EXAM OVER!

Today was the Big Day - the day of my B2 exam. I haven't been posting for the last week because I've been using whatever time I can find to practice for the exam, which actually, to be honest, wasn't much. I turned my attention from practising the written section of the exam to just the spoken section. It sounds crazy to me now, but I avoided practising this type of question for a long time, because I couldn't imagine how to even do it, and probably also because I figured that since I had regular speaking practice already, that would be enough. When I finally turned my attention to this type of question, I recorded myself speaking and listened back to it.

I was shocked.

It sounded terrible! Pauses, bad sentence order, searching for words. The pauses were the main thing that got to me.

So starting last Saturday, I practised whenever I could. Actually my weekend was quite busy with work around the house, so it was hardly intensive, but it was certainly important. In the exam today, with a real person at the other end of the table nodding and interacting in their little ways, I felt a lot happier and was really glad that I had done that practice. I still wish I had started earlier, but I can't change that now! One of the main things was to fine tune what I did with the preparation time, which was to write down abbreviate rephrasings of the main text, along with short notes of possible things to talk about. This all worked out quite well for me - I didn't read off my notes, because there wasn't enough detail for that, but I had enough prepared to keep up a good flow without constantly searching for something semi-interesting to say (the topics are always so boring, really) at the same time as trying to remember the words.

The second part was the interactive dialogue which I did with one of the instructors because I was the only person sitting the B2 exam today. I think it went OK too - the instructor kept the conversation very directed. It's hard to tell what they really thought - I think I gave good input, but perhaps I should have tried to drive it more.

This oral exam was the part I was most worried about in the end, given my lack of specific preparation, so I hope I've passed. You need to pass this section (i.e., achieve 60%) on its own, as well as getting 60% in the other 3 sections combined, in order to pass. I could always have hoped for a higher grade, but in all honesty, I'll be perfectly satisfied with a pass!

I hope to find the time soon to describe the overall exam...

And when do I find out my results? By the end of next week, hopefully.

Macht's gut!