucracy and misinformation there is when it comes to my particular SU loophole, so… that should be interesting.
- We may have a chance to make a trip back to America this year. It's strange that it's been a year and a half since we've been there. The time here has really flown.
- Hopefully, if everything goes as I hope it will, I'll be heading back to school in the Fall. Which program? I don't know yet. Which school? Also a mystery. But I'm sure I'll post as soon as decisions are made.
So, I hope you all have a lovely New Years, and I hope your 2014 is full of just as many possibilities.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
PD3 Part I - THE RESULTS ARE IN!
The reading and writing portions of the PD3 exam were just under two weeks ago, and despite all of the preparation, I still felt nervous and unfocused. I just barely finished each section within the allotted time, mostly because I spent huge portions of time just staring down at my paper.
A few days before our scores were due to arrive, our teacher gave us a look at the answers to the reading portion. This was great and all, but with a crap memory like mine, it only helped to confirm the few answers that I could remember. Since our own answers were off being graded, we only had our own memories to go by as we checked the answers. What I was able to confirm was that the one question I was almost sure I got wrong was, in fact, wrong.
We celebrated finishing the most time-consuming bit of the exam with a party at our place the Friday after the exam. Everyone brought a dish from whatever country they came from, and the evening was full of fun conversation and TONS of food. It was the very definition of Danish hygge.
On Friday morning, as I walked to class, I checked my email hoping I would have the email containing my grades. I had, indeed, received an email from the school, but it looked at first like it only contained the time and place for my oral exam on the 16th. As I scrolled further down, though, I got a shock that almost had me shouting out loud right there on the sidewalk:
Resultatet af dine skriftlige prøver fra denne termin:
Læseforståelse: 10
Skriftlig fremstilling: 10
Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles… I actually managed to get the 10s I will need to continue on to module 6 after New Years!
I also received the subject for which I'm supposed to prepare a 2-minute monologue for the oral exam: Illegal dog breeds in Denmark.
We all know I love to talk about dogs, plus the topic was given well before we were expecting, giving us even more time than we thought we'd have to prepare.
Merry Christmas to me!
A few days before our scores were due to arrive, our teacher gave us a look at the answers to the reading portion. This was great and all, but with a crap memory like mine, it only helped to confirm the few answers that I could remember. Since our own answers were off being graded, we only had our own memories to go by as we checked the answers. What I was able to confirm was that the one question I was almost sure I got wrong was, in fact, wrong.
We celebrated finishing the most time-consuming bit of the exam with a party at our place the Friday after the exam. Everyone brought a dish from whatever country they came from, and the evening was full of fun conversation and TONS of food. It was the very definition of Danish hygge.
On Friday morning, as I walked to class, I checked my email hoping I would have the email containing my grades. I had, indeed, received an email from the school, but it looked at first like it only contained the time and place for my oral exam on the 16th. As I scrolled further down, though, I got a shock that almost had me shouting out loud right there on the sidewalk:
Resultatet af dine skriftlige prøver fra denne termin:
Læseforståelse: 10
Skriftlig fremstilling: 10
Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles… I actually managed to get the 10s I will need to continue on to module 6 after New Years!
I also received the subject for which I'm supposed to prepare a 2-minute monologue for the oral exam: Illegal dog breeds in Denmark.
We all know I love to talk about dogs, plus the topic was given well before we were expecting, giving us even more time than we thought we'd have to prepare.
Merry Christmas to me!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Studieskolen - HERE COMES THE PD3
What a terrible blogger I've been!
With the looming PD3 exam, I've been utterly distracted. So distracted, in fact, that the damn thing snuck right up on me.
In fact, it's tomorrow. Or rather, the first part of it is tomorrow.
Since we've spent the last month or so doing practice exams with actual previous PD3s, I am able to give a pretty good breakdown of how the thing works. So, here goes:
The first day of the exam lasts about 5 hours. It starts with the "reading and understanding" portion, which is broken up into 2 sections. First, we're given some kind of information booklet (so far we've seen booklets about Danish taxes, university programs, nature hikes and short trips within Denmark, among others), from which we answer maybe a dozen questions. We're given 25 minutes for this bit, so it's all about reading the Table of Contents and scanning through information. Next, we're given a packet with 2-3 articles and we're given 65 minutes to read them and answer questions. The tricky bit here is that they're looking for very specific answers, so if you haven't fully understood the text, you're likely to give either too much or too little information for your response, leading to them counting your answer wrong, even if it's mostly right. An important thing to note for this part of the exam is that, despite being allowed to use dictionaries for this part during all of the previous module exams, dictionaries of any kind are not allowed during this part of the PD3.
