The cloze test is my bane. It is a grammatical test where you fill in the missing words in a text based on context. In English competency tests (TOEFL or IELTS) each blank is multiple choice, in the European Portuguese exam there are no clues outside the text. Yes this makes it rather hard and in my opinion harder than it needs to be, but you pay your money and you take your chances.
There is a second part to the grammar structure which is rephrasing a sentence. They give the first few words and then you write down the same information, kind of like changing a sentence from passive to active voice, but a broader understanding of structure, come to think of it none of the examples where a shift of this voice.
Overall on the last time I took the practice test I got a 40%. That is not a passing score, but with 40 questions I only need to get 5 more right to be passing on this section and on the other two sections my score is well above passing so while this part pulled the average down it did not do so enough that I would fail the test. Or in the glass half full part, I did well enough with a month left to pass the test. I don't want to just pass the test but getting a 55% or an 85% is a win.
My strategy for the test is to go over the problems I had which are in four categories:
1) Preposition use
2) Use of the personal infinitive verb tense
3) Use of the subjunctive (conjuntivo) verb tense.
4) Idiom use
My tool for studying these items is to write example sentences out and then put the cards into anki, a spaced repetition system. There is a ton written about it and I am not promoting them because I have an affiliate link but because I use this service. I am also studying with a tutor and I will have her review the sentences to make sure that they are in the formal European dialect rather than something informal or Brazilian.
Also I am not a fan of mindless, wrote memorization, but there is a certain amount of basics that one needs in any skill, whether it is guitar, yoga, or Portuguese. You have to acquire the basics fast enough to feel like you are making progress and for me sitting down with my phone for 20 minutes to review cards is time well spent. Also while this is a habit it not a regular habit. I wish I could be a machine, working religiously every day going through every new and late card but that is not me, I have kids, marriage, friends, in short a life outside of my phone which is important to me. I mean paradoxically the reason I am learning Portuguese is to talk to people....putting my phone in front of my face all the time is a bad habit but....a necessary one.
até próxima,
There is a second part to the grammar structure which is rephrasing a sentence. They give the first few words and then you write down the same information, kind of like changing a sentence from passive to active voice, but a broader understanding of structure, come to think of it none of the examples where a shift of this voice.
Overall on the last time I took the practice test I got a 40%. That is not a passing score, but with 40 questions I only need to get 5 more right to be passing on this section and on the other two sections my score is well above passing so while this part pulled the average down it did not do so enough that I would fail the test. Or in the glass half full part, I did well enough with a month left to pass the test. I don't want to just pass the test but getting a 55% or an 85% is a win.
My strategy for the test is to go over the problems I had which are in four categories:
1) Preposition use
2) Use of the personal infinitive verb tense
3) Use of the subjunctive (conjuntivo) verb tense.
4) Idiom use
My tool for studying these items is to write example sentences out and then put the cards into anki, a spaced repetition system. There is a ton written about it and I am not promoting them because I have an affiliate link but because I use this service. I am also studying with a tutor and I will have her review the sentences to make sure that they are in the formal European dialect rather than something informal or Brazilian.
Also I am not a fan of mindless, wrote memorization, but there is a certain amount of basics that one needs in any skill, whether it is guitar, yoga, or Portuguese. You have to acquire the basics fast enough to feel like you are making progress and for me sitting down with my phone for 20 minutes to review cards is time well spent. Also while this is a habit it not a regular habit. I wish I could be a machine, working religiously every day going through every new and late card but that is not me, I have kids, marriage, friends, in short a life outside of my phone which is important to me. I mean paradoxically the reason I am learning Portuguese is to talk to people....putting my phone in front of my face all the time is a bad habit but....a necessary one.
até próxima,
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