September 9, 2011 Language Placement Interview ! Check !

One more daunting task done- check that box! And we really do have what seem like reams of booklets with grids to check as the developmental task is completed. From what I understand, those of you who have been through boot camp would appreciate what this experience is like. It is demoralizing and confidence-building,  frustrating yet helpful, chaotic yet purposeful. It is like being in a kindergarten in an insane asylum, run by confused but inspired teachers. This will be very funny...  eventually...  surely...

So, about that test. I enjoyed it! This is one of those many instances of my being very glad to be an older learner.  The interviewer would ask a question while I would sit like an eager Labrador Retriever waiting for a command. I probably had my mouth open! It takes my whole body to wrestle my way to comprehension. But I did pretty well. In the 30 minutes I only had to ask her to repeat twice. Once she asked something, I would troll around in my mind for the fragments of Tagalog and patch them together into what was intended to be a sentence. Really, it is fun and funny. We laughed a lot. I think I made quite a few coherent statements, but only she knows. Certainly not me.  anAttitude is everything in learning a language and I've had years of experience in studying languages (English, Italian, German, Spanish and Samoan)  That, coupled with the fact that I haven't succeeded in becoming fluent in any of them, with the possible exception of English,  has given me a lot of knowledge on how to approach this. I think my Spanish teacher said a lot when he told me, "You don't need more Spanish classes, Alicia. What you need is more wine!" He said this because of my 'stroke-victim' behavior when I attempt to speak. I actually did try a glass of wine when I was practicing for my interview- I ended up with a headache and was sleepy and little Quincy asked me if I was 'lasing' (drunk). She is well-versed in these things. It did not seem to loosen my tongue noticeably, but I got a kick out of the experience. Did I mention this was 10 AM? That surprised everyone and I can't understand why. In trying this, time of day meant nothing. Why not AM? Anyway, I still have the bottle on my table at home. I will give it to someone because I didn't see the benefit.