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.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Jobsamtalen
You're not crazy, there has, in fact, been a marked decrease in post frequency.
So, here's the latest:
I sent out a job application last weekend on a whim, expecting that, like generally happens, I would either not hear back, or would get an email saying that hundreds of people had applied for the position, and that I was not one of the ones chosen for an interview.
To my extreme surprise, I got an email back the following work day asking to set up a time for a phone interview. The phone interview went fantastically well. I'm not generally a cocky person, but when the call ended, I was 99% sure that I'd be asked to come in for an in-person interview.
And I was.
The interview took place two days ago, and I'm not quite as optimistic as I was after the phone interview. I wish I could say that I nailed it, but I was nervous. I think I'm better at sounding confident on the phone than in person. Must be all those years in radio, never seeing the faces of the people I was talking to. It's so difficult to know for sure with these things, and they did mention that they would be continuing to do interviews with other candidates throughout the rest of the week, before calling a few people in for a final interview.
At the moment, school is the backup plan. If I'm not offered this job, I'll go ahead and sign up for that supplementary Spanish course that I'd need to take to bump my foreign language from B-level to A-level, and hope that that helps me to land a spot in one of the 3 programs that I'm still waiting to hear back from.
And finally, yesterday was my birthday. The Big 3-3, if that's a thing. As is traditional here in Denmark, I brought cake to class with me. Then last night, my husband and I went out for a nice meal at Madklubben, followed by cocktails at a new-ish place called Strøm, which quickly became my favorite local bar. It's a cocktail bar with a pub feel. It's unpretentious, laid back, plays good music. It's 100% my kind of place.
So, that's the latest. The Studieprøve is coming up quickly, so look out for updates.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
A Wanna-Be Broadway Star in Retrospect
The Studieprøve exam is just a couple of months away, and almost every day in class is spent either doing practice tests, or going over some of the more complicated grammar rules, or trying to learn a few more new words.
Maybe it's because I've spent so much of the last year and a half looking forward towards this exam or that exam, that I have become a little bit nostalgic lately.
I've been expressing this nostalgia by uploading some of my old videos from back in the days when I wanted to be a Broadway star. Think Rachel Berry from Glee, but without the acting chops.
So, for those of you who love high school musical theater, or for those of you who want to see what a horrible actress I was back in the late 90s, here are a couple of samples.
We'll start with a scene from our 1998 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (I'm the girl in red):
And the end of Act I from the same show:
And finally, my one scene from our 1999 production of The Wiz, in which I donned a puffy pink dress and tested out being a blonde for the first time:
I've posted the full productions of both shows on my YouTube channel, as well as the video from the 2001 musical showcase from my graduating class at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, if you want to check them out. I'm hoping eventually to upload a few more, but it takes some time to scrounge up the old VHS tapes and transfer them to DVD in order to upload.
So, that's that for today.
Maybe it's because I've spent so much of the last year and a half looking forward towards this exam or that exam, that I have become a little bit nostalgic lately.
I've been expressing this nostalgia by uploading some of my old videos from back in the days when I wanted to be a Broadway star. Think Rachel Berry from Glee, but without the acting chops.
So, for those of you who love high school musical theater, or for those of you who want to see what a horrible actress I was back in the late 90s, here are a couple of samples.
We'll start with a scene from our 1998 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (I'm the girl in red):
And the end of Act I from the same show:
And finally, my one scene from our 1999 production of The Wiz, in which I donned a puffy pink dress and tested out being a blonde for the first time:
I've posted the full productions of both shows on my YouTube channel, as well as the video from the 2001 musical showcase from my graduating class at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, if you want to check them out. I'm hoping eventually to upload a few more, but it takes some time to scrounge up the old VHS tapes and transfer them to DVD in order to upload.
So, that's that for today.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
The Ansøgning Shuffle
The last few weeks have been stuffed to the gills with university application stresses.
The process of getting to the point where I can apply for university programs in both English and Danish has been a long one, culminating with this last module of Danish classes and a rush of trying to get paperwork together over the last month or so.
The application process here in Denmark is, on its surface, simpler than it is in America. But its open-ended nature makes it infinitely more stressful. Let me explain:
In the US, you get an application form to fill out, you write an essay about yourself, and you send the school your grades and your application fee. At least 10-15 years ago when I was last applying for colleges, that was how it went. All fairly low-tech, but what was expected of you was very clear.
Here in Denmark, the applications for almost all of the universities are done online through one central website, which then sends your information to your chosen schools. You fill out your personal information, choose up to 8 programs to apply to, upload your transcripts, proof of relevant experience, and (for most programs) what is called a "motiveret ansøgning," or motivation letter. It sounds pretty straight forward, but they leave it up to you to decide what documentation to upload, and aren't especially clear as to what constitutes proof of experience.