We'll then be given a 30 minute break, followed by the writing portion. Good news, folks - dictionaries of all kinds are allowed for this part! Here, we're expected to write two essays. One is a response to a letter or email, in which they're looking for more casual language. And for the second, we have a choice between two topics: One is based on statistics about Danes or Denmark in which we're supposed to show that we know how to analyze and discuss said statistics, and the second gives a topic for which there are several points of view and asks that we discuss the merits of some of them.
As I mentioned, we've been doing practice exams for the last month or so, and our teacher has been grading them as though they were real PD3 exams. Being used to an American grading system in which we're either graded from A to F, or we're graded on a percentage scale up to 100%, the Danish grading system is baffling to me. The possible grades are as follows: -3 and 00 are the grades below the failure line, a 2 is a passing grade, next is a 4 (which is the score needed to attain citizenship), followed by 7 (the American equivalent to getting a B), and finally 10 and 12. You need a 10 on all sections of the PD3 in order to proceed directly on the module 6.
How have I been doing to far? In the beginning, I was getting 7's on absolutely everything. Even the ones that I thought I'd done really well on, always a 7. Lately, though, I've been doing better. Mostly 10s, and even a 12 last week on a "reading and understanding" portion.
Here's hoping tomorrow's exam goes as well. A lot is riding on it.
No pressure or anything...
With the looming PD3 exam, I've been utterly distracted. So distracted, in fact, that the damn thing snuck right up on me.
In fact, it's tomorrow. Or rather, the first part of it is tomorrow.
Since we've spent the last month or so doing practice exams with actual previous PD3s, I am able to give a pretty good breakdown of how the thing works. So, here goes:
The first day of the exam lasts about 5 hours. It starts with the "reading and understanding" portion, which is broken up into 2 sections. First, we're given some kind of information booklet (so far we've seen booklets about Danish taxes, university programs, nature hikes and short trips within Denmark, among others), from which we answer maybe a dozen questions. We're given 25 minutes for this bit, so it's all about reading the Table of Contents and scanning through information. Next, we're given a packet with 2-3 articles and we're given 65 minutes to read them and answer questions. The tricky bit here is that they're looking for very specific answers, so if you haven't fully understood the text, you're likely to give either too much or too little information for your response, leading to them counting your answer wrong, even if it's mostly right. An important thing to note for this part of the exam is that, despite being allowed to use dictionaries for this part during all of the previous module exams, dictionaries of any kind are not allowed during this part of the PD3.
We'll then be given a 30 minute break, followed by the writing portion. Good news, folks - dictionaries of all kinds are allowed for this part! Here, we're expected to write two essays. One is a response to a letter or email, in which they're looking for more casual language. And for the second, we have a choice between two topics: One is based on statistics about Danes or Denmark in which we're supposed to show that we know how to analyze and discuss said statistics, and the second gives a topic for which there are several points of view and asks that we discuss the merits of some of them.
As I mentioned, we've been doing practice exams for the last month or so, and our teacher has been grading them as though they were real PD3 exams. Being used to an American grading system in which we're either graded from A to F, or we're graded on a percentage scale up to 100%, the Danish grading system is baffling to me. The possible grades are as follows: -3 and 00 are the grades below the failure line, a 2 is a passing grade, next is a 4 (which is the score needed to attain citizenship), followed by 7 (the American equivalent to getting a B), and finally 10 and 12. You need a 10 on all sections of the PD3 in order to proceed directly on the module 6.
How have I been doing to far? In the beginning, I was getting 7's on absolutely everything. Even the ones that I thought I'd done really well on, always a 7. Lately, though, I've been doing better. Mostly 10s, and even a 12 last week on a "reading and understanding" portion.
Here's hoping tomorrow's exam goes as well. A lot is riding on it.
No pressure or anything...
Friday, August 30, 2013
Pludselig Kan Jeg Forstå Dig!
So... all of a sudden, I can speak Danish.
I'm not sure when the shift happened from me feeling like I just didn't understand enough Danish to converse to suddenly feeling fairly comfortable with it. The change seemed to just appear from thin air.
It's a nice change.
Last week, I was hunting for a used digital piano on what is basically the Danish equivalent to Craigslist. I wasn't feeling terribly optimistic, because I'd never had a response from anyone I'd ever contacted from the site about anything. This time, however, I felt at least confident enough to write my inquiries in Danish, so I responded to two ads. And within an hour, I had responses from both. I arranged to take a look at one of the pianos, and when I was biking there, I decided I would try to get through as much of the conversation as possible in Danish.
