February 21st, 2011
Chantepie, France
I had my French midterm today and, though I did well (I think) on the writing and reading sections, I failed the listening and grammar sections. The grammar section was weird and it’s my own fault that I fared poorly. The listening section, however, I believe was because we were given one or two phrases of a completely random and unrelated topic and had to choose ‘the phrase to follow’ or something of that manner. Normally, this sounds pretty easy but I now believe, after living in a foreign country and having to speak the language, that this is not a good way to learn and progress in the language! Our knowledge is pulled from context and continuation of a thought, not having random sentences that are detached from connotation and simply looking for words that match. I feel that this was not a good diagnostic of my language skills. Though I have heard some of my classmates speak some French, for the most part they are all living alone or with other international students and live without many opportunities to practice their French. In class, they excel because they can spew these rules and regulations and syntax like an A student. In a situation like I am in, I wonder if they are uncomfortable and have fears and difficulty in holding a conversation with someone. Myself however, I succeed in that! I believe that I may send an email to the professor and suggest that we have an oral exam that is more along the lines of an entire conversation and then questions that we have to answer either after or along the way. I don’t know if the suggestion will be taken well, but I think that, if I were a teacher, I would want for my students to express themselves in a respectful manner if they constructive suggestions like that. It’s not that I am asking for easier tests or complaining of something, I’m simply commenting on the learning style. That’s all.
you should send an e-mail, good for you for knowing yourself and the differences in how you're learning
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