In my house, all worthwhile projects begin with… buying a new book. Because nothing says working hard like spreading lots of resources out on the dining table. With a tonne of papers out, and maybe a highlighter or two, it’s practically a given that I am going to accomplish something. At least I can’t forget I actually have work to get on with.

 

The countdown to the DELE exam has begun. I won’t sign up until I really feel capable of passing as I don’t relish the thought of paying twice and working myself up to it twice! But I have undertaken to prepare seriously in the hope I’ll be ready. Plus it would be good to justify six months of clutter on the table.

However, doing occasional Spanish mock exams is not going to be enough. I have a strong feeling I’m going to need an extra push to get to the lofty C1 level. So here is my action plan, including extras:

 

• Work through my C1 preparation book of choice, El Cronómetro, completing one of the four mock exams about every two weeks. This allows time to do all three writing options for each mock exam (only two are required in the actual exam) and get them corrected, as well as practising the mock orals. By spacing them out I’m hoping to actually see an improvement. When you are studying alone you need some kind of motivation!

• Writing prompts, lots of them. When you struggle for vocabulary it can block your whole text. You have to express such specific things in such a short time. I was shocked to find out that the writing exam is the same duration as for B2, that is, 80 minutes, but you have to write more words (instead of 2 x 150-180, it’s 220-250 + 180-220, and there’s a 5 minute audio to listen to first for Task 1). It’s already cost me a fair amount of primetime, those rare quiet moments when the laundry is out, the dishwasher is sloshing away, the kids are at school, and I have that thing called FREE time. Since January I have churned out a dozen B2 writing prompts and I am now ready to begin El Cronómetro C1.
• Read novels – a good way to use even a few quiet minutes. Following a recommendation, I brought La Sombra del Viento home from the library, I think the level is right (B2/C1) but it’s a lot longer than I had expected!
  

  La Sombra del Viento

• Read books about Spanish (or about Spain) in English – at the moment I have In the Garlic on my bedside shelf. It’s so easy to read a few entries at a time.
• Watch a Spanish sitcom (or whatever takes your fancy). Documentaries and more serious telly would be good for the writing exam. But the listening includes a fair few colloquialisms, so lightweight watching is good for this, better even than reading dialogues perhaps, since you get the body language. It’s also a way to do some easy Spanish when you just can’t face all those great books you ordered off Amazon.
• Talk more. I’m not someone who normally strikes up conversations with strangers, but drastic measures are required here, so you might find me chatting with old biddies in the park, with the librarian who thinks he has Irish roots because he likes whiskey, and with anyone else who crosses my path. Just one way that learning a language can alter your personality!
• Listen to the radio. In France I had the radio on all the time because I was living on my own. But now I have my own family I barely ever turn it on. The house is rarely quiet enough, and if it is then I enjoy the fact that I can hear myself think for once! I got through the B2 listening by speed-reading the texts before the audio came on, but I won’t be able to do that with the C1 as the texts are longer as well as harder, and the options are much more subtle. These days at least you can choose a podcast on a topic you are interested in.
• Get some professional help for the oral. I am considering going to the language centre where the exam takes place for a few private lessons in which I could practise the oral in the month or two before the exam. I could do with some guidance from accredited examiners as this is by far my weakest point.

 

 

Here are some of the expressions I’ve been learning to squeeze into writing pieces:

 

• no obstante – nevertheless, however (makes a change from sin embargo)
• ahora bien – however (less formal), that said
• o sea – or rather, in other words
• por lo tanto – therefore
• a modo de ilustración – a variant of por ejemplo
• en cuanto a – as for
• no se puede negar que – it cannot be denied that
• de toda evidencia – evidently
• esto nos lleva a la conclusión inevitable que – this leads us to the inevitable conclusion that