We ended up doing the entire deal in Danish, and he actually seemed surprised to find out that I wasn't Danish. Point for me!
And just now, while out walking the dog, I struck up a conversation with a woman who's daughter I normally see walking their dog. She asked me where I was from, and when I told her, she said (in Danish, of course), "Oh, yes, I thought I heard a bit of an accent." She was then surprised to learn that I'd only been here a little over a year.
Granted, I've gotten pretty used to responding to the kinds of questions other dog owners ask, so it wasn't anything too complicated, but I'm feeling a little bit proud of my Danish skills lately.
It's refreshing to suddenly understand most of the conversations going on around me. There are still countless words that I don't know, but I'm feeling more and more confident that I might be able to do fairly well on my PD3 exam in November.
I'm not sure when the shift happened from me feeling like I just didn't understand enough Danish to converse to suddenly feeling fairly comfortable with it. The change seemed to just appear from thin air.
It's a nice change.
Last week, I was hunting for a used digital piano on what is basically the Danish equivalent to Craigslist. I wasn't feeling terribly optimistic, because I'd never had a response from anyone I'd ever contacted from the site about anything. This time, however, I felt at least confident enough to write my inquiries in Danish, so I responded to two ads. And within an hour, I had responses from both. I arranged to take a look at one of the pianos, and when I was biking there, I decided I would try to get through as much of the conversation as possible in Danish.
We ended up doing the entire deal in Danish, and he actually seemed surprised to find out that I wasn't Danish. Point for me!
And just now, while out walking the dog, I struck up a conversation with a woman who's daughter I normally see walking their dog. She asked me where I was from, and when I told her, she said (in Danish, of course), "Oh, yes, I thought I heard a bit of an accent." She was then surprised to learn that I'd only been here a little over a year.
Granted, I've gotten pretty used to responding to the kinds of questions other dog owners ask, so it wasn't anything too complicated, but I'm feeling a little bit proud of my Danish skills lately.
It's refreshing to suddenly understand most of the conversations going on around me. There are still countless words that I don't know, but I'm feeling more and more confident that I might be able to do fairly well on my PD3 exam in November.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 4.2, Exam Part I
It's been hot and humid in Copenhagen over the last couple of days. While 70+ degrees (fahrenheit) never used to feel especially hot, here in Copenhagen it feels oppressive. Something about the combination of the angle of the sun and the high humidity.
That, and the total lack of air conditioning anywhere.
It was in these sweaty conditions, and accompanied by the seemingly unending sounds of construction outside of the Studieskolen building, that we took the first part of our module 4 exam.
The test was fairly similar to previous exams, although it seemed to take much longer. We started with one of two written bits, for which I wrote a letter about where and how I grew up to a fictional person compiling stories of people's childhoods. We then moved on to the listening portion, in which we listened to various passages and answered questions based on them. This was then followed by the reading and understanding portion, where we had a variety of tasks involving reading or scanning through texts and answering questions or filling in blanks. The teacher was kind enough to break up the two long writing assignments, so we finished with the second of these. The final written task asked that we write an article for the fictional school newspaper discussing the pros and cons of volunteering to visit lonely elderly people in connection with the Red Cross.
We were given the test without any breaks, and the whole thing took 3 hours.
I was sweaty, tired, and starving when I left, but I'm 99% sure that I did just fine.
Providing I didn't somehow manage to bomb the whole thing, and that I don't completely forget how to speak Danish in anticipation of the spoken bit of the test on Monday, my plan is to attend module 5.1 over the Summer. The dilemma I briefly had was that my current teacher, who I have learned so much from, is taking the six-week Summer break and not continuing on to module 5.1 until August.
The solution?
I will most likely repeat module 5.1 again in August, because he's definitely the best teacher that I've had here so far. Plus, the more time I can spend in module 5 before the PD3 exam in November, the more likely I will be to get the minimum 10 required to move on to module 6.
Whatever it takes. Within reason.
That, and the total lack of air conditioning anywhere.
It was in these sweaty conditions, and accompanied by the seemingly unending sounds of construction outside of the Studieskolen building, that we took the first part of our module 4 exam.
