This post isn't particularly interesting; it's just to provide some information on the pre-departure tests that we are required to take. I just thought I'd address my experience with them just in case anyone is curious. It may be different for each organization, so this is primarily for those with American Councils. American Councils require each scholarship recipient to finish 3 tests before the end of May: the placement test, OPI, and this 2-hour online test. I believe everyone has to take the host institution placement test and the OPI, regardless of the organization that they're in. The 2-hour online test is strictly an American Councils thing (and I think it was something that was implemented just this year. Past participants said they had no idea what this test was, lol).
- Host Institution Placement Test: Just like the name says, this is to determine your placement within the host institution. My test was about an hour long, and it had to handwritten and then scanned. It was okay....I left a lot blank though, especially the pinyin and measure word section, ugh. I found the reading portion to be the easiest, but that's just me. I'm personally stronger in my reading comprehension skills than I am with anything else. (Heh, I translated the whole paragraph almost perfectly, but then I misread the questions and answered them wrong -__- Always check your work before sending in your test, guys...I only realized I had read the question wrong after I sent it in. Oops.) Apparently, other people found the placement test to be difficult, too, so I guess I'm not the only one. I can't really say too much about this because the test is different for each person depending on your host institution.
- OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview): This test basically measures your oral proficiency in the language, so your speaking and listening skills. Honestly, I knew this one would be the hardest for me. My speaking and listening skills are those of a 1st grader...but I did list my level as "poor" on the application for both of these, so I guess it's okay, haha. My interview lasted about 10-15 minutes on the phone (because I did so bad and could not hold a conversation at all), and I was just incredibly nervous. I even told my interviewer this. My interviewer was really nice though, so that made me feel a bit better. She basically asked me about my family, my hobbies, my name, my Chinese teacher/class, etc. We also did a role play, which I failed horribly at. This was the scenario: She was visiting Hangzhou, and I was the information booth person. Yeah. I honestly blanked out and did not know what to ask her. Hopefully I'll do better on the second OPI after I return from my trip.
- Reading and Comprehension Test: This test was about 2 hours long, and it was taken online. Sixty minutes was dedicated to the reading portion and another 60 minutes was dedicated to the listening portion. Each section was about 30-40 pages long with 1 or 2 questions on each page. The questions were all multiple choice and asked you about what you read or heard in the dialogue. I personally found the reading section to be easier because I could not understand anything in the listening portion of the test. They had weird music playing in the background for some of the dialogue and that made it really hard to concentrate. Also, the audio levels kept changing; it was really soft in one audio and then deafening-loud in another. I probably killed my ears after this test, lol. I think I did decent in the reading section, but I 100%-failed the listening portion. *sigh* It didn't help that I had a killer headache that day as well. I fell asleep after finishing this test. Like, I literally exited out and then crashed; I didn't even bother closing my laptop. It took so much mental concentration, hahahaha.
***None of these tests affect the status of your scholarship, so just breathe and relax (: They won't take away your scholarship just because you "failed" them. I'm just going to take these tests as a way of motivating myself to work harder in Chinese.
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