Today I took a test to attempt to CLEP out of 8 credits of Spanish. Keep in mind that I haven't taken a Spanish course, or really thought much about the language in general, since I last took a class my junior year of high school. I met with my advisor at school and found out that in order to graduate with my intended Secondary Education with a focus of English degree, I needed a boatload of foreign language credits. The definition of boatload being 16 credits.
Now traditionally 16 credits take 2 years to complete. Considering that I have no interest in being fluent, or using my limited Spanish in any capacity, I tried to figure out a Plan B. If everything works out for me, I could graduate in 1.5 years, and there is no way I want to stay another semester for a language that I'm taking based on a need, not a want.
So I took a Spanish placement test today. For some reason, UND will let me earn 8 credits or nothing. So I can't even CLEP one class, it has to be two. For the listening portion, I needed an 8, and for the other portion (more of a reading and comprehension sort of exam) I needed a 26. I did really well on the listening portion, earning about what I needed, but on the reading and comprehension...I earned 24. 2 questions shy.
Right now I'm in panic mode. I have one re-test allowed before I need to actually sign up for the classes. The proctor recommended watching movies in Spanish to prepare, saying that 50% of the time it seems to allow your brain to remember/re-access the dusty regions associated with a foreign language.
Part of me wishes I'd bombed. Coming so close and knowing that it's a matter of, honestly, guessing correctly on a few extra questions, is torture. But I'm going to try and retest on Monday because if I don't pass, there is a night class I can enroll in that's a half semester, so I could finish 8 credits in a semester instead of an entire year. If anyone needs me, I'll be listening to Spanish music and watching a crap-ton of subtitled films during the next week.
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