The test was fairly similar to previous exams, although it seemed to take much longer. We started with one of two written bits, for which I wrote a letter about where and how I grew up to a fictional person compiling stories of people's childhoods. We then moved on to the listening portion, in which we listened to various passages and answered questions based on them. This was then followed by the reading and understanding portion, where we had a variety of tasks involving reading or scanning through texts and answering questions or filling in blanks. The teacher was kind enough to break up the two long writing assignments, so we finished with the second of these. The final written task asked that we write an article for the fictional school newspaper discussing the pros and cons of volunteering to visit lonely elderly people in connection with the Red Cross.
We were given the test without any breaks, and the whole thing took 3 hours.
I was sweaty, tired, and starving when I left, but I'm 99% sure that I did just fine.
Providing I didn't somehow manage to bomb the whole thing, and that I don't completely forget how to speak Danish in anticipation of the spoken bit of the test on Monday, my plan is to attend module 5.1 over the Summer. The dilemma I briefly had was that my current teacher, who I have learned so much from, is taking the six-week Summer break and not continuing on to module 5.1 until August.
The solution?
I will most likely repeat module 5.1 again in August, because he's definitely the best teacher that I've had here so far. Plus, the more time I can spend in module 5 before the PD3 exam in November, the more likely I will be to get the minimum 10 required to move on to module 6.
Whatever it takes. Within reason.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 4.2, EXAM PANIC!
They've gone and scheduled our module 4 exam. It'll be broken up into two bits. The first bit will be a week from this Friday, and the last bit the following Monday.
As far as the actual make-up of the test, I don't have too many details. What I do know is that, much like the module 1 exam, we will have a spoken portion in which we are given a topic at random (from a list of three books we've read and two topics that we've prepared), and we are supposed to talk about the topic for two minutes, followed by questions from the teacher.
As far as the rest of the exam, for now I assume it will be much like the previous exams: some reading comprehension, some listening bits, and a written portion involving writing letters and/or emails.
To be honest, I'm not especially panicked about this exam.
It's the module 5 exam that's stressing me.
We were given Monday's class to decide on and research the two topics of our choosing for the spoken section of the test, and I found myself sitting at a computer next to our new teacher. I took the opportunity to grill him on what would be needed to proceed to module 6 after the PD3 exam at the end of module 5.
He explained the grading system, which is on a scale of 12. To pass the PD3, you only need to score a 2. In order to get Danish citizenship, you need to pass the test with a score of at least 4. In order to be allowed to proceed to module 6, which I would need in order to take university courses in Danish...
I'll need to score a 10.
So, the plan is to seriously buckle down. I've downloaded a couple of language-learning apps onto my iPad (the most useful of which, so far, is called Memrise, and teaches languages and loads of other topics), and plan to jump back into the Rosetta Stone practice as well. My main problem is, as always, remembering the vocabulary. I find myself looking up words a dozen times and still not being able to remember them the next time.
My plan, as well, is to try to continue to take Danish classes through the Summer break. There's only one day class offered at Studieskolen during the break, and my teacher admitted that it's entirely possible that there won't be room for everyone and that there's nothing I can do to ensure a spot, so...
Just gonna cross my fingers and hope that everyone else decides that they need a Summer vacation.
As far as the actual make-up of the test, I don't have too many details. What I do know is that, much like the module 1 exam, we will have a spoken portion in which we are given a topic at random (from a list of three books we've read and two topics that we've prepared), and we are supposed to talk about the topic for two minutes, followed by questions from the teacher.
As far as the rest of the exam, for now I assume it will be much like the previous exams: some reading comprehension, some listening bits, and a written portion involving writing letters and/or emails.
To be honest, I'm not especially panicked about this exam.
It's the module 5 exam that's stressing me.
We were given Monday's class to decide on and research the two topics of our choosing for the spoken section of the test, and I found myself sitting at a computer next to our new teacher. I took the opportunity to grill him on what would be needed to proceed to module 6 after the PD3 exam at the end of module 5.
He explained the grading system, which is on a scale of 12. To pass the PD3, you only need to score a 2. In order to get Danish citizenship, you need to pass the test with a score of at least 4. In order to be allowed to proceed to module 6, which I would need in order to take university courses in Danish...
I'll need to score a 10.
So, the plan is to seriously buckle down. I've downloaded a couple of language-learning apps onto my iPad (the most useful of which, so far, is called Memrise, and teaches languages and loads of other topics), and plan to jump back into the Rosetta Stone practice as well. My main problem is, as always, remembering the vocabulary. I find myself looking up words a dozen times and still not being able to remember them the next time.
My plan, as well, is to try to continue to take Danish classes through the Summer break. There's only one day class offered at Studieskolen during the break, and my teacher admitted that it's entirely possible that there won't be room for everyone and that there's nothing I can do to ensure a spot, so...
Just gonna cross my fingers and hope that everyone else decides that they need a Summer vacation.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Chatting with Children
Here's a conversation that I had today with a little boy who lives in our building (translated from Danish, as he has not yet started to learn English):
Little boy: What have you been doing today?
Me: I had Danish class this morning.
Little boy: I think you speak Danish well.
Me: Thank you! But there are still a lot of words that I can't understand.
Little boy: Yeah, me too.
All together now... Awwwwwww!
It has actually been really helpful and confidence-building to speak with the children in the neighborhood lately. The language is new-ish enough to them that they don't find it strange or frustrating if there are words I don't understand. In fact, I found myself nervously not unsure about a question that some kids in the dog park asked me a few weeks ago, but they happily obliged me by miming the action of picking up the dog. They were just asking if they could hold the puppy.
I'm getting to the point where I understand quite a lot of what people are saying around me. In fact, I tend to understand more than I think I understand. The trouble comes when someone asks a familiar question in a slightly unfamiliar way, and I completely lose the context and assume they're asking something I won't understand. For example, I was just in the dog park (again) and a little boy asked me how old my dog was. Trouble was, he didn't ask it in the way most people ask, which is "How old is he?" or "Hvor gammel er han?" in Danish. Instead, he asked "How many years is he?" or "Hvor mange år er han?" I knew the words, but wasn't used to being asked that way, so it took me a moment to wrap my head around the question.
It's all just going to take lots of practice.
And I'm going to need to start stepping up my Danish practice and consumption outside of class if I plan to continue on to module 6.
After class today, I asked my teacher if there was anything special I should do in order to continue on to the 6th module, as most people only go through module 5. The big Danish fluency exam takes place after module 5, and only those who want to take university courses in Danish continue on to the 6th. She clarified that I will need to get a very high score on my module 5 exam in order to be allowed to take module 6, so she recommended watching lots of Danish television, reading lots of Danish books and newspapers, and listening to Danish radio. Apparently, once you take and pass your big module 5 exam (known as Prøve i Dansk 3), you cannot be readmitted into module 5 classes without paying for them yourself. So, if I pass the Prøve i Dansk 3, but don't have a high enough score to continue to module 6, I'll have to pay to re-take classes and to re-take the exam.
So... you know...
No pressure.
Little boy: What have you been doing today?
Me: I had Danish class this morning.
Little boy: I think you speak Danish well.
Me: Thank you! But there are still a lot of words that I can't understand.
Little boy: Yeah, me too.
All together now... Awwwwwww!
It has actually been really helpful and confidence-building to speak with the children in the neighborhood lately. The language is new-ish enough to them that they don't find it strange or frustrating if there are words I don't understand. In fact, I found myself nervously not unsure about a question that some kids in the dog park asked me a few weeks ago, but they happily obliged me by miming the action of picking up the dog. They were just asking if they could hold the puppy.
I'm getting to the point where I understand quite a lot of what people are saying around me. In fact, I tend to understand more than I think I understand. The trouble comes when someone asks a familiar question in a slightly unfamiliar way, and I completely lose the context and assume they're asking something I won't understand. For example, I was just in the dog park (again) and a little boy asked me how old my dog was. Trouble was, he didn't ask it in the way most people ask, which is "How old is he?" or "Hvor gammel er han?" in Danish. Instead, he asked "How many years is he?" or "Hvor mange år er han?" I knew the words, but wasn't used to being asked that way, so it took me a moment to wrap my head around the question.
It's all just going to take lots of practice.
And I'm going to need to start stepping up my Danish practice and consumption outside of class if I plan to continue on to module 6.
After class today, I asked my teacher if there was anything special I should do in order to continue on to the 6th module, as most people only go through module 5. The big Danish fluency exam takes place after module 5, and only those who want to take university courses in Danish continue on to the 6th. She clarified that I will need to get a very high score on my module 5 exam in order to be allowed to take module 6, so she recommended watching lots of Danish television, reading lots of Danish books and newspapers, and listening to Danish radio. Apparently, once you take and pass your big module 5 exam (known as Prøve i Dansk 3), you cannot be readmitted into module 5 classes without paying for them yourself. So, if I pass the Prøve i Dansk 3, but don't have a high enough score to continue to module 6, I'll have to pay to re-take classes and to re-take the exam.
So... you know...
No pressure.
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