It’s official. For the past, oh, three weeks or so, I have been preparing for and then taking a week-long Chinese exam. This included tests for my writing skills, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, oral conversation skills, grammar and vocab, and translation. Hmm, have I left anything out? Does that fill out a week’s worth of three-hour long exams?
Let me just say, as an American and a product of the US school system, this way of testing is bonkers. All year we had mini-tests and “quizzes.” Then, all at once, BAM! You’re expected to test on the entire year, cumulatively speaking, and pass to continue on to the next year. Basically, the entire year’s homework and grades mean nothing. They count for a measely 30% of your end grade.
And, yes, I am a 33-year-old woman complaining about the test scoring system.
Just so we have that straight. I already KNOW that I am a GEEK. Always have been and apparently always will be. I blame being a “pretty-plus” size from the ages of 5-12, and wearing glasses from age 5. About the only thing I had going for me in grade school was that I was smart. I got used to it and came to rely on it for a label. Theresa MacPhail = good at taking tests, good student, all-around swot.
And just for the record, I will admit that I wrote a nasty note at the bottom of our vocabulary/grammar test because they had characters on that we weren’t “officially” asked to learn. I know this because I spent the entire year asking, “Now, will we have to know this? Or is this extra?”
Apparently my note caused a ruckus because Asian students don’t usually complain. Well, welcome to the western educational system where you can not only complain, you can petition for a higher grade if you feel the grading system was unfair. One of the proctors at the test ran to our section leader with my test in hand, unsure of what to do. That teacher later told me she simply shrugged and said, “Don’t worry.” And then she told me that they weren’t counting anything we hadn’t yet learned. Reason being, that they have to make up the final exam back in March, agree upon it, and then SEAL it. No changes are allowed. (BTW – it sounded like a CIA document, the way they all talked about it.) They had to GUESS where we would be up to on examination day. They guessed chapter 33 – we were on 27. Guess we’re not as smart as they thought we were.
The upside of all of this is that it’s over and I am now officially done with year one Chinese. At this point, I can write a small article, talk up a storm, and read basic things. I’m chuffed, I have to admit. It feels pretty good to be this far along – even if I have another huge mountain to climb next year.
After everything was over we had a party to celebrate. It was the entire Chinese Department – Cantonese and Mandarin learners all together. The Cantonese classes performed songs, did speeches, all very impressive. We had nothing. So when our lead teacher asked if anyone from Mandarin was willing to say something and no one raised their hands. . . . .
Can you guess it?
Of course I volunteered. I wasn’t exactly willing for everyone to assume that we hadn’t learned how to SPEAK yet. I had no idea what I was going to say and I ended up winging it, but I got my main point across and even managed to get a few laughs. Now that’s progress. Telling a joke in a foreign language feels extremely rewarding.
Afterward, I went out for drinks with a Korean student and a Japanese student in my class. All three of us used Mandarin to talk all night, it being EASIER for us to communicate in Chinese than in ENGLISH. This was cool. And we could still speak it a bit tipsy.
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