Quote: (10-31-2016 02:45 AM)noktrnl Wrote:
Do you have any recommendations on what common errors (e.g. por vs para) to address in reaching the C levels? [for taking a certification exam]
Elsewhere on the forum I have outlined a rough self-study program for going from intermediate to advanced. You can find it
here.
Anyone considering
taking a language certification exam should keep in mind that improving your language skills and passing certification exams are two different things. I've taken various language certification exams (for Spanish: DELE and others) and I've also helped students successfully prepare for certification exams (for English: Cambridge and TOEFL). Here's what I can share:
- Language certification exams, despite claims to the contrary, are invariably oriented towards somewhat academic and formal language, things like news reports, business letters, technical lectures and so on. You can be a very proficient user of the language in certain situations but do poorly on the exam if you are not particularly experienced with the kind of language being tested. Even educated native speakers do not necessarily get top scores. (I've shown them exam questions and they can't always answer them correctly.)
- Certification exams also tend to emphasize the dialect of the country that produces the exam, even when they say they don't. Spend some time listening to and reading material from Spain (in the case of DELE) if that's not the dialect you're most familiar with. That will pay off.
- Being good at taking exams is almost as important as being good at the language. Things like understanding how to use the process of elimination for multiple choice items and managing your time well. Many people get lower scores than they deserve because they run out of time on the writing section before reaching the target word count. Some exam skills (simultaneously listening, reading and choosing the right answer) are rarely needed in real life, so spend some time practicing those. Study the exam format, learn it well and practice a few times under exam-like conditions. It is completely possible to prepare for the exam, yet so many test takers don't do it. Make sure you are working with the latest format. Exam formats change from time to time. If you can't discipline yourself enough to practice all of this on your own, look for an exam prep course in your area or online. Remember: the course is designed to get you familiar and comfortable with the exam, not to improve your Spanish per se.
- To get ready for the exam, don't spend a moment of time on increasing your 'knowledge' of the language. You know what you know. Instead, practice using your skills as much as possible. This will help you feel more comfortable. Grammar and vocabulary are not usually explicitly tested on international language exams nowadays. Instead, they are seen as resources that allow you to do something with the language. You won't see questions specifically testing 'por/para' or topics like the subjunctive.
- You don't need a perfect score to pass the exam. Far from it. The DELE exams for Spanish don't even assign you an overall specific score beyond PASS/APTO. (You do have to pass all three exam sections individually.) Don't freak out if you see lots of unfamiliar vocabulary in exam prep materials. Put more faith in official exam prep materials (from the body that issues that exam) rather than materials from third parties, which tend to be a bit different and/or more difficult.
- In an exam situation, the key to reducing errors in both the speaking and writing sections is to stick to what you know. Use language you are very comfortable with and know how to control with accuracy. It is not the time to try out something new. If you have your 'go-to' expressions, use them, but try not to repeat them too much. You should already be doing this whenever you are using your language. Even so, be aware that eliminating errors, especially in speaking, is not so important during the exam. It's okay if you screw something up. They want to see how you recover.
- In the speaking section, the examiners do consider your accuracy, but it is more important to demonstrate that you have ideas and can express them without difficulty, using a variety of language resources. If someone suddenly asked you to speak for three minutes on the dangers of nuclear weapons (in any language, including your native one), could you do it? You need to be good at bullshitting on any topic. In a national exam, I was asked to speak about gender equality in the workplace. There's no easier topic in the world. I just talked about the difficulties that my mother faced when her job opportunities were limited by cultural norms and how she overcame that. I went on so long that they had to cut me off. None of what you say has to be true or express your actual views. (You'll probably notice that most of the topics have a left-leaning bent.) You just have to seem engaged and show that you are perfectly comfortable using the language to express your ideas. Don't be someone who answers, 'well I don't really know what to say about that'. Fail! Make eye contact. Don't be wishy-washy. Have a viewpoint and defend it with anecdotes, logic, humor, passion, whatever. For my DELE C2 exam, I was asked to speak about whether it makes sense to go to college if you have to take out large student loans. (I chose the 'no' position and explained why, also mentioning the situations where it could be a good idea.) I could talk about that for fifteen minutes non-stop. Again, they had to cut me off. Some exams also have an interactive component where you perform a speaking task with another test taker. There will often be two examiners: one interacting with you, giving you a holistic evaluation, and another one off to the side who is doing a more detailed evaluation.
- Everything think's they're better and listening/reading than speaking/writing. So do the exam makers. That's why the listening and reading sections are substantially harder than the speaking/writing ones. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security. Try the listening sections and see how you score.
- If you're not sure whether or not you should take the exam, just take the exam. If you wait until you feel fully prepared, you may never get around to it. I've seen a lot of students make this mistake. Keep in mind that the signup deadline may be way in advance of the exam date, and results afterwards can take a long time to arrive. (From May to January in my case, to get my actual certificate.) In some places the exam is offered only once or twice a year. To determine your level, try out exam materials online. You can download sample test items from Instituto Cervantes. Remember that don't have to get a perfect score, so don't make the mistake of choosing a level that is too easy.
Should you take a language certification exam? Sometimes you just need the piece of paper, for example, to study abroad. A certification can look good on your resume/CV, although unfortunately a lot of employers don't really understand what it is. A lot of students sign up for an exam hoping that this will help motivate them to study and work on their language skills. A better idea is to find something you enjoy doing with the language and do that, whether it's watching series, reading online, doing language exchanges at home or traveling and meeting people. If you have an eye on taking the exam, mix in some activities that use more formal language, such as reading something in Spanish in your professional field, or watching some presentations about a hobby of yours. Isolated studying is not the secret to making gains.
Quote: (10-31-2016 02:45 AM)noktrnl Wrote:
How difficult was getting to C1 and C2?
I never took a C1 exam (my first DELE exam was C2). Just going by my own perceptions, I would say that my level before really focusing on Spanish was B2 in some skills and maybe C1 in others. Starting from approximately B2, here is what I found useful, in descending order of utility: 1. For vocabulary and fluency, watching massive amounts of telenovelas. 2. Making notes of expressions I heard. 3. Making Spanish-speaking friends and using Spanish for all my interactions, all day, on extended trips of three months a year for a few years. There are a lot of other things I've done with the goal of improving my Spanish, but these are the ones that were the most useful in going from intermediate to advanced. Notice that I didn't put 'moving to a Spanish-speaking country'. That came later and is not the magic elixir that people assume it is.
Good luck with your Spanish!
