Exam Prep

I’ve got a new exam (or rather the same flippin’ exam I failed last time, dammit!) at the back end of May. I’m making a list of things I want to do between now and then

Speaking Goals

• Build Confidence: I need to speak clearly and confidently even when I get to a bit I’m not sure about. If I don’t know the word, just guess and keep on going rather than fretting and looking confused.
• Conversely, don’t be cocky: talk at a sensible speed to give myself time to think, and don’t go off at a tangent that seems interesting if I’m not sure where I’m going with it. Obviously this is in conflict with the point above.
• Speak portuguese for at least 5 minutes every day between now and the exam.

Listening Goals

• Listen to videos of people speaking in a range of accents from Alentejo, the rural centre of the country. and the islands (hence that Açoriano video I just posted).
• Listen to at least 3 video films with subtitles.
• Get to grips with the Raul Solnado “Guerra de 1908” sketch

Cultural Goals

• Read at the very least:
  • • A Língua Portuguesa (Fernando Pessoa)
    • Mensagem (Fernando Pessoa)
    • Brevíssima História de Portugal (A.H. De Oliveira Marques)
    • Maybe even A construção da democracia em Portugal (Kenneth Maxwell) although that seems a bit ambitious.
• Make a timeline of portuguese history to get a sense of how it hangs together
• Write about portuguese landmarks – the Padrão dos Descubrimentos, Torre de Belém, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and so on.

General Language skills

• I need to build my vocabulary – Memrise and Lingq daily goals
• I’m getting better at the ver/vir (which was one of the 4 Evil Exes I identified a year or so back) but need to step up my game on some of the other weirder irregulars like Por and Dar
• Finish the exercise book I’m on now
• Do a couple of mock exams to get a feel for the speed I need to be working at to get in under the time limit
• Practice writing legibly. I type so much these days I need to get my hand used to forming letters or I’ll be penalised for spelling errors.
• Letter format and forms of address
• Learn – actually learn verbatim – one song