"Scarce to be counted, filling the darkness with order and light."

[nausicaa83]

Big news, everybody! Today I went to the local Oxford School Of English, a few minutes from St Marco's Square, and signed up for the Cambridge Proficiency Exam, next June. The lady there was really nice, we talked a lot, and I'm really, really excited. It'll be my first exam in 9 years, and that's quite terrifying, but it'll also be a great opportunity, and that's what makes it exciting.

I'm coming down from a pretty intense adrenaline high right now, you have no idea. :D I haven't told my therapist yet, because it was her idea in the first place, and I want to surprise her. A few weeks back she told me the next step in my healing process was finding a new hobby/activity/course, anything that was new, not hospital-related, and that would take some serious committing to. I mulled it over for a few days, and then decided on doing something related to my love for the English language, because everything you see here is all self-taught. I contacted the lovely space_oddity_75, and she suggested the CPE. I did a test on their website, and scored 24 out of 25. After throwing a Martin Crieff there and then ("So I got a question WRONG?!"), I checked the rest of the website and decided to do it.

Next time I see my therapist I'm going to bring the receipt with me and surprise her. I can't wait to see her face! *______*

In other news, my Survey Corps jacket from Shingeki no Kyojin arrived, and it's amazing:





While yes, I bought it because I'm working on a SnK cosplay, this jacket is such great quality I'm planning on wearing it as a normal jacket too. Plus the weather is so warm and nice, in less than a month it'll be perfect to wear outside. *________*

And now I should probably lie down for a bit, because happiness is great and all, but adrenaline is my nemesis and I have to leave the house again in two hours. I should probably learn to do some meditation.

Comments

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

Pfft, you can totally do that! Your English is at the perfect level for you to find the course exciting and have a sense of achievement and progress, while not feeling out of your depth. Like, at all.

Baking muffins sounds like just the ticket.:)

Seriously, absolutely no need to panic. Maybe it's just nervous energy at the novelty of it—that'll pass quickly, too, I'm sure.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!! ♥

The panic mostly comes from the nine years of no exams (do I still know how to hold a pencil? do they even use pencils?), and the fact that the lady told me very few people take the CPE and asked me if I wanted to take the Advanced first. We spoke in Italian the whole time, so it's not like she knew anything about my skills, she was just being nice. Still, you know, panic.

And if this were a movie this would be the time I break into a uplifting song about overcoming obstacles, that ends with the camera zooming out and the waves and the sun rising...

I think I need some chamomile tea now.

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

"And if this were a movie this would be the time I break into a uplifting song about overcoming obstacles, that ends with the camera zooming out and the waves and the sun rising...

I think I need some chamomile tea now."

:D

You'll do great, I'm sure of it!

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!!!

The best part about this exam is that I'm supposed to read a lot of different English books/novels/what have you to prepare, so this re-reading of OGAM I'm doing for the fanmix couldn't have come at a better time! *______*

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness.*hides face is hands* *looks up through fingers* How does it read? It's one of my biggest fears that my stories read okay on their own, but put amidst original fiction their fanfiction-ness stands out in a bad way, making them lack character and real worth.:/

(I'm honestly not fishing for compliments. OGAM is arguably my most successful writing project to-date and I feel fairly secure about. But that fear is real and it sort of spikes up when I imagine my poor baby being put against awesome 'real' literature.)

[space-oddity-75.livejournal.com]

Bravissima, sono tanto fiera di te! ^^

Ti ho suggerito il CPE perché in confronto l'Advanced fa ridere i polli! Al tuo livello, sei perfettamente in grado di passare il CPE 'with flying colours', credimi.

Ti invidio un po', perché l'adrenalina della sfida linguistica è una cosa che mi manca da tanto tempo, ma che adoro assolutamente. E in ogni caso, gli esami di questo tipo possono essere ridati più volte, per migliorare il proprio punteggio se non si è soddisfatti. Io sono già stra-sicura che sarai bravissima e avrai un sacco di soddisfazioni, ma nel caso sappi che ti puoi rifare più in là. In bocca al lupo, carissima! <3

P.S. - ci sono un sacco di libri di esercizi interessanti per prepararti al CPE. Se vuoi ti posso dare qualche titolo. Baci.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

*abbraccio strizzacostole*

Grazie tesoro!!!! Sai che ho una grandissima stima di te non solo come persona ma come professionista, quindi mi è bastato il tuo ok per iscrivermi a questo esame. I nervi sono irrazionali, e li tratto come tali!

I titoli sono super apprezzati! La signora all'Oxford School mi ha detto che si trovano dei testi alla Feltrinelli, ma arrivarci già con dei titoli in mano mi aiuterebbe molto! \o/

[space-oddity-75.livejournal.com]

Per iniziare, sul sito ufficiale del Cambridge English c'è una lista di titoli validi, tra i quali raccomando quelli con i vecchi papers, da prendere come esempio per familiarizzare con il modello presentato nei giorni dell'esame:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/prepare-and-practise/official-cambridge-english-preparation-materials/proficiency/

Ai miei tempi, senza internet né risorse online, i libri erano tutto quello che potevamo usare per aiutarci nello studio. Adesso ci sono tonnellate di risorse aggiuntive, esempi e test online, commenti di altri studenti e tips da seguire prima di presentarsi all'esame. Io ti consiglio di fare un po' di tutto, scegliendo i metodi di apprendimento che preferisci e che sono più consoni al tuo metodo di studio. Datti una schedule settimanale e organizza il tuo tempo al meglio, e vedrai che andra tutto perfettamente. Tra l'altro, ogni paper è a tempo, quindi di consiglio di usare un timer o puntare la sveglia quando fai gli esercizi, allenandoti fin da subito a stare nei minuti previsti (all'inizio non è facile, ma poi ci si abitua). Good luck, Skip!!! ;)