Testing yourself

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
Ccaesar
Orange Belt
Posts: 216
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:47 pm
Languages: Danish (N) English (B2-C1) German (B1-B2) Italian(B1), Japanese (beginner)
x 264

Testing yourself

Postby Ccaesar » Sun Nov 06, 2022 5:42 pm

My question is as stated: How do you test yourself to figure out where to aim your efforts?
0 x
Hiragana practiced in hand : 48 / 48
Katakana practiced in hand : 48 / 48
Kanji : 50 / 2000
Assimil Japanese with Ease : 27 / 100

User avatar
Iversen
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4768
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:36 pm
Location: Denmark
Languages: Monolingual travels in Danish, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Romanian and (part time) Esperanto
Ahem, not yet: Norwegian, Afrikaans, Platt, Scots, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Greek, Latin, Irish, Indonesian and a few more...
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1027
x 14962

Re: Testing yourself

Postby Iversen » Sun Nov 06, 2022 6:58 pm

Easy: I just read something or listen to something or try to say (or think) something in a language - then I know how well I understand things and how 'fluent' I am when I use it, and I also know where my weak points are. And during those travels where I have spoken to local people in their own language I have got a feeling for how easy (or not) it is for them to understand me - albeit with the caveat that my pronunciation still may be substandard, and maybe I make gross grammatical or lexical error which I don't notice myself. But luckily I don't need to pass any exams for the rest of my life, and if I can have discussions with native speakers where they don't slow down or use simple words to accommodate me then my level can't be totally off the mark.

The main exception to my lack of stringent testing is I have made wordcounts to get a feeling for the size of my passive vocabularies, but there is nothing quite as quantifiable about other aspects of language.
4 x

garyb
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1572
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:35 pm
Location: Scotland
Languages: Native: English
Advanced: Italian, French
Intermediate: Spanish
Beginner: German, Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1855
x 5992
Contact:

Re: Testing yourself

Postby garyb » Sun Nov 06, 2022 7:11 pm

Speaking the language with people is always going to be the gold standard test for me. Any gaps in vocabulary, ability to manipulate language, and listening comprehension are revealed very quickly, and ones that keep coming up are clearly weak points.

Unfortunately it's not always possible, and if you don't have opportunities to speak then trying to find them can be more effort than it's worth.
5 x

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7265
Contact:

Re: Testing yourself

Postby IronMike » Mon Nov 07, 2022 1:05 am

You could use DIA Lang or one of DLI's self-assessment tools.
3 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
anitarrc
Orange Belt
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2022 10:10 am
Location: Luxembourg
Languages: Moved around... English + German + Spanish + Dutch + French + Portuguese
used daily
Catalá Russian Serbian: struggling but improving. Bahasa..needs refreshment
x 304
Contact:

Re: Testing yourself

Postby anitarrc » Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:40 am

IronMike wrote:You could use DIA Lang or one of DLI's self-assessment tools.

thank you.. could you translate please.... The link in your signature leads to some school's assesment grid, not to any tests.
0 x

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7231
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23123
Contact:

Re: Testing yourself

Postby rdearman » Mon Nov 07, 2022 3:26 pm

anitarrc wrote:
IronMike wrote:You could use DIA Lang or one of DLI's self-assessment tools.

thank you.. could you translate please.... The link in your signature leads to some school's assesment grid, not to any tests.

https://oda.dliflc.edu/

This is the testing area for DFI.
2 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.


Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests