This week Andy and I both had our first formal progress evaluation.

We’ve been doing fine on in-class tests, and although we of course wish we could just know everything already, we can see the progress we’ve made. So we weren’t really sweating this evaluation, but still, when it comes to language testing at FSI, you just don’t know until you know.

Now we know.

The good news: We both got exactly the same score (despite each of our best efforts to one-up the other).

The even better news: We both scored slightly higher than the target for this point in training.

Phew. Knowing we’re totally on track and even a bit ahead takes off some of the pressure. Not that we plan to stop working hard. Everyone keeps telling me that language learning is a strange beast, with both strides and plateaus when you least expect them. I believe it. Still, if we keep at it, we should have no trouble reaching the level we need in time to apply for an immersion trip. Yep, always thinking about the important stuff.

Curious just how much (or little, as the case may be) French we speak at this point? Check out this video of an English learner at a comparable level to ours:

[flv]https://www.travelorders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ILR-Level-1-Plus-Speaking-EXAMPLE-on-Vimeo.flv[/flv]

Here’s where we need to be by early October in order to apply for an immersion trip:

[flv]https://www.travelorders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ILR-Level-2-Speaking-EXAMPLE-on-Vimeo.flv[/flv]

And, most importantly, here’s where we need to be in mid-December to pass the end-of-training exam:

[flv]https://www.travelorders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ILR-Level-3-Speaking-EXAMPLE-on-Vimeo.flv[/flv]

So… yes, we still have quite a ways to go. Back to the books for me.

P.S. Click here if you want to see the whole spectrum of FSI-designated levels, with detailed written descriptions too.