AroAro's log (languages, books, certificates)

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AroAro
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Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri Apr 21, 2023 8:54 am

French – I finished “Le DALF 100% Réussite” and I have mixed feelings about the book. I’m still not sure how to prepare an expose for the oral part of the exam, for example how to manage the time (the expose is supposed to last 8-10 minutes). I hope “Réussir le DALF” will clarify the matters. But maybe the problem is about me and not the book or the exam itself – for expose, candidates must prepare 2 or 3 “ideas” based on two texts, each idea is then divided into sub-ideas and for each sub-idea an example is required (unless I misunderstood something!). Sure, I can write down some “for and against” arguments but making a list of ideas out of it is more of a challenge. And although I think that I have some general knowledge about the world I live in, I find it difficult to provide so many ideas with examples regarding subjects I have never thought of before. So the exam looks more scary than I thought, and I’ve recently been looking for some tutors online that specialize in DALF preparation even though initially I hadn’t intended to get one.

Occitan – lesson 14 from Assimil

Bulgarian – finished revisiting Assimil, and now it’s time for “Говорите ли български?”. I discovered an interesting YT channel – “The Clashers”. The content is something like “10 incredible secrets…” or “25 interesting facts about…” and so on but this is why I find it suitable for my present level. Also, the guy speaks a little bit slower and more clearly than I’d expect and that probably gives a huge boost to my comprehension.

Reading – finished “The Discomfort of Evening” and didn’t like it though I admit the first 30% or so of the book sucked me in. Now I’m reading Chinua Achebe’s “Arrow of God”, second part of his African Trilogy.

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Caromarlyse
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Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 2:31 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1-ish), German (B2/C1-ish), Russian (B1-ish), Portuguese (B1-ish), Welsh (complete beginner), Spanish (in hibernation)
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby Caromarlyse » Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:35 am

Well done with your Romanian exam! You seem to pick up a new language and succeed immediately (this is the view from the outside; I am sure a lot of work goes in on the inside!).

AroAro wrote:French – I finished “Le DALF 100% Réussite” and I have mixed feelings about the book. I’m still not sure how to prepare an expose for the oral part of the exam, for example how to manage the time (the expose is supposed to last 8-10 minutes). I hope “Réussir le DALF” will clarify the matters. But maybe the problem is about me and not the book or the exam itself – for expose, candidates must prepare 2 or 3 “ideas” based on two texts, each idea is then divided into sub-ideas and for each sub-idea an example is required (unless I misunderstood something!). Sure, I can write down some “for and against” arguments but making a list of ideas out of it is more of a challenge. And although I think that I have some general knowledge about the world I live in, I find it difficult to provide so many ideas with examples regarding subjects I have never thought of before. So the exam looks more scary than I thought, and I’ve recently been looking for some tutors online that specialize in DALF preparation even though initially I hadn’t intended to get one.


I did a C1 exam prep course at the Institut Français a few years ago. As it was right at the beginning of the pandemic, I never ended up taking the exam (and I didn't give it the time and effort it deserved because everything was all so unprecedented at the time...). But I did do a practice oral exam (with the rest of the class as the audience and critics!). From what I recall, I lost what should have been easy points on stuff unrelated to the French language but related to what the rubrique said was required (but is not all that clear); there are a lot of points to be had if you get this stuff right. I'd therefore recommend getting an actual examiner even for just one session to do a mock oral (being strict with yourself and sticking to exam conditions) and getting their feedback. My experience was that it's possible to jump up a significant number of marks with tiny tweaks. There are also some parts of the exam where you have to refer to the documents provided, and some where you can but don't have to, and it might be more sensible in the latter case to save yourself time and ignore the documents and just concentrate on your own arguments. As for the content, my recollection is that they are not expecting anything very profound at all.

Don't rely on what I say here as gospel; my main point is that the exam format and marking scheme is quite opaque, and to maximise your score I think it would be worth getting clarity from an examiner or someone very familiar with the exam.
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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:15 am

Caromarlyse wrote:Don't rely on what I say here as gospel; my main point is that the exam format and marking scheme is quite opaque, and to maximise your score I think it would be worth getting clarity from an examiner or someone very familiar with the exam.


Thank you so much for your comment and insight based on personal experience. Having the whole class as the audience and critics is probably my idea of hell :) I will definitely get a tutor in May to avoid unpleasant surprises on the day of the exam. I naively thought the exam was going to be a walk in the park but from what I can see, I really need to master its structure and examiners' expectations. Even my book "Réussir le DALF" says about the written part for example: a well-structured essay written with good command of French will get you at least 50% of points no matter what you write as arguments (racist or discriminatory remarks are strictly forbidden) (quoting from memory). So that's the way to go.
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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:48 am

French – I signed up for the exam and paid the fee, so there’s no turning back. I finished the chapters on listening, reading and writing from “Réussir le DALF”. I think this book is more demanding than “Le DALF 100% Réussite”. I’ve just realized that it was published for the first time in 2007 so the examples are not always up-to-date but always more ambitious – for example, for reading, the texts are 1700 words long whereas in the real exam today they tend to contain around 1000-1100 words. Also, for listening and reading exercises I scored on average 18-19 points (out of 25) but 22-23 while doing “Le DALF 100% Réussite”. But overall, I think that “Réussir” has better explanations than the other one. Now it’s time for the part on oral exam.

I also discovered an interesting podcast on France Inter – “Autour de la question” that focuses on natural sciences (but is not limited to environnement et changement climatique, comme c’est souvent le cas).

Occitan – lesson 20 from Assimil

Bulgarian – still rereading « Говорите ли български? »

Reading – still reading “Arrow of God”. “Things Fall Apart” was so much better.

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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri May 05, 2023 8:32 am

French – so I’ve been practicing the expose/monologue by myself. I can talk for about 10 minutes – even longer for some topics for which it’s easy to come up with ideas and examples. However, I notice my speaking abilities have deteriorated over the years, I don’t remember many fancy words and expressions due to lack of practice. I finished “Réussir le DALF” and am using “Production orale DALF C1”, I think that one is really useful – explanations are clearer and the whole idea of an expose doesn’t seem so intimidating (we’ll see on the day of the exam though…) I also think that I need to intensify a little bit my preparation process even though the exam will take place on 22nd of June. Among other things, next week it’s Eurovision so that will eat up some of my time, then in June I’m going to Bucharest for 4 days so I won’t study French then, and time has a tendency to go by really fast. And I want to keep a healthy balance between languages and family life.

I also finished reading “L’Express” and I’m now reading “Ca m’intéresse” but there are more photos than text in this one.

Occitan – lesson 25 from Assimil

Bulgarian – finished “ Говорите ли български?“ and will reread “Intensive Bulgarian 1”

Reading – reading Tom Coibin’s “Brooklyn”, a nice little book.

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User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri May 12, 2023 7:36 am

French – I moved on to “Production écrite DALF C1” by Stéphane Wattier but I cannot recommend this book, unlike his “Production orale”. He teaches the “synthese” differently than I’m used to and I’m not really convinced it’s the way to go. My instinct tells me to stick with the methodology explained in both “Le DALF 100% Réussite” and “Réussir le DALF”. For example, according to him there’s no need to mention the source of texts in the introduction, or that it’s important to create an argumentative plan, which seems to be very much true for essay but not for synthese I would say. In other news, I got in contact with an experienced tutor, she promised to find time for me in the last week of May.

Occitan – lesson 33 from Assimil

Bulgarian – rereading “Intensive Bulgarian 1”

Reading – reading two books in Polish, then it’s finally time for something in French – “Le Tour du monde du roi Zibeline” by my favourite French writer Jean-Christophe Rufin, and “Chanson douce” by Leila Slimani.

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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri May 19, 2023 7:38 am

French – I did all the exercises from “Production écrite DALF C1”. The exam is in 5 weeks’ time and my plan is as follows:
- Reread the most important tips from “Le DALF 100% Réussite”, “Réussir le DALF” and “Production orale DALF C1
- Review the list of French logical connectors
- Watch YT videos with simulations of speaking exam part
- Have a few sessions with the tutor
- Do 6 mock exam (“DALF C1. Tests complets avec corrigés”) and one sample test from “DALF 100% Réussite
- Listen to podcasts, read magazines and books

Occitan – lesson 38 from Assimil

Bulgarian – rereading “Intensive Bulgarian 1” and then, I will try to go through a Bulgarian phrasebook. I don’t use phrasebooks for language learning but when a language doesn’t have many resources, even a phrasebook is welcome.

Reading – just started reading “Le Tour du monde du roi Zibeline

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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri May 26, 2023 7:34 am

French – I've done 3 sample tests so far. I will reveal my average score for listening and reading parts once I’ve done all the 7 tests. I just want to mention here one important fact about DALF C1 – one needs to get 50% of correct answers to pass it whereas most other language exams have a threshold of 60% of points at least, so 50% seems quite low in comparison. But in reality there are no easy points to get here. For example for listening and reading parts, there are usually only 2 or 3 multiple choice questions, all other questions require to write the answer in your own words and those open questions can be tricky sometimes, so it’s easy to lose points here. By the way, the sample tests in “DALF C1. Tests complets avec corrigés” are particularly difficult, reading sections are much longer than in today’s exam and so on. Even most of the comments on Amazon for this book claim that the actual exam is much easier than these sample tests.

Regarding the speaking part, I will have my first session with the tutor on Monday.

Occitan – lesson 42 from Assimil

Bulgarian – going through a Bulgarian phrasebook

Reading – reading “Le Tour du monde du roi Zibeline

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AroAro
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Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri Jun 02, 2023 8:21 am

French – I had my first session with the tutor I found a few weeks ago and I’m satisfied with what we did. I had prepared two monologues (“new ways of working” and “evolution of family”) and the tutor said that especially the first one was really interesting to listen to because I used many examples that were not mentioned in the documents. She also appreciated the structure of my monologues, with a clear introduction and announcement of the plan. And last but not least, she complimented me on my French pronunciation, she was impressed that I had that “French melody” when speaking 8-) she said that many advanced students she encounters may have developed a broad vocabulary but have neglected to work on the “flow” of the language when speaking. Sure, I will never pass for a French native speaker and that’s never been my goal in any language in the first place. However, I’ve always felt insecure about my French prosody so it’s nice to be told that I don’t butcher the language too much. My performance was more chaotic during the interview part of the exam simulation we did – it’s not obvious to answer on the spot to different questions that can touch on various facets of a problem. But I think I’m not the only one with such a weak point – I’ve watched some recordings of exam simulations on YT and in most cases, the monologue part is well structured but when the interview starts, most candidates lose their grip and tend to repeat themselves abundantly.

I’ve also done all of my seven mock exams. My average score for listening part is 20.07/25 and 18.86/25 for reading (it’s still just a rough estimate because most questions are open type but I tried to be strict when assessing myself). If I dare to do a prediction, I think that I can get 20 points from listening, 15 from reading, 15 from writing and at least 10 from speaking. That would give me 60 points, just a little bit above the threshold of 50 points to pass the exam. There are many variables that come into play on the day of the exam (general disposition, fatigue, subjects proposed and so on) and it’s not easy to predict what will happen but generally speaking, I feel confident about the final outcome. I got my “lettre de convocation” from Institut français de Pologne - Cracovie and luckily, the speaking part will take place on the same day as the written parts of the exam (I wonder if it means that not that many candidates signed up for C1 exam).

Occitan – lesson 47 from Assimil

Bulgarian – almost finished that phrasebook. I think it was time spent wisely, I read lots of expressions I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Reading – finished both “Le Tour du monde du roi Zibeline” and “Chanson douce”. It may not be the best book ever by Rufin but I’m a big fan of his and enjoyed it to a degree. Regarding “Chanson douce”… well, it’s definitely not a book that you can love or even like I guess. The babysitter kills kids she takes care of – and it’s not a spoiler, literally the first phrase of the book tells it all but the book was gripping and I liked the style of the author, it makes me want to read more of her.

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User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro’s log – preparing for DALF C1 in June 2023

Postby AroAro » Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:16 am

French – I had another session with the tutor and I prepared two monologues (“obsolescence programmée” and “féminisme d’aujourd’hui”). Feedback – in the introduction, I need to mention the title and author of each document based on which I prepared my monologue. Good thing is that I provide many examples from outside of the documents and that should be appreciated by the jury. Recently, I’ve been listening to “28 minutes – ARTE”, a series of debates revolving around current topics (changement climatique, transition écologique, tourisme de masse) that apparently appear often on DALF C1/C2. Usually, there are 3 guests (specialists in a given field, so no writers/philosophers speaking nonsense), one of whom does not agree with the premise of the debate (or presents a more realistic point of view), so that’s interesting to listen to.

I also finished reading “L’Obs” and will read now “Le Point”. However, now I know it’s a better idea to read some science magazines before DALF. I used at least 2 examples from “Ca m’intéresse” for my monologues even if I didn’t like the magazine that much and I complained it contained more photos than text. But we learn from our mistakes.

Occitan – I finished half of the Assimil course and didn’t want to continue it. The fact is that the second half of Assimil focuses on dialects but uses poems or medieval texts to do so if I’m correct, and that’s not really my thing. So I started Assimil’s “L’Occitan Sans Peine” 1975 edition but I’m doing it less diligently, I mean I listen to several lessons in a row, then read the dialogues and explanations at my own pace. Regarding the audio, this old edition has a very good quality of recordings (and the actors pronounce consistently the final “s” which is not the case in the 2015 edition). Also, in the new version of the course, the female voices sound to me very irritating and theatrically exaggerated and that was not pleasant to listen to. I think it’s time to add some other materials as well, maybe I’ll start watching YT videos by Parpalhon Blau.

Bulgarian – finished the phrasebook and will review now “Grammatica Bulgara” by Hoepli

Reading – I started reading Georgi Gospodinov’s “Time Shelter” in Polish translation, winner of the International Booker this year (and the jury was chaired by Leila Slimani whose book I read very recently). By the way, is it a recent tendency to say simply “chair” instead of “chairwoman” or “chairman” when talking about a jury?

Clozemaster
#Hebrew from English (Fluency Fast Track) => playing 3096, mastered 2671 out of 19999 sentences

Not much language learning next week as I’m going to Bucharest.
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