No tags yet.
When you complete the NSLI-Y application, you have to indicate if you have any knowledge of the target language. And if you did have some experience with the language, then you have to take an OPI. OPI stands for Oral Profiency Interview and it is way to measure your comprehension of that language.
I didn't have to take an OPI before the program since I was a beginner. But after completing the summer program, it is mandatory to complete. The results of your OPI help the U.S Department of State and American Councils evaluate the program's impact on participants' language abilities.
A few days before we were scheduled to leave South Korea, we recieved an email informing us about the OPI, and the deadline to take this test was a month after we returned home. (We left August 9th, so we had to complete it before September 9th).
I scheduled my OPI for Friday, August 21st at 7:30pm EST, which was two weeks after leaving Korea. The transition from studying Korean everyday to none at all, was difficult to manage when I got back home. I self-study Korean at home, so I was very anxious as I prepared for the test.
I reviewed my textbooks and notes from Sookmyung class. And I looked at videos that my teachers showed us to remember the number system. Even though you wan't to avoid asking the test adminstrator questions , I definitely recommend knowing the phrases, "Can you repeat that please?" or "Can you say it slowly?" and "I don't understand the question" in the language you're taking the test for.
Our Sookmyung teachers were BEYOND helpful by giving us tips for the test, to summarize what was said I've created this small list:
Use different expressions/grammar techniques
Avoid asking the test adminstrator questions
Quickly respond to the questions asks
Talk about what you know
They also told us to Kakao them if we needed help and to send voice notes so that they could help us with pronunciation. (Our teachers are the best!)
I think my OPI went really well. My test adminstrator explained what we were going to do before she jumped into speaking Korean. For part one, we started talking about basic stuff, How was my day? What did I do? kind of stuff. As time went on the questions were a bit more difficult to answer, and I had to provide details to explain my opinion. Part two was a scenario question, my test adminstrator presented a situation and we acted out our roles. My scenario was based on food and restuarant, which I was extremely happy about because I just spent six weeks in Korea exploring different places to eat. In Part Three, I was given the opportunity to ask my test adminstrator questions, which was really fun and kind of took the pressure away. My OPI lasted a little over an hour, the time honestly went by so fast.
Although the OPI may seem daunting, I realized that I enjoyed myself as I took the test. Before the NSLI-Y program I couldn't speak Korean at all, but taking this profiency test showed me how much I'd learned.