Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1
| Message 26 of 119 22 March 2010 at 3:33pm | IP Logged |
Buttons wrote:
Are you planning to do the intensive language school program that prepare you for the B2 exam and then take this particular exam (I think this is the DALF?)? How many weeks of language school studying are you planning to do? |
|
|
I would like to complete a DELF B2 exam at some point while I'm in France. Unfortunately the school I think I'm going to choose does not offer to do the exam. The second choice for my school has the exam at an inappropriate time which does not coincide with my studies. I'm planning to spend 4 weeks in a school, I have to decide to study either 20 or 30 hours per week, but that depends on finances and if I really want to study 30 hours at a school. One thing is for certain is that I'm going to keep a journal or a blog which will track my impressions.
I'm pretty certain of the school I'm going to choose now. I had the choice between Tours, Montpellier or Annecy, but I think I'm going to go with Annecy for a few reasons. First of all it's cheaper then the others. It's off the beaten track. It's in the Alpes with lots of nature around. It's an hour from Mont Blanc and Geneva, Lyon can be reached by bus. The school offers interesting and regular excursions. There is a max of 8 students per class. Most importantly perhaps it's a town which recieves an influx of tourists during certain times of the year and perhaps there will be oppurtunties of employment. I'm going to make my final decision in the coming days.
------------------------------------------------------
I have some very important news. Today I received my marks for my Delf B1 exam. Overall I'm very happy with my results. I'm a little dissapointed with a particular section of the exam which was the written essay. But I kinda expected I may do poorly in this section. I wrote below after I had completed the exam.
Adrean wrote:
The i'm not so sure - I think overall my written essay was very good. I know my use of grammer and spelling was mostly correct. However, I'm not so sure I will do so well because I avoided using the more difficult grammar components like the subjuntive or the conditional tense etc.etc. So I could do either really well or really poorly. |
|
|
On the other hand I'm so so happy with how the oral production component of the exam went. The mark I received has far exceeded what I had hoped even though I was confident after the exam.
Adrean wrote:
The Good - Well the second day was the oral exam. I really put a lot of effort into this section of study but I believe that it was still a weakness, BUT a big but, when I got into the room with the examiner something just clicked and the words came very easily. It helped that the examiner was very bubbly and wanted to express her own thoughts, so it wasn't, strictly speaking, very exam like. I did much better then I thought I would especially with regards to the task where I had to speak for a few minutes on a subject unaided. I was shocked during the preperation time that I couldn't look at my notes, but with the constant practice tests I did I could recall what was necessary. |
|
|
So my total mark was 79.5/100. I guess this is a credit right or a distinction? The individual marks are:
Written Comprehension: 22/25
Written Production: 16.50/25
Oral Comprehension: 18.50/25
Oral Production: 22.50/25
Actually I was expecting a mark like 79.5. I wrote this just after my exam.
Adrean wrote:
What I expect? I will hope to get 80 out of 100. I will be happy with this result. There is a chance I may get 70 depending on the results of my essay and my oral exam. I will be very dissapointed with this. |
|
|
Anki: 21 Hours
TV: 30 Hours
Movies: 19 Hours
Listening-Reading: 21.5 Hours
Text Book Study/Grammar study: 28.5 Hours
Skype conversations: 15.5 Hours
Class: 14 Hours
Fluent French Audio: 7 hours
Podcasts: 26 hours
Edited by Adrean on 01 April 2010 at 1:11am
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1
| Message 28 of 119 01 April 2010 at 12:15am | IP Logged |
Thanks buttons! I'm going to keep a seperate blog I think to track my progress over in France, in that way I can include pictures and keep this journal a little less convoluted. Actually in regards to my trip to France everything is set in stone and the tickets have been booked. I've mentioned elsewhere in the forum the school I chose in Annecy, but I'll put it down here.
I received the letter confirming my accomodation in France. I will be staying with a family of 4. The father is a directeur des affaires economiques and the mother has a similarily important position. They have one girl who is 7 and one boy who is 3. The family likes canoeing, kayaking, roller skating, cycling, hiking and reading. I am going to be living with the perfect French family it seems. I'm so excited!
SO many things to prepare before I leave. I've arranged to meet a French woman who is going to help me to prepare my C.V. She is also going to prepare me to face the questions that may be posed when asking for a job and during interviews.
------------------------------------------------------------ --------
I haven't been doing a lot of study because I'm preparing for my trip.
I met a Spanish girl who spoke excellent French and she had some encouraging things to say to me regarding my trip and my level of French. I was bouncing things off quite nicely in conversation with her. It made me realise that I'm not going to kill myself cramming before going to France. I'm going to enjoy my last days here in Dublin and do some holidaying before I go. I don't have time to study!.
However I still managed to see a few films in recent weeks. I saw La guerre des boutons, L'iternaire d'un enfant gate, and for the second time Coco Avant Chanel. The first two films I listed are sadly underloved films but they are both BRILLANT. Coco Avant Chanel is ok I guess :/ Just on the subject of films, I remembered this song from the movie La Chinoise by Godard.
As always watching Tout Le Monde Veut Prendre Sa Place when I can. Mostly listening to Podcasts by France culture radio station.
Anki: 22 Hours
TV: 32 Hours
Movies: 21 Hours
Listening-Reading: 21.5 Hours
Text Book Study/Grammar study: 28.5 Hours
Skype conversations: 17 Hours
Class: 14 Hours
Fluent French Audio: 7 hours
Podcasts: 30 hours
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1
| Message 29 of 119 18 April 2010 at 1:16am | IP Logged |
Have been neglecting my stuides because of preperation for my trip. I have started my blog and have been posting there more regularly. Here is the blog
Sorry for this poor update
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1
| Message 30 of 119 05 May 2010 at 10:51pm | IP Logged |
Hi all
Long time no post.
I am finally in France. I'm living in Annecy. I lived wedged between a lake and a smallish mountain. The beauty is spelling binding(i made that error but I'm not going to fix it, it's so beautiful that it's spelling binding).
I'm spending 30 hours a week in class. A little too much I think, I should have gone for 20. I was placed in the 5th out of 6 classes upon arriving here after taking a written and oral placement test.
I speak French at school in class and with the other students. I speak French in the shops and on the street. When I get home I only speak French with my family. My French is improving in leaps and bounds. It is really coming together finally. I almost think in French and I'm tempted to include French words when I write here. I have only been here for four days!
So far so good. I have updated my blog in more detail if you'd like to see it. I'm not going to count hours anymore as that would be pointless. Will update as often as possible.
Yours truly
Adrean
Edited by Adrean on 05 May 2010 at 10:53pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona
| Message 31 of 119 12 May 2010 at 9:09am | IP Logged |
Annecy sounds amazing, I'm almost drooling with jealousy...friends who've visited tell me it's a breathtakingly beautiful part of the country. This immersion environment will really bring everything up to speed, I'm sure. Congratulations on your exams too by the way, it won't be too long till your ready for the next (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you could pass them right now). ;)
I've heard lots of good things about Yabla and Lang-8 recently, as I noticed you have as well, and have decided to sign up for both of these in Spanish initially (my new little LR side-project) with a view to start using them very soon hopefully.
I'd be more than keen to see your updated blog in more detail and learn how you're getting on in France, and wish you the very best of luck for your stay in Annency and finding a job afterwards.
Edited by Teango on 12 May 2010 at 9:14am
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1
| Message 32 of 119 14 May 2010 at 8:37pm | IP Logged |
Teango wrote:
Annecy sounds amazing, I'm almost drooling with jealousy |
|
|
Your right, it's amazing! It was a fabulous choice. Absolutely no regrets. My commute to school is a pleasure and a privilege.
I try to update my blog as often as possible. As a potential immersion student there are a lot of questions that you want answers to and I hope the blog can be of a little assistance.
Just a quick note on my day today. It being Friday we had the first two hours of the class as normal, afterwards several classes were joined together and we did a quiz on the subject of Europe. I was in the winning team and I won a biodegradable pen and a interesting little keyring. Afterwards joined a couple of school mates for a coffee in the old town. Tommorrow either a trip to Chamonix (weather permitting) or to Geneva. Really enjoying my time here with each passing day.
A tout a l'heure
1 person has voted this message useful
|