Lesson 38 (Beginner 2B Lesson 6): Beginner 2 Test

I figured I should write this before I forget the details. I'd like to think I won't forget but of course my memory will just fade.

There was one student (the person who typically sits in a dark room) who wasn't present for the test.

The test was conducted online, so around 10 minutes before the lesson, the teacher sent via KakaoTalk the test paper to everyone individually. For some reason I thought it was going to be sent via email, so I had also prepared to log in.

It's quite fortunate I could Airdrop the file to my Mac for printing, otherwise I would have wasted extra time trying to get it to print. But I didn't look at any of the questions before joining the Zoom call for the class... and so I found myself in the same situation for listening again as the previous test.

Test

Listening

The listening was pretty similar to the last one, with a variety of questions. We started with listening, and so there was again no time to read the questions like for the first test. The difference was that there were only 2 of the really text-heavy questions. This is where there are 4 options and you had to choose the correct one based on the conversation. The last test had 5 or so, and that was the one that you really had to read.

The other sections were pretty similar to the first test, and yes, everything was multiple choice:

1. Listen and select the correct word that is missing
2. Listen to a question and select what constitutes an appropriate response (the type of question that threw me off in the very first test)
3. Listen to a dialogue and select what they are talking about
4. Listen to a dialogue and select where it possibly took place
5. Listen to a dialogue and select the appropriate image based on the question (that is read out at the end)
6. Listen to a dialogue and select the correct sentence that describes what happened

Oral

After the listening, we did oral one by one. I was the fortunate one to go first. In a way it was good to go first, so you don't get distrubed halfway while doing the rest of the paper.

There were a few components, there's actually a reference piece of paper with instructions/text/images that are required. The teacher screen shared this with us.

1. Read out 5 sentences.
2. Construct a sentence to describe the weather shown in the picture, using 고 to join (2 pictures - so it was something like cold and rainy, hot and sunny.)
3. Construct a sentence to describe the action shown in the picture, using formal speech (3 pictures - one was skiing, the other sightseeing, and with 2 people at a cafe with one eating cake and the other drinking tea/coffee)
4. There is a large picture shown with people and multiple objects in it. It was a scene of a living room. You had to pick 4 objects that you see in the picture and then say what they are and how many there are with the counting numbers. I recall saying: 5 people, 4 bottles of cola, 2 cups of wine (they were glasses but I used 잔 which is for cup), 1 apple. There were also stalks of flowers, among other things like chairs, tables, etc.

The last part, there's no more screen sharing, and it's a converation about your family. This part the teacher will ask you how many people are in your family, and then you answer. Then she will ask you their occupations and what they like to do.

Initially when she asked I kind of froze and she repeated the question at least once or twice.

Reading/Grammar

All MCQ, nothing too different from the last one.

Writing

There was the first page where you had to join some sentences with either 고 or 지만 as appropriate.

Then there was the essay. The assignment was to introduce your family, using honorific speech where appropriate. There were some questions that you had to answer:

1. How many people there are in your family
2. Who are they
3. What are their occupations
4. What do they like to do

The recommended length was 150-300 words.

The test sheet that the teacher sent for us to print only had one sheet of the square paper, and I didn't have enough space, so I ended up using an extra sheet that was sent in the mail with the textbook. This was part of an answer sheet that was sent together with the textbook along with the other handouts. The teacher said we can have a choice as to whether to fill out the answer sheet or to simply mark it on the paper.

Submission

We had to take a picture and send it to the teacher (via KakaoTalk) within 15 minutes after the lesson ended. The teacher was very nice about it too, she said that she noticed people tended to take more time when the test is conducted online.

Thoughts & Reflection

1. I was surprised that the listening had no numbers again, just like the first test. We did learn the larger numbers for prices in Chapter 6 (I discovered to my horror the day before the test). I had also thought the first test would test the dates, but in the end we were spared from that.
2. The teacher sent a reminder to us the day before (actually the same day - it was past midnight) which included a reminder that we aren't to refer to anything because it would harm our learning in the long term. I really appreciated that, as that really set the tone. That was why in the end I only looked at the paper when the test started—after we joined the Zoom call—and once the call ended I didn't take extra time to check through. This was despite there being actually extra time—you don't need 15 minutes to take pictures of all the sheets. I had managed to check the reading part, but didn't have time to check my essay before submission.
3. I felt really relieved when it was over; I'm not really sure why I was so stressed.
4. I am certain that I missed 1-2 questions for listening. If I got them right, it would be because it was a smart guess more than anything. I did eliminate options, but I didn't fully understand the dialogue in some places.
5. For oral, independent of how I actually do (in terms of the score), I know that I hesitated a lot and was not confident. I really need to improve on speaking. In terms of correctness I know it's mostly correct (I suddenly got a scare this morning, whether I actually said 스키를 탑니다 when 스키 came up in my Anki review since it felt so unfamiliar, or whether I said 합니다) but I hesitated a lot and acted very uncertain. If I was grading myself I'd grade myself lower because of that.
6. On the day of the test, but before the test, I spent time on Quizlet doing focused review (for just Korean, but still interleaving all the chapters' sentences). This was helpful, and doubly so when I started to test myself on how to say a sentence in various forms: casual/formal/present/past/honorific.
7. I almost skipped lunch because I was studying, but I'm glad I did not because I definitely needed a break. The brain has to go into diffuse mode too and not only focused mode for effective learning.

Next Week

There was no homework for this week. Next week we'd get the test report (I think like for the first test, but now the advantage is that we get to keep the question paper since it's still with us), and will go through the common mistakes. The teacher said we'd do some revision before moving on to Chapter 10.

Beginner 3A

Later in the same day I got the invoice for the next term. I'd not realised this was the 6th lesson. I went to check if I could claim the course under the training budget of my company (I could) so I had to go to the school's website to get the required syllabus information and whatnot to apply for the claim. I went to check their teachers list and now the previous teacher that I had is no longer listed on their site. So I guess she really left. :(

I guess next week would already be considered as 3A, but, eh, I don't know. I also don't know how we will get our certificates. I know the school gives them out after each level (2 terms, generally, with the exception of the Foundation class which was 1 term).