numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 169 of 182 26 January 2010 at 9:05pm | IP Logged |
Okay, so I'm nearing the end of my Italian adventure. I'll be trying to be on schedule with the final closing by February 18th. But before then there might be some summarization posts on various aspects of my journey. I don't have it all planned out yet, so we'll see what happens.
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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 170 of 182 26 January 2010 at 9:20pm | IP Logged |
CONCLUSION: Italian LANGUAGE TESTS
I'm sure that just as I, many of you find standard language assessment tests of dubious value. Nevertheless, after reaching my goal of 600 hours and finishing the textbook, I thought I might as well spend the time to get a second opinion (other than my own) on my progress.
And even if these test results don't give a good picture of my Italian, then at least I know what I should expect the results would be of standardized assessments of my efforts, how they would classify someone like me at a language school.
But not to be overly skeptical either. So here we are, I've found three tests in all. The first two are very narrow in that they only really test grammar. The third is more thorough.
Short online language test
Score: 29/30 -> Advanced - B2
The test: link
Score explanation: link
I've taken this test twice before, so it wasn't ideal testing conditions.
Longer online language test
Score: 113/120 -> livello avanzato
The test: link
I've taken this test once before, score was 98.
Dialang
I found this test one time when I was googling for language tests. It's a desktop application you run on your computer and it has tests for a whole range of languages. Each one of them has 5 different skills you are tested on. Each of these units has 30 questions and takes 10-30min to do.
In some of the units, the test is preceded by a self assessment part where you get a serious of questions to answer about your ability, and based on that they say that your self assessment results in a certain level. Then comes the test, which is supposed to confront that expectation you have of your own ability. (This way you're supposed to know whether you judge your own ability accurately.)
The test: link
Vocabulary placement test
Score: 271/1000
Evaluation: Limited vocabulary, sufficient for ordinary day-to-day purposes
Listening
Self assessment score: C2
Test score: C1
Writing
Self assessment score: B2
Test score: C1
Reading
Self assessment score: B2
Test score: B2
Structures (grammar)
Test score: C1
Vocabulary
Test score: A2
What's not been tested here is speaking, and for that I would give myself A2 at most.
Edited by numerodix on 26 January 2010 at 9:21pm
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ChiaBrain Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5810 days ago 402 posts - 512 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: Portuguese, Italian, French Studies: German
| Message 171 of 182 27 January 2010 at 12:34am | IP Logged |
Wow, so you are "done" with Italian?
Are you planning to keep using the language with native language material?
What language will you move on to next?
I am going to go through your log to get ideas for my own study.
Sometimes it just helps to see other people experiencing the same thing.
Thanks for sharing.
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densou Senior Member Italy foto.webalice.it/denRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6134 days ago 120 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Italian*
| Message 172 of 182 27 January 2010 at 12:41am | IP Logged |
numerodix wrote:
What's not been tested here is speaking, and for that I would give myself A2 at most. |
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Let me check it out :D
:P
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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 173 of 182 27 January 2010 at 7:54am | IP Logged |
densou wrote:
Let me check it out :D
:P |
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Added you on skype :)
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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 174 of 182 27 January 2010 at 7:56am | IP Logged |
ChiaBrain wrote:
Wow, so you are "done" with Italian?
Are you planning to keep using the language with native language material?
What language will you move on to next?
I am going to go through your log to get ideas for my own study.
Sometimes it just helps to see other people experiencing the same thing.
Thanks for sharing. |
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Yes, by the 18th I'll be done with Italian. That is to say with this learning period taking me up to intermediate level. Then comes the time to set a new agenda, new goals and all that good stuff. Expect news of that in this thread..
Hope you find something useful in my log :)
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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 175 of 182 01 February 2010 at 4:29pm | IP Logged |
Not much action here lately. I've been nose deep in other business the last week, so I'm going on with my Italian routine everyday, but without giving much thought to it at the moment. I try to read for an hour and a half, usually in two shifts, and by now reading has become pretty damn comfortable to me. There's now few words on the page I don't know, imagine that! I'm also planning to diversify my literature away from political thrillers soon, after I finish this book.
Other than that I also started with The Three Musketeers on audiobook. It's a bit harder to follow the unknown vocabulary when I'm not staring at it, but after a couple of hours I got relatively comfy listening to it while knowing that I'm missing a few things. But it's not something I try to do everyday, so I haven't read more than a few hours of the audiobook.
The countdown is now for real, only 16 days left. To take some pressure off myself I might give myself a couple of weeks after that to relax. Because I don't quite feel like forcing myself to come up with strategies for a new period of study right on the same day I finish this one.
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densou Senior Member Italy foto.webalice.it/denRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6134 days ago 120 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Italian*
| Message 176 of 182 03 February 2010 at 12:42am | IP Logged |
numerodix wrote:
To take some pressure off myself I might give myself a couple of weeks after that to relax. |
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before picking up another language lo learn ? :P
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