Well, today was the mid-term progress test in Bahasa Indonesia. Yesterday we had a listening lab exercise which went OK, but not perfect. Then today started with a speaking test that lasted about an hour. It included general conversation, then make a presentation/role play, and finished with interviewing one person in Indonesian about a topic and then relating the question and answer in English to another. High stress, and while I mispronounced a word or two and felt like I could have done better, I didn't throw up and fall off my chair. What does your first formal test in front of professional language instructors in an unfamiliar language feel like? This unfortunate video captures the feeling exactly:
By the way, his day job is bread seller, and "ding dong dang deng" sounds like Indonesian but those aren't real words. After the trainwreck, he asks for comments. They try to be nice, but it is hard. Then on his way out the host asks him to come back and counts 1, 2, 3... and we're off. Represent, 12582! Represent, my brother.
They said I was meeting expectations for speaking at this time. So, while I might get assigned to the short bus because of this, it won't be the shortest bus. Hooray! The reading went much better, or so I have convinced myself.
Selamat akhir minggu (happy weekend)!
-S
By the way, his day job is bread seller, and "ding dong dang deng" sounds like Indonesian but those aren't real words. After the trainwreck, he asks for comments. They try to be nice, but it is hard. Then on his way out the host asks him to come back and counts 1, 2, 3... and we're off. Represent, 12582! Represent, my brother.
They said I was meeting expectations for speaking at this time. So, while I might get assigned to the short bus because of this, it won't be the shortest bus. Hooray! The reading went much better, or so I have convinced myself.
Selamat akhir minggu (happy weekend)!
-S
Ouch. That was painful. Best of luck as you keep working your Bahasa off - you'll get there! Meanwhile you now have a catchy tune to motivate you when you are feeling a overwhelmed with the task at hand!
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