I have five weeks until my EOT (End Of Training) examination in Spanish. If I don't achieve the necessary score, I'll be extended for six additional weeks. The thing to keep in mind is that over half of the students in the Spanish section at FSI do not achieve the appropriate level in the allotted time, so I'll be in good company if I have to stay a bit longer.
Full disclosure: My last Spanish exam did not go as well as I had hoped. Honestly though, it's amazing to me that I can speak Spanish as well as I can after 19 weeks. Considering I entered language training with no more than enough Spanish to count to 10, that I can now actually hold a conversation after such a (relatively) short amount of time is nothing short of miraculous.
Still. I really, really want to pass my EOT on time, so I'm ratcheting up my efforts. I'm watching news in Spanish, reading opinion articles from Spanish newspapers, connecting with online conversation partners, drilling grammar on conjuguemos.com and listening to Spanish podcasts. Yesterday I watched Saturday morning cartoons in Spanish (love you, Handy Manny!) while walking on the treadmill. All of this is in addition to my five plus hours in class five days a week.
Our cats, Calvin and Seamus, generally lie under my chair when I'm at the computer studying, so I'm never lonely. I am, however, beginning to hallucinate just a little - this morning I could swear that their purring was mocking my inability to roll my R. At least their Spanish accents seem to be impressive.
 |
| Portrait of Seamus, the Wonder Cat |
No comments:
Post a Comment