Intro
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| Chigusa: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Chigusa and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com... Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Chigusa: In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about… |
| Peter: Testing and Assessment. A Brutally Honest Way to Improve Your Language |
| Chigusa: You’ll Learn... |
| Peter: ...One, Why Tests Are Crucial for Language Progress |
| Chigusa: Two, How Peter Using Testing and Assessments to Improve |
| Peter: ... And Three, How You Can Put Yourself to the Language Test |
| Chigusa: So you can master your target language and reach your goals! |
| Body |
| Chigusa: Listeners, welcome back to the Inner Circle. |
| Peter: Last time, you learned all about talking points... |
| Chigusa: ...and how they get you speaking more of your target language, |
| Peter: You also learned how to “build” your own talking points. |
| Chigusa: And Peter, you also set a 10 minute goal last time. |
| Peter: 10 minutes of French conversation. No problem at all, Chigusa, I hit it. |
| Chigusa: And, are you still using talking points to speak more? |
| Peter: I am...but I’m also combining it with testing and assessment... |
| Chigusa:... Ah, that’s something we rarely talk about. Testing. |
| Peter: Ah, the T word, yes, but it’s crucial to your language progress... |
| Chigusa: ....especially if you value honest feedback.. And want to know where you stand. |
| Peter: So, let’s get into this month’s Inner Circle. |
| Chigusa: Testing and Assessment. A Brutally Honest Way to Improve Your Language |
| Peter: Let’s jump into the first part. |
| Chigusa: Part 1: Why Tests Are Crucial for Language Progress |
| Peter: So, Chigusa, if you remember, 2 months ago, I enrolled in an actual class |
| Chigusa: Yes, I remember that. |
| Peter: And, aside from providing structure, there’s another thing that schools do rather well. |
| Chigusa: They cost you a lot of time and money? |
| Peter: Yes, they do that well too. But, they provide assessment. Which is usually in the form of a test. So, when I enrolled, I had to take a placement test. |
| Chigusa: ...and based on your results, they placed you into an appropriate class. |
| Peter: Exactly. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, that’s fairly standard procedure for all language schools. |
| Peter: But it is an important step. Plus, there's the ongoing assessment that schools give you.. |
| Chigusa: You mean like weekly quizzes and tests every month? |
| Peter: ...that and ongoing feedback from your teacher. |
| Chigusa: Okay, Peter... you’re going to have to convince me... why tests are good. I’m not a fan of school tests. |
| Peter: I know the feeling, Chigusa, I’m not very good at testing either, but, here’s the thing. Tests give you a honest assessment of your language skills... in SOME ways. |
| Chigusa: If you fail the listening part. |
| Peter: ...you know your weakness. You know you need to focus on it now. |
| Chigusa: And your teachers know your weakness too. |
| Peter: Exactly. If they know you’re bad at listening.... |
| Chigusa: ...they will work with you to get you up to speed. |
| Peter: But if you were learning alone, you don’t get such an opportunity. |
| Chigusa: And, you may not even know where you’re going wrong. |
| Peter: Also, there’s another hidden benefit. As a self learner, noone is going to push you to do your best. It’s up to you. |
| Chigusa: Right, it’s all up to you. |
| Peter: But tests give you that challenge. That urgency to improve. |
| Chigusa: Ah, I think that’s why a lot of self-learners, especially Japanese learners, aim to take the proficiency test. |
| Peter: You’re right. It gives them a way to assess themselves...and gives them a challenge. Something to aim for. I actually took ... and failed... the Chinese proficiency test, I think that was last year. |
| Chigusa: Did you really? Wow! |
| Peter: And I’ll admit, having that deadline. Knowing I have to take the test ... |
| Chigusa: ...it gave you urgency? |
| Peter: Exactly. It’s funny. It's a lot easier to get motivated and take action... |
| Chigusa: ...when someone else puts you to the test. Now Peter, you quit your classes last month. How exactly are you applying “tests” and assessment. |
| Peter: Well, Chigusa, Let’s jump into the second part and see if I can clarify. |
| Chigusa: How Peter Using Testing and Assessments to Improve |
| Peter: Actually, this approach is not new at all. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, you’ve been learning with my Premium PLUS teacher for quite a while... |
| Peter: ...and the assessment is built into our program. So, I’ve been doing this for a while. |
| Chigusa: So, let’s get into it. |
| Peter: So, my goal is to speak more French. |
| Chigusa: And you’re using the lessons and the Premium PLUS teacher... but how exactly do you get tested and assessed? And how does that help you speak more? |
| Peter: Great questions, Chigusa. The Premium PLUS plan is our guided learning program. |
| Chigusa: Right. You get a teacher to learn with. |
| Peter: The way it works is, when you join, you get an assessment test. |
| Chigusa: Ah, I know. They grade it and give you a learning pathway that’s appropriate for you. |
| Peter: That is the initial assessment. But there’s ongoing assessment too. |
| Chigusa: Oh? |
| Peter: So with every FrenchPod101 lesson I take, I’m expected to practice the dialogues and send in my recordings to my teacher |
| Chigusa: For every lesson? |
| Peter: Every lesson, Chigusa. I’ll record myself speaking the lines out loud. |
| Chigusa: Wow! Now, do all Premium PLUS students do this? |
| Peter: Well, it’s up to the students. Our more active students send up to 3 recordings a day. I fall into that group because I want more feedback, so I take advantage of that opportunity. |
| Chigusa: Okay. So you practice speaking. You record yourself... |
| Peter: I pass it to the teacher. She gives me feedback. I re-record and apply her corrections... and re-record |
| Chigusa: And in the process, You’re mastering conversations... and learn more things to say. |
| Peter: Exactly. But the point is... I’m getting assessed on a regular basis. She tells me what’s wrong, what’s right, where my pronunciation is off... |
| Chigusa: Yeah, that kind of feedback is crucial for fast learning. |
| Peter. It is. There’s also the weekly assignments that test me on speaking... |
| Chigusa: ...and the teacher reviews that too. |
| Peter: And finally, there’s the Language Portfolio. Every four months, students submit 4 assignments on reading, speaking, listening, and writing. Your teacher evaluates your language skills overall. Since I’ve started, I’ve only done it twice. I wouldn’t say this is extremely important to me because I’m focusing on speaking...but the fact that the portfolio is assessed by a teacher, this is the critical part. I learn where I stand and if I’m getting better or need more work. |
| Chigusa:But listeners, if you want to focus on all areas of the language.... |
| Peter: ...Definitely take advantage of the Language Portfolio. |
| Chigusa: Okay, Peter, your routine is pretty simple. Do you do anything outside of the recommended lessons? |
| Peter: Outside of the program that my teacher gives me... I also come up with talking points. |
| Chigusa: Yes, we talked about that last time. |
| Peter: I come up with lines that I want to use in a conversation and do the same process. I record and send them for assessment. |
| Chigusa: And then you’re ready to use them with your skype teacher. |
| Peter: Exactly. |
| Chigusa: Now some of our listeners are not Premium PLUS users. What can they do? |
| Peter: Let’s jump into the next part. |
| Chigusa: Part 3: How You Can Put Yourself to the Language Test |
| Peter: Now that you’re in your 9th month of learning.... |
| Chigusa: ...you’re probably interested in knowing how far you’ve come. |
| Peter: This where assessment comes in. |
| Chigusa: So, tests give you an opportunity to see where you stand... |
| Peter: ...how good your language is... |
| Chigusa: ...and what you need to work on. Similar with getting assessments from a teacher. |
| Peter: They’ll tell you what your strong and weak points are, point out your mistakes... |
| Chigusa: So that you can improve. |
| Peter: And listeners, this is super important: before you worry about failing or not understanding anything, remember... it’s not about passing or failing... |
| Chigusa: ...this is about getting honest assessment of your progress. |
| Peter: That’s it. So, how do you do it? |
| Chigusa: If you’re a Premium PLUS user, we recommend that you follow the program that your teacher gives you. |
| Peter: They’ll give you a recommended Learning Pathway... |
| Chigusa: And based on those lessons, you can practice speaking and writing... |
| Peter: ... by recording yourself, and sending writing to the teacher. |
| Chigusa: For listening and reading, you also get weekly assignments that test your skills.. |
| Peter: ...and after, your teacher can provide you with feedback. |
| Chigusa: Outside of this, take part in the Language Portfolio. Every 4 months, you’re asked to submit assignments on reading, speaking, listening, and writing... |
| Peter: ...your teacher evaluates your language skills... |
| Chigusa: ...and gives you a comprehensive assessment of where you stand... |
| Peter: ...and how you’ve improved since the start. |
| Chigusa: Now, if you’re not a Premium PLUS user... |
| Peter: Here’s how you can self-test and self-assess your language skills. |
| Chigusa: Once you’re done with a lesson or a pathway, download the dialog tracks... |
| Peter: ...and review them at a later date. See how much you can understand. |
| Chigusa: This tests your listening, plus your vocab and grammar. |
| Peter: For speaking, record yourself with our voice recording tool and compare yourself with the native pronunciation. |
| Chigusa: And for reading, access the Lesson Notes or the Dialog tool... |
| Peter: ...and see if you can read the dialog. |
| Chigusa: The next strategy is... test yourself with a harder lesson. |
| Peter: You can do this for reading, speaking and listening. |
| Chigusa: Simply go to a higher level, like Intermediate or Advanced... and try a lesson.. |
| Peter: With reading, you can also try our higher level Extensive Reading Books. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, remember, with all of this, the goal here is NOT to pass... |
| Peter: ...but to simply get an honest assessment of your language skills. |
| Chigusa: If you realize that you’re mispronouncing a certain word... now you know how to correct it. |
| Peter: If you can only understand 50% of a lesson, well that means is... you should review it... |
| Chigusa: ...until you get to 100%... |
| Peter: And if you can’t read as smoothly as you had hoped.... |
| Chigusa: All it means is that you should give it a few more tries.. |
| Peter: ...Until you’re better. |
| Chigusa: Alright Peter. Let’s get back to your goals. You hit 10 minutes of conversation. |
| Peter: Alright, three months left in the year. Let’s aim for 13. |
| Chigusa: Sounds great! Deadline? |
| Peter: October 31st. Hopefully, I can reach 20 minutes by the end of December. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, how about you? |
| Peter: What’s your small, measurable monthly goal? And what’s the deadline? |
| Chigusa: Let us know. |
| Peter: Email us at inner dot circle at innovative language dot com. |
| Chigusa: And stay tuned for the next Inner Circle. |
Outro
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| Chigusa: Well, that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Chigusa: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
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