Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

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Cainntear
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby Cainntear » Sun May 15, 2022 7:11 pm

MaggieMae wrote:Now I'm freezing up every time I have to read something that even looks like a test problem, especially fill in the blank texts.

I can't really say what your individual difficulties are, but I'll tell you the most common mistake with fill-in-the-blanks...

When we approach one of these in our first language or a strong second language, the first thing we know is the word class. Like "that's an adjective" or whatever. If it's a verb, we've probably worked out the tense and person from context before we even start to think about the meaning.

But if we're nervous and/or uncertain, we start to focus on the meaning, and stop paying attention to word class/part of speech. I'm told it's far more common for people to put in something of the correct word class and rub it out in favour of something of the wrong word class than vice versa.

My advice to my own students is therefore to take a second and be conscious of the word class before proceeding to think about the specific word.
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MaggieMae
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby MaggieMae » Sun May 15, 2022 7:22 pm

@Cainntear: That's exactly what I've been doing previously. It's just recently that my confidence has been shaken, hence the original post. My blanks are normally noted with noun, verb, adjective, gender, number, 1/2/3rd person, etc. Maybe I just need to refocus on that again. :)
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MaggieMae
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby MaggieMae » Tue May 17, 2022 7:08 pm

UPDATE!

I listened, y'all, I swear! Since the beginning of this thread, I started focusing on the small parts (especially the grammar in fill in the blank texts) instead of trying to focus on everything all at once and getting overwhelmed (when I had to do homework) or taking a small break in between by only reading, watching, or listening to fun stuff and not the challenging stuff. It was really a practice in focusing on what I DO know, instead of beating myself up for what I DON'T know. I know it hasn't even been a week yet, but I swear y'all are geniuses because it's already helped me by leaps and bounds.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! <3 <3 <3 I'm already so grateful that I've found this group, and really wish I had sooner.

Now it's time to read more for the Super Challenge! :D ...maybe after I get my homework done... :sweatdrop: (I really wish there was a smiley with a sweat drop emoji in here. It's seriously my most often used. :lol: )
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Olivia_Key
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby Olivia_Key » Fri May 05, 2023 9:48 am

Sorry for dropping in, however, I can't stay silent if someone says that he's "not enough" because it's such a lie. You're enough. You lived through times you thought you won't. Keep it up, girl!

Don't forget to treat yourself good. You deserve the best. This test doesn't proove anything!

For me inspiration was always the main part though, I was able to learn a lot from other's writings, stories etc.
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