The golden rule

When I taught at Anfield, we always told the students to use the maximum time allowed for an examination. If they happened to finish early, they were told to use the extra time to check over and double check over their answers. Needless to say many ignored the advice and paid the price.

It is surprising how many mistakes you discover when you re read what you have written. I know because it happens every day when I re read the items I write for this blog!

You’ve probably noticed how some of the messages change from when they are first posted. Sometimes they will change two or three times as I try to make more sense of what I have written. Even then, readers find glaring errors e.g. loose and lose! The chances of making a mistake in a language I am struggling to get a grasp of are even greater.

I was therefore surprised when some of the students in our class left yesterday’s exam early. One student barely lasted half an hour before he packed up and walked out. Either he is a very quick writer, totally confident in his Spanish or he found the questions too difficult. Most stuck it out for at least an hour leaving just three of us to finish off.

When we got home, I reflected on the story I’d written and felt sure I’d used the present instead of the past for some of my verbs. Eduardo will surely pick up on that and apply copious amounts of red ink to my text.

Then I pondered over the question that asked us to classify a list of adjectives and adjectival phrases into those which were positive, those which were comparative and those which were superlative. Some were obvious but others were more subtle. I’m sure I got some of those wrong.

In fact the only three questions that I felt sure about were the one which asked us to provide antonyms for a list of words, the one which asked us to put the tildes in the right place and the comprehension questions based on a piece of text. Even in those answers, I’m sure I used a word that doesn’t exist in the Spanish language. It sounded right to me and hopefully Eduardo will know what I meant.

I’m mentally prepared for the worst, any mark better than that will be a bonus.

Our good friend Chris comments: I'm sure you will do well having followed your own advice! Besides, you do so well in daily conversations that you should be proud of your achievements without needing a test result to confirm your ability. Or is there an element of competition here?

Chris:- Mistakes you make in conversations are easily forgotten. When they are on paper, they tend to last a little longer. As for competition, there is always an element that - it is a matter of pride!