P.S. 결과 나왔당 (The Results Are In)
I’m baaaaaack~
Just for a quick update that isn’t of the utmost importance, but at the same time is kind of important? I’ll let you decide.
I won’t waste time by writing some fancy introduction and just tell you how it is: the results from my final evaluations have come in!
Well, they came in about two weeks ago, but I forgot to write about it here…
But never mind that. I’m here now, and I bet you’re curious!
First, let’s take a little trip down memory lane…
Remember this?
If you don’t, let me briefly explain.
This is the ACTFL Proficiency Scale, a scale used to measure one’s language ability that is widely used throughout the US and other parts of the world. The Flagship Program uses this scale religiously, and I have essentially become an expert on what each level means and the skills one must possess in order to move from level to level (at least in terms of speaking).
We use this scale to have our speaking, listening, and reading skills evaluated. In order to be accepted into the Capstone Program, we needed to achieve at least an Advanced Low in all three areas, or plead our cases if we happened to score lower than that.
As of February of 2021, I was Advanced Mid in all three sections.
Over the year, we practiced the speaking test (OPI) at least five times officially, and I probably did it an extra two times during my free time.
To give a brief rundown of the OPI, it goes like this.
The OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview), is an interview usually conducted over the phone and is meant to evaluate a student’s speaking skills by covering a range of topics and skills. As with any test, there is a somewhat pre-determined format, which pretty much got drilled into all of our heads after the first two practice tests. Some of the components looked like the following:
- Self introduction (name, school, major, how long you’ve studied Korean, a few small facts)
- Talk about your hobbies
- Comparison (comparing the weather between Korea and the US, compare your current room to your childhood room, etc.)
- Description (describe the room you’re in in exact detail, describe a person’s appearance, describe the outside of a building, etc.)
- Giving directions (Tell me how to get from point A to point B in extreme detail)
- Role play (can range form “You’re returning a shirt. Explain the problem to the worker and get a refund” to something about a somewhat abstract societal problem; “Should we evaluate teachers based off of their students’ test scores? What are the benefits and drawbacks?”)
- News reporting (summarize some recent news that you’ve heard)
- Societal issues (the tester can basically ask anything. I’ve been asked about the importance of the study of the humanities, the obesity problem in America, BTS’ compulsory military service and possible exemption, the importance of college, etc.) — this is honestly the most dreaded part of this test (obviously)
The OPI usually lasts between 30–45 minutes if you are an Advanced speaker and is quite…draining. But the training we received for this test was actually really great. We learned how to interpret the questions so that we knew exactly what the testers were looking for, as well as how to avoid questions and narrow down very broad questions and steer the conversation towards where we wanted it to go. I’ll probably have to take it in the future if I continue to use Korean, so it would probably do me well to remember all of this.
Reading and listening were tests taken on the computer, and we didn’t receive any “special” training for these. Rather, we just considered our reading and listening classes as sufficient enough practice. And, in a way, I guess they were.
Okay well, I feel like I’ve dragged this post out a lot longer than I planned to, but now for the good part!
The results.
Pre-Capstone Evaluation Results:
Speaking: Advanced Mid
Reading: Advanced Mid
Listening: Advanced Mid
Post-Capstone Evaluation Results:
Speaking: Superior
Reading: Advanced High
Listening: Superior
I —
I was really surprised by these results. And to be quite honest, I still don’t feel like any of this is real. I know I need more confidence in my abilities, but can’t help but have some doubts about how I was evaluated. But nevertheless, this is the subjective opinion I received, so I’m going to roll with it. It’s on an official certificate too, so they can’t take it back heehee.
This is the fruit of my labor. A whole year’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears has come to this, and I’m going to take this moment to be proud of myself. Not just because I reached the level I had only ever dreamed of achieving, but because I just overall improved and proved to myself that even things I thought were impossible were attainable so long as I put in the effort and stayed focussed on my goals.
That’s all for this post. I just wanted to update you all on the very last detail of this amazing year, and once again thank you all for sticking around until the very last chapter.
If you haven’t already, feel free to go back and read the other installments in the “Capstone Year in Korea” series!
Ali’s Song Recommendation (because why not):
