|
 |
Relevance of C2 level exams | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| pushkin3000 Triglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5252 days ago 2 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English*, GermanC1, Indonesian Studies: Luxembourgish | Message 1 of 8 15 September 2012 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Hi All,
I learn foreign languages partly for fun and partly for business use. I am technology consultant based in the UK and it is a distinct advantage to discuss technical issues in foreign languages on site when there is a communication breakdown. Often the client's English (which can be absolutely fabulous) falters when speaking about technical subjects. I focus half on core language and half on technical vocabulary. The core language comes from the usual sources discussed in these forums. The technical bit comes from foreign language versions of tech books and finding specific technologies on Wikipedia and then clicking the foreign language version link. I can speak broken tech 'You must many times to run stochastic batch job for pricing program and then is good' in several languages (A2 + Tech Jargon). But the issue is...as I go up the CEFR language rungs A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2, I have hit a wall at C1. Up until C1, the goals of the exams and my professional goals have been united. However, we strongly diverge between C1 and C2. I keep adding words (16,000 in my deck since passing C1) but still have large gaps when I revise for C2. This is because the words I add are for my life (load-balanced servers, real-time failover, etc.). Now to fill that gap for the C2, I would need to load my vocabulary deck with words I don't need (alabaster, daffodils, minarette). There is obviously an opportunity cost involved: time spent gaining words for the exam reduces the time spent studying words relevant for life. Yet at the same time, it would be nice to have the sense of accomplishment of gaining a C2 Certificate. I had an 'almost pass' on C2 German (Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom) but I haven't been able to close the gap since, as I have spent time improving Dutch and now have a longish assignment back and forth to Spain. So I would dearly like to have a C2 certificate, but it looks like I won't be able to swap practical language learning for theoretical exam vocabulary. Has anyone had difficulty reaching C2? I'm actually not trying to moan. I'm really hoping for some solutions or positive experiences. I am going up the rungs in Dutch and Spanish but don't want to hit the same issues as in German. Fortunately, the Dutch NT2 (Nederlands als Tweede Taal) looks to be B2-C1 so maybe I wont have an issue there. However, the Spanish DELE reminds me quite a bit of the German format. Cheers, Justin 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4667 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes  Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 8 15 September 2012 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I understand the problems with a C2 exam very well. My exam was 20 years ago, I took the highest one I could at that time (there were two others - one exam for certified translators and one for certified interpreters). As I have never needed them, I never went further.
I did write it here already once - I had to maneuver very carefully, because I had to speak about "common children illnesses" meaning mumps, scarlet fever, rubella. For me, there was nothing "common" about it, I would have problems to discuss it in my native language for the 20 minutes I had to talk about it. Guess what? I have never needed to use this vocabulary again... And my second subject was soccer and they wanted a description of the game from me. I had to talk around it and I was discussing soccer fans in the end. I haven't the faintest idea about soccer, what I know comes from book of fiction... In a way, a C2 level "across the board" is not really useful for most people. An adult can live quite comfortably with a broad B2 level and big passive vocabulary (meaning he is at least B2 in "everything"), C2 level in the "general knowledge and small talk category" and C2 level in his job and hobbies. I would almost bet that nobody would find his weak areas, because they wouldn't be discussed ... And in your case, the vocabulary you need and find most useful is not the vocabulary which gets tested. I may be an exception - I have never really needed the certificate I have got. I decided that I don't need the confirmation of an exam for any of my languages and I am working on reaching a high level of knowledge in stages. It means that I have defined subject which have priority for me, and I am purposely leaving some terminology behind. Here, I am counting on natural acquisition through reading and listening. And here I mean reading books I want, not reading books about subject I should learn. I may reach a stage where I could really pass a C2 exam without preparation but I am not actively working on it. I am working on areas I really need, not on some prescribed ones. If you decide to go for the C2 certificate, you have to accept the reality. In certain sense, you will need some vocabulary for the exam only. Look at what they expect from you, pick subjects which fall in the "exam" category and cram it shortly before. And let it go immediately after, leave this words as passive knowledge. You can always reactivate it later. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| smallwhite Pentaglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5318 days ago 537 posts - 1045 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin, French, Spanish | Message 3 of 8 16 September 2012 at 7:30am | IP Logged | ||
|
I look at it this way: A1 to C1 are like core subjects at school. Everyone needs that knowledge. Whereas C2 is an elective. You might not need that knowledge, because it tends to have a literature bias and covers refined speech. I'm an accountant, very practical, and can't stand literature or fiction. So, for me, the ultimate target is C1. C2 is simply none of my business. I aim for top marks in C1, but I don't aim for C2 at all.
In fact, I never understood why advanced language courses & skills are always about literature. If I'm good at French, I'd want to take French Business Writing 303 classes and write impressive & persuasive emails in French, not, what, analyse this poem from 500 years ago to see why the subjunctive was used in the second line. I know you weren't trying to moan. But I was :) 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5857 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 8 17 September 2012 at 7:39am | IP Logged | ||
|
The is no C2 - exam of Dutch in the Netherlands, but they may have a C2 - exam of Dutch in Belgium. The NT 2 Programma II exam of Dutch is a test of very practical knowledge because it originally was designed to test immigrants who live in the Netherlands and need a certain level of Dutch for their jobs. I have passed this exam so I know it well and I believe that it's very different from "Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom".
Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 17 September 2012 at 7:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5019 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 5 of 8 17 September 2012 at 12:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
The C2 exams (sometimes even lower levels) contain not only vocab you need for nothing
else but they test as well other things you will never need again. For example, I can spend whole evening talking with the French about a lot of things, including politics (which is not connected to my job/study areas) but I had a really hard time giving a 13 minutes long monologue about school related topic at DELF B2 exam. Really, B2 is lower level than you need to enter university, so most people at this level won't need to give so long monologues with the possible exception for job related presentations.I would have hard time giving a monologue about that topic in Czech. Or, I was required to write about 200 words long lettre to an internet store who sent me dvds which didn't work. In any language, I wouldn't give more than 50 words to it (that many if I were really polite). And there are more such things. But it is the same as any exam in any kind of educational institution. If you need or want the exam, you need to learn for it, no matter you won't need a part of it ever again in your life. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6592 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 6 of 8 17 September 2012 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Well, C2 is supposed to be "near-native", right? Natives know truckloads of words they never use in their daily life. I know lots of plant names, technical terms and names of 19th century agricultural equipment in Swedish, and I have very little use for them whatsoever. It seems to me that C1 is the level required to be able to do anything you can do in your native language. C2 is beyond that, because native speakers have a significantly larger vocabulary than they actually need to live their life. Edited by Ari on 17 September 2012 at 1:15pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4838 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 7 of 8 17 September 2012 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | ||
Fasulye, Do you happen to have come across any of these sort of exams for Danish, in your researches? I know there are exams that immigrants to Denmark have to take, but I think they would be a bit different, and are probably not even open to people not actually applying to immigrate. I tried emailing the Danish Cultural Institute in London, but they didn't know(!), and referred me to the embassy, but I haven't taken it further. (I don't mean just for C2, but for any CEFR level really). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| justonelanguage Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4472 days ago 98 posts - 128 votes Speaks: English, Spanish | Message 8 of 8 17 September 2012 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I always thought that passing a C2 test in a foreign language would be great as a confirmation of one's skill and to put on the resume. However, I guess you are right about C2 being "beyond" what one needs in their daily life.
Even though I have very little experience with them, I have heard "screw" and "nut" for carpintry vocabulary. Although I had to review what exactly the "nut" was! These words may or may not be useful to somebody in their target language. I do think it's a little far-fetched to say that one can do EVERYTHING that they can in their target language as they can in their native tongue (s). Natives know a BUNCH of passive words even though we aren't experts in the various fields. Personally, I think it takes like 10-20 years (depending on how different the target language and native language are) to reach a level that is VERY close to your native language.
1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