So, here's what I've managed to upload so far: My high school diploma and transcripts, the certificate and transcripts for the theater conservatory I went to back when I thought I wanted to be a Broadway star, and the transcript for the one semester at Emerson college that I managed before switching to said conservatory. I'm still impatiently waiting for transcripts from the university where I studied broadcasting, but they seem to be stuck in the 20th century, claiming that they need a signed request form mailed to them with a check, and claiming that they "don't have the capability" to scan and email the transcripts. This makes things infinitely more complicated and time-consuming when trying to accomplish it from overseas.
Not to mention, said university sent my first request form and check back, claiming that there was a hold on my account. After a lot of confusion/anger/stress, we finally determined that the hold was because of a $30 parking ticked that I apparently got 8 years ago. So, now that the bill is finally paid, we had to figure out a fast way to send the request and check back to them, and request that they send the transcript to my parents (who are, it would seem, far more technologically up to date than the university...), so that they can scan and email them to me.
There has to be a simpler way.
Actuallt, tthere is a simpler way. Emerson College has an online request form, through which you can request to have a secure PDF of your transcripts sent to you. I ordered mine last night, and had it uploaded to my application within an hour. How hard was that? Not hard, that's how hard.
But anyway, back to the applications...
So, as I mentioned, the whole thing is fairly open-ended. Especially when it comes to these motivation letters. I should also mention that 3 out of 4 of the programs I'm applying to require them, and 2 of those 3 need to be written in perfect Danish (the 3rd is for a course taught in English). So, I've written the two Danish letters and have forwarded them to my current Danish teacher, as well as my previous module's teacher, so that they can correct what I can only imagine are horrifying mistakes. But more troublesome than that, I have no idea if what I've said in the letters will be what the schools are looking for. Have I shown my knowledge of the programs well enough? Have I explained why my experience is relevant well enough?
Last things last, I've had a Danish friend helping me to translate my resume (or CV as they call it here in Europe), so that I can upload one in each language.
Will it all be enough? I honestly have no idea. I'm sure that I have more relevant experience than any kid straight out of high school, but have I documented it well enough?
All I can do is wait...
Who's stressed? Not me...
Nope...
Not stressed at all.
The process of getting to the point where I can apply for university programs in both English and Danish has been a long one, culminating with this last module of Danish classes and a rush of trying to get paperwork together over the last month or so.
The application process here in Denmark is, on its surface, simpler than it is in America. But its open-ended nature makes it infinitely more stressful. Let me explain:
In the US, you get an application form to fill out, you write an essay about yourself, and you send the school your grades and your application fee. At least 10-15 years ago when I was last applying for colleges, that was how it went. All fairly low-tech, but what was expected of you was very clear.
Here in Denmark, the applications for almost all of the universities are done online through one central website, which then sends your information to your chosen schools. You fill out your personal information, choose up to 8 programs to apply to, upload your transcripts, proof of relevant experience, and (for most programs) what is called a "motiveret ansøgning," or motivation letter. It sounds pretty straight forward, but they leave it up to you to decide what documentation to upload, and aren't especially clear as to what constitutes proof of experience.
So, here's what I've managed to upload so far: My high school diploma and transcripts, the certificate and transcripts for the theater conservatory I went to back when I thought I wanted to be a Broadway star, and the transcript for the one semester at Emerson college that I managed before switching to said conservatory. I'm still impatiently waiting for transcripts from the university where I studied broadcasting, but they seem to be stuck in the 20th century, claiming that they need a signed request form mailed to them with a check, and claiming that they "don't have the capability" to scan and email the transcripts. This makes things infinitely more complicated and time-consuming when trying to accomplish it from overseas.
Not to mention, said university sent my first request form and check back, claiming that there was a hold on my account. After a lot of confusion/anger/stress, we finally determined that the hold was because of a $30 parking ticked that I apparently got 8 years ago. So, now that the bill is finally paid, we had to figure out a fast way to send the request and check back to them, and request that they send the transcript to my parents (who are, it would seem, far more technologically up to date than the university...), so that they can scan and email them to me.
There has to be a simpler way.
Actuallt, tthere is a simpler way. Emerson College has an online request form, through which you can request to have a secure PDF of your transcripts sent to you. I ordered mine last night, and had it uploaded to my application within an hour. How hard was that? Not hard, that's how hard.
But anyway, back to the applications...
So, as I mentioned, the whole thing is fairly open-ended. Especially when it comes to these motivation letters. I should also mention that 3 out of 4 of the programs I'm applying to require them, and 2 of those 3 need to be written in perfect Danish (the 3rd is for a course taught in English). So, I've written the two Danish letters and have forwarded them to my current Danish teacher, as well as my previous module's teacher, so that they can correct what I can only imagine are horrifying mistakes. But more troublesome than that, I have no idea if what I've said in the letters will be what the schools are looking for. Have I shown my knowledge of the programs well enough? Have I explained why my experience is relevant well enough?
Last things last, I've had a Danish friend helping me to translate my resume (or CV as they call it here in Europe), so that I can upload one in each language.
Will it all be enough? I honestly have no idea. I'm sure that I have more relevant experience than any kid straight out of high school, but have I documented it well enough?
All I can do is wait...
Who's stressed? Not me...
Nope...
Not stressed at all.
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!
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