I finally got to breath out... I had my norsk prøve yesterday.. Those who are wondering what the heck is Norsk Prøve (NP), (prøve is pronounced prewh.veh, with the first syllable stressed and has a long sound), it's a language exam for foreigners here in Norway that documents that you have, in some way, the language proficiency. There are many who have lived here for many years but still unable to master the Norwegian language. Even worse, speak poor Norwegian.
The couple past months was stressful. Now that i think about it, i had been doing a lot of stress-eating or stress-shopping!!! hehe (me glancing over my closet) But, but , but!! In some way I am so lucky that I have been spending more time with my Norsk supervisor that everyday we are virtually speaking only Norwegian (and some English when I am baffled) and her teaching me new words and expressions that is kinda slang or one way or another, colloquial. Anyway, I took NP 3 yesterday. (It has 4 levels, by the way, namely, NP 1, 2, 3 and Bergens Test). What makes it so crucial, I need to pass this test so that I can enroll in HIO (Høyskole i Oslo, equivalent to a college) that offers additional subjects or course for foreign nurses to prepare them for an exam (similar to board exams) that will allow them, if they pass, to practice Nursing here in Norway. In short, it's not that easy becoming a full-pledg, licensed nurse here in Norway.
Anyway, I just wanna rant over a part of the exam that was totally irritating. But before that, let me first tell what the exam is composed of. It has 2 parts the Skriftlig (Written) and Muntlig (Verbal) part. The Written part is broken down into 3- Listening, Reading and Writing. The Verbal, on the other hand is composed of 3 tasks, where in the candidate is presented with different topics, all of which he must be able to talk about--- ellaborate, explain or make an argument on, in the presence of 2 evaluators who will decide if you have satisfied the criteria for that level. Anyway, I was paired with a 40 or 50 something old man who came from Causasus and lived here for 3 years. We had a good time conversing and i think it went fine plus we had positive feedbacks from our evaluators at the end of the test. So come the Written part... The reading and writing composition part went well.. What sucks big time is the Listening part.. I though we will be wearing headphones.. but NOOOOOHHH.. It was played on a CD player with poor stereo quality (sabog!!) What made it even worse, I was sitting at the back of the room and I have hearing problems! (I hear better on the right ear). What happens during the listening part is there are several conversations played 2 times and you are handed down with a questionaire. After each conversation, you have to answer a question related to the recently played clip. Some of the dialogues, you cannot barely understand, hear or comprehend, leaving you confused. There were 3-5 items i am not sure if I have heard correctly, that I just had to make a wise guess. :) A piece of advice, when you are gonna take this part of the NP, better sit in front of the CD player so you can hear it properly.. And the weird part is I was not tyhe only one who had the problem with the poor sound system used. GRRRR!!!!! It just sucks!
So much for that.. we got 6 weeks to wait for the result of the exam.. I hope I will be alble to pass it. or else.. IYAK na lang ako!! hehehe I have to think positive!! Almost everyone who is dear to me, prayed for me during my exam and I am sure that the Big Guy up there will grant me what I deserve. :)
