A real test

Last Friday, one of my teachers said that he had something to tell me - I was going to sit for the National Exam for Course C, the one that I have been taking.  I know that I was due to take the exam some time this month but no one had told me anything more about it.  Then, out of the blue, I was told that I was going to take the test in four days.  Interesting.

Anyway, he then told me a little more about the exam. There was going to be a few components to the exam: reading comprehension, listening, writing, speaking and conversational skills.  He also tested me a bit to give me a sense of how the speaking component was going to be.  He asked me to talk about a specific topic and I talked about it as best I could.  His assessment was that I had the vocabulary but lack the confidence and hesitated a lot.

I took the opportunity of the weekend to help me prepare.  Pete and I spoke Swedish much more.  I wish I could say we spoke only Swedish but that didn't happen.  We would start of speaking it but would fall back to English when I have trouble understanding him or expressing myself in Swedish.  But since I sort of knew how the exam was going to be and what the examiners would be listening for, I knew how to prepare myself.  I tried to remember the grammar rules and brushed up on my vocabulary, trying to memorise descriptive words such as adjectives and adverbs.  

Pete and I would have conversations in Swedish and he would give me topics to talk about.  I would also ask him to help me with new words.  There are still many words I haven't learnt.  Something that we did was to point at things around us as we go on our usual walks and say the name in Swedish.  That was very helpful.  I only wished we started it earlier.

I also did a lot of written practice on grammar from books I've borrowed from the library.  My fingers were sore after hours of writing and my eyes got blurry.  Two days of trying to cram all the grammar rules, which is so much more difficult than English, into my well-worn brain.  It wasn't easy.  I still had lots to learn and remember.  I know I wasn't good at speaking yet but I was confident of the reading and comprehension part.  I think I was even worse at listening to someone talking.  Some of them speak so fast and by the time I find words I recognise and translate them, I would have lost the whole meaning of the sentence.

So, this morning, I was a little nervous as I walked to school.  In class, I had to wait a little before the other teacher came with the exam papers.  I got a bit more nervous then.  Once I stepped into the exam room, I tried to calm down and focus.  I was the only one taking the exam.  The rest were not ready yet, so I felt a bit alone.  

We started with the reading comprehension component of which there were two parts. I managed quite well and got my confidence back.  I was given 50 minutes for each part but I finished within 20 minutes. Then, I had the listening test.  I had to listen to some conversations and news and answer some questions.  That was really tough. The people on the CD were talking too fast so I had to listen for key words and tried my best to keep up with the speech.  I was a bit downtrodden after that.

I had a short break after that.  I sent some messages to Pete to update him on my progress and he assured me that I would be ok.  And I was.  When I got back to the room, the teachers have scored those components and out of all three, I only made one mistake.

Then, I had to write a descriptive text.  I was given 45 minutes for that.  I took more time for that since I had to make sure the grammar and spelling were correct.  I wasn't too happy with my writing since I forgot some words that I needed but I tried to find other words instead.  Then, I was finally about to face the components I dreaded - speaking. 

I was give a choice of two topics.  My choice was done based on my vocabulary and so I spoke to the two examiners.  I was really hoping that they would understand what I said and that I didn't make too many mistakes.  They seemed to understand me and laughed at appropriate parts.  I took it as a good sign.  

Finally, it was the last component. For that, they had one of my classmates into the room.  I was supposed to have a conversation with her about a topic.  Again, I had two to choose from.  That was not as nerve wrecking. Having her there, and she is someone I like and enjoy talking to in class, made me feel at ease.  And soon, it was over.

The teachers told me that I wouldn't get my results so soon.  They would decide on the preliminary grade but it would have to be endorsed by the principal and that would take a couple of weeks.  But I was just happy to have finished it.  They asked if I wanted to continue to Course D and I do.  I still have lots to learn and I don't have any jobs lined up for me as yet, so I would continue to study.  

As I walked back home, I thought about the exam that I had just completed and I think I made it.  I felt relieved and shared the news with Pete.  A few hours later, my teacher sent me a message that I got a B! I was thrilled.  Not a bad result for a few days of cramming!