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When the classes are too easy | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| tristano Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 3836 days ago 905 posts - 1262 votes  Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English Studies: Dutch | Message 1 of 19 13 January 2015 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi guys. I have a situation to present to you.
I did three classes of French so far: A2.2, B1.1, B2.2. After the B2.2 I asked to be put in the B2.1 instead of the B1.3 because it was too much unchallenging for me. So yesterday I did my first B2.1 lesson and I found it again nowhere near to challenging. This of course is because Italian and French are closely related so the advanced vocabulary doesn't present any challenge and the grammar is very closed to the Italian one. Also, the professor doesn't speak very fast and most of the students are not yet fluent. For the first time I feel a bit disheartened, because I feel that I can manage to go in the B2.4 now and still pass the exam without studying anything. So it is probable that I will stop taking classes and start preparing myself for the Delf B2 exam, while starting taking classes of Dutch that it is instead very challenging to me. But I subscribed now, and I spent my 400 euros. Did you guys faced a situation like mine? What did you do? And how can I get the most out of this course? The courses I did so far are actually very valid in my opinion; it's just that I start to think that they don't cover my needs anymore. Thank you very much in advance. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5025 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 2 of 19 13 January 2015 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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They presumably would still be useful if you look at them as review/revision classes. You should try to study what you can, and perhaps try to help and tutor the other students. Humans seem to learn best when they have to teach others.
7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4428 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 3 of 19 13 January 2015 at 4:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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As redearman says, if you can find something useful from attending the classes then you should continue to attend them. I think it must be possible to get something interesting out of it, even if you feel the level is too low.
That being said, if I were in a situation where I felt that I was only loosing my time and did not get anything worthwhile out of it, then I would rather spend those hours studying on my own. I understand it can feel painful to have "wasted" 400 euros on a course if you give up, but on the other hand having paid 400 euros for doing an activity that has no benefits and only wastes your time doesn't seem like a good alternative to me. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4496 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 4 of 19 13 January 2015 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
I had this when I did the B1.3 course where I was achieving very high scores (and my classmates were pretty good). What you have to do at this point in time, even though it feels easy, prove that it is. They have no obligation to move you up, so if you want to move through a bunch of levels, you need the grades to confirm it. If you're at the AF, make sure you score 90%+ on their test. Preferably 95% or so. Any mistakes should be because you were really, really sloppy or it's just that one random word you don't remember. It should be obvious to them, the external judges. My French is pretty good but I still have trouble with certain C-level material and you can tell from that that I'm not good enough. You must also be really strict with yourself and eliminate the small mistakes. It's time to finetune all those le/la mistakes, gender agreements and so on. Edited by tarvos on 13 January 2015 at 4:51pm 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5850 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 5 of 19 13 January 2015 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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All of the above. Just a small piece of advice at the end.
First, a comment: it seems you're paying the price of learning a Romance language in a Germanic-speaking country. The only instance where I had this deployment of the Bs in three levels was with German (i.e., the reverse). I'm learning Italian at the IIC in Lisbon and the levels are A1, A2, B1, B2, and (only then) C.1.1, C.1.2, C.2.1 and C.2.2. They know that everyone would be bored by a slower pace. As I'm fluent in French, I find it even easier than other students. I can only imagine your case. Devi annoiarti un po'... Now for the small piece of advice (apart from the above, which I subscribe): since you are in a class anyway, try to improve and consolidate your vocabulary. In my experience, it's never too soon (or too late) to do so, and... stai al posto giusto. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tristano Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 3836 days ago 905 posts - 1262 votes Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English Studies: Dutch | Message 6 of 19 13 January 2015 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi guys, thank you very much for the advices.
@Luso, the B2 level is divided in four sublevels :S It's indeed boring for me. Starting from this course they seem to focus on specific vocabulary (first lesson family, second lesson hospital...). They also seem to ask more frequently to do written production as homework. @Tarvos, thank you very much. I will try to focus both on the course itself and to eliminate all my issues that have still to be fixed. I do have the material. I can revisit my priorities and give absolute focus to French the first three months of the year (and postpone focused Spanish, focused Dutch and starting Russian). I'm "almost there" with French and need to run the extra miles. Thank you again very much each and everyone of you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6386 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 19 14 January 2015 at 2:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Sunk cost fallacy.
This May I was to see a Finnish band I really like at a festival. They had problems with their Russian visas, but the rest of the festival took place normally so I couldn't get a refund. I ended up going there just to sit outdoors and read. I don't regret it but I admit that it was ridiculous :D That said, it never hurts to try. Is it possible to move to another group at the same level? Or if the signups are still open, can you get a couple of Romance-speaking friends to join? :D And of course talk to your prof. But above all, log your frustration in detail so that you weren't tempted to make the same choice again. Edited by Serpent on 14 January 2015 at 2:55am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4496 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 8 of 19 14 January 2015 at 11:10am | IP Logged | ||
Written production as B2 and above homework should be mandatory. That's the one thing I loved about the AF. That and a few tidbits of grammar are what I took away from those classes (mostly sentence construction and linking words). 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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