한국어 수첩

Sunday 3 March 2013

많은 시험이 끝냈습니다! (...for now) posted at 14:59

You must be wondering why I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, but don't worry I haven't been slacking! Instead I once again called the University Library home for nearly two weeks as I studied for the next set of listening and review exams that is compulsory for my class. If you want to know what these include you can review my previous posts if you haven't before as they go into detail about each exam ^^

I am happy to say the previous set I told you about in another post came back with positive marks which made all the hard work more worth while! Obviously this meant that this time round I wanted to continue my hard studying routine to maintain my good marks from previous tests. I didn't get any whole questions wrong in that exam, and marks were only deducted due to small mistakes which is always positive but then again means I have to be far more careful in my answers! These mistakes included some small spelling mistakes but also not making sure the topic of the sentence is clear which means everything when trying to state the important points.

This time round I found the tests far harder, including the listening test which I found extremely hard to follow despite being allowed to listen to it three times. Even though I have done more audio file practice this time round I know that for the fourth set of exams I have to work even harder in this area so my marks are kept high as these count towards one of my units.

The review test however was much better but I still feel a little unsure due to the inclusion of some new question styles. This time round instead of just some set grammar form and translation questions, we now had the addition of a reading comprehension task and a composition question. The reading question was actually really simple and I liked that I could write the answer in English as it meant I could be more confident in my answer. The composition task however was something that made we want to pull my hair out! Obviously in this I had to show the variety of both grammar and vocabulary, so I was really anxious that I was not including enough. Additionally as it had to have a minimum amount of words, because I was spending so long making complex sentences I was using valuable time which could have made the piece longer. Then again I suppose it is quality above quantity ^^

Unlike last time where I made some short notes on where I think I could improve on my questions, I am not going to make any such inclusion in this post due to not being sure on my negative points yet. However I will make some short posts in the space of the next week that I made in my studying notes on how to tell the difference in similar grammar patterns. As you learn more Korean you will find that some grammar patterns and particles have very similar meanings when translated into English but of course in reality are very distinct. So hopefully those future posts can aid you in a guide on how to make sure you understood perfectly!

This weekend I wanted to treat myself to some nice things as a boost after such a stressful week. We have also started the process of applying for our year abroad so a lot of stress has been added to my shoulders. These items are actually Japanese in origin but I wanted to show you some of the cute things I like to buy to cheer myself up. I was actually elated to find that the Japanese supermarket in central London has started to sell melon soda which was my favourite drink from when I spent time in Japan. I also bought this cute panda biscuit as you can never have enough cute sweets!^^ So remember to always treat yourself after an exam because you need some energy and treats!

Labels: diary, korean progress, test