This morning I took a placement exam at the Chicago branch of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico as a prerequisite for attending a conversation class that begins in May. And I lived through it!
The test was oral and written. In the oral part, I was asked where I lived, where I had studied, why I was interested in learning Spanish, where I worked. The first part of the written test was fill-in the blanks with the correct verb. As expected, it progressed from present to past to subjunctive (my weak point), ser, estar, irregulars. But I was feeling good as I came to the end, thinking that was easy. But much to my dismay there was one more task: write a composition on how traveling to foreign countries affects our relationship with people. Wow. What an exercise in choosing words that I know, can spell and can conjugate. I knew what I wanted to write but I had to use words I knew. I hope I made sense and the people of UNAM aren’t passing my composition around the office, laughing their heads off.
UNAM is the oldest university in Latin America and is highly regarded. It has three branches in the United States, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Chicago. I would bet money that the branch in Chicago is the smallest. I would not have known about the branch of UNAM except for my former tutor who brought it to my attention. They should advertise more as Chicago has over one million Mexicans living in the city so knowing Spanish is very important.
I want to take the class as a way to practice conversing in Spanish. I think talking in another language is like playing the piano, the more you do it the better you get. And that is the goal as I work towards living in another language.
The test was oral and written. In the oral part, I was asked where I lived, where I had studied, why I was interested in learning Spanish, where I worked. The first part of the written test was fill-in the blanks with the correct verb. As expected, it progressed from present to past to subjunctive (my weak point), ser, estar, irregulars. But I was feeling good as I came to the end, thinking that was easy. But much to my dismay there was one more task: write a composition on how traveling to foreign countries affects our relationship with people. Wow. What an exercise in choosing words that I know, can spell and can conjugate. I knew what I wanted to write but I had to use words I knew. I hope I made sense and the people of UNAM aren’t passing my composition around the office, laughing their heads off.
UNAM is the oldest university in Latin America and is highly regarded. It has three branches in the United States, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Chicago. I would bet money that the branch in Chicago is the smallest. I would not have known about the branch of UNAM except for my former tutor who brought it to my attention. They should advertise more as Chicago has over one million Mexicans living in the city so knowing Spanish is very important.
I want to take the class as a way to practice conversing in Spanish. I think talking in another language is like playing the piano, the more you do it the better you get. And that is the goal as I work towards living in another language.
