…And Back
I got back from the exam about 3 hours ago and I’m feeling surprisingly okay about it.
On the way there I was super stressed and totally unable to focus. All I could do was repeat the names of train and tram stops over and over in my head. And any time my mind cleared enough for me to think about anything besides my fear of transportation mishaps I was trying to compose my thoughts in Dutch for some practice; trying to identify words I didn’t know and would need to learn to sound like an intelligent adult in the future. Once I got off the train in Brussels Central Station I was able to easily maneuver my way through the tram system and found that Selor is actually right at the entry of a metro stop, so that was easy and a noticeable weight lifted once I walked through the doors and sat in the waiting room.
The test itself wasn’t half as bad as I feared. The essay topic was fairly easy, although I admit that I had to sort of stretch things to get to the minimum of 30 lines I was supposed to have. The topic was whether raising the price of cigarettes or seeking self help was the better method of quitting smoking. In retrospect the question is just so very Belgian in ways that are hard to explain other than the alternatives given revolve so much around the government and social welfare. But that aside, as an ex-smoker (two years next month!), I definitely had some things to say about the topic, although I did end up having to twist some of my ideas to fit the Dutch word bank I have in my head. The article, while it did have some words I didn’t know, was easy to read and understand and what I wasn’t sure on I got easily from context. During the first few months of my Dutch class I learned how to be quite adept at relying on contextual clues in language. So, since I totally understood the article, writing a summary wasn’t difficult at all and that only had to be 15 lines, which I went over.
Now, when I say these things weren’t difficult, I simply mean that I was able to read, comprehend, form my own ideas and put them down coherently on paper. I tried my best with spelling and grammar but I’m really pretty oblivious as to how well I did in those two very important aspects. I know I wrote everything on scratch paper, read it and tried to control my grammar, wrote it a second time in the test booklet and then tried to check grammar again and that’s really the best I could do I think.
So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully in a week or two I’ll get a letter from Selor telling me whether I failed and have to take it again next year or if I passed and have to go back for the oral exam, which I consider utterly more horrific than any written exam. Good times, gooood times.
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Congrats! keeping my fingers crossed that you pass!
Yeah, the oral would be wayyy harder for me, too. I hope you get good news!
Hurray! I’m glad you got through it
Now you just have to grab CB and practice for the oral…
(Sorry, I know that was inappropriate. I have the mind of a 12-year-old boy.)
(And because it was inappropriate, you can totally delete it, if you want!)
I am sooo crossing my fingers for you. I am a horrible test taker, just horrible. You did the best you could, just remember that. sounds trite, I know but it is true.
Hazaah!
One of the few things I unequivocally love about the U.S. educational system is the distinct lack of oral exams prior to the doctoral level (and quite frankly, if you’re going to get a doctorate, you’d *better* be able to handle any academic setting that touches on your field/area of expertise).
I’m glad it seemed to go well!
just read your FB status….damn that sucks. I felt such a positive vibe after reading this post that I was utterly surprised. So must you/ can you take it again later on?