Exams and Gapping
Well, I've done it - I have paid the hefty fee to sit my Cervantes Institute Spanish exam on 10 November! I'm studying hard (isn't a gap year all about learning new things?)
- all the oral part, grammar, listening and reading are possible (mainly thanks to Mrs Dunn, my 'A' level English teacher who 35 years ago taught us no English Lit but perfected our 'exam technique'.
But boy is the written part hard! I have to do a short essay and a formal letter (could be of complaint/of thanks/asking for info/applying for a job) - each bit is only 200 words, but they like it to be so formal and flowery! I would nit pick every redundant conjunction if I were marking it - and formality and wordiness