Yesterday was the last day of classes before Spring Break. We’re going to start Spring Break earlier this year: March 5-9, 2018. This is a bit unusual because usually Spring Break is much later in the semester, probably around the end of March or beginning of April, but this year the break is adjusted to the 7-week session that the university has. Well, there is more to explain but that’s not what I want to talk about.
So, well, I had my midterm oral test for Japanese 101 last Wednesday. Monday to Wednesday this week was scheduled for midterm oral test so we didn’t have a class. Everyone was randomly scheduled to come to the class one by one to have the midterm test for about 5 minutes. I was scheduled to have it last Wednesday at 9.15, so I didn’t come to class on both Monday and Tuesday.
On that day, I went to campus as usual, as if I was scheduled to have the test at 9 (because that’s our original class schedule). That way I wouldn’t be late, and I wasn’t late. When I came, probably sharp at 9, the first student scheduled to have the test that day had been in the class. There was another student waiting outside; he was scheduled to have it the third. I was scheduled after him.
The first student was done. The teacher called the second student but she hadn’t come yet. So the third student had it first. That’s not good; I mean the second student. We had been repeatedly told that we must not miss our schedule otherwise there was no makeup for the exam. But this girl, the second student scheduled that day, did not come. What a nightmare!
But she did come. LATE. She came as soon as the third student was called and entered the class. Well, somehow I could predict what would happen next. When the second guy finished, she would be called first – before me – although technically I was scheduled next. *Sigh But, well, I understood the dilemma. Sometimes teachers are simply lenient. Like, if we didn’t give such students another chance, actually we cannot be blamed since it’s their own mistake for coming late and missing the exam. They knew it. It’s their consequence K Nevertheless, somehow, we just can’t be that “mean”. Like, the student has come all the way to the class, so somehow we cannot help but give them another chance to take the test, albeit late, so that their coming to the class wouldn’t be in vain. Better late than never, right? *Sigh I myself hate to be put in that situation. But sometimes I imagine myself in that position, coming late, needing to take the test, needing mercy and understanding – and another chance to take the test K So, yeah, I don’t know. If I were the teacher, I might have made her wait till I’m done with all the students who come for the test on time – according to the schedule and had her have the test last. But that, too, might be hard because if one student is late and we proceed with the next student, the next student after him/her might not have come yet when s/he’s finished because it’s not their schedule yet. See the dilemma? Gosh, I’m just hoping that people will be more punctual K But about this late student, I don’t know, but somehow I think that the teacher will note it and maybe subtract her score. Just my guess. I mean, there should always be consequences in order to make it fair for others who make the efforts to come punctually.
Anyway, for the midterm oral test, we had been given the rubrics about what we were expected to talk about, what would be graded (fluency, cultural appropriateness, vocabulary, etc.). We were expected to be able to greet in Japanese, introduce ourselves by mentioning our name, school, year, hometown, major, and to be able to ask the questions about those info to the interlocutor (the teacher acted as the interlocutor). We were also required to talk (and ask questions) about last weekend’s activity, routines, phone number, and class schedule. Lastly, we should know how to say the words for parting. But it was kinda weird. I mean, I had no problem with it since I’d been practicing using various particles, frequency, and the taught verbs. Well, basically I kinda “mastered’ it even though I knew I wasn’t as fluent and often corrected myself. What I mean by weird is that, those conversations were given with a scenario in which we met the interlocutor for the first time in a party. Like, why would you talk about such things with the person you just met, right? And for first meeting, it was kinda unlikely to just approach the person and say, “Hi, I’m jUwa, I’m from….My major, …etc. Nice to meet you.” It was awkward, not to mention how we proceeded from one topic to another, like jumping from one topic to another out of the blue? It’s simply too unreal for me.
Regardless, I think I did quite well. Mostly the teacher asked the question to change to the next topic or hinted when the conversation should be over and I had to say the parting words. It’s not that hard, I guess, but I still have to wait for my score. Haha And by the way, the midterm oral was recorded. Maybe it’s for all the teachers or for one teacher to grade all students to make it “reliable”. That’s because we were scheduled on different days and so it means with different teachers. So maybe it won’t be reliable enough if different students were graded by different teachers. It would make it more reliable if the same teacher(s) graded all the students so that it would be more fair. Well, I’m not sure if I said it correctly, but I hope you understand.
So that was my midterm oral experience. I am kinda thrilled to know about my score. I take the pride for being able to speak Japanese albeit a little, you know 🙈🙈🙈 OMG, I know I sound like a snob, being jerky and too prideful 🙈😅✌✌✌ But, well, I’ll let you know once the score is posted. Last Thursday, (the next day after the test), Teacher A said that it’d be probably posted this weekend or next week. And she said that we performed quite well. She also said that the final oral test would be similar like that. Well, still a long way to go. But anyway, ganbatte kudasai! 😊 (That’s a Japanese expressions for giving encouragement or wishing oneself (or others) good luck! 😊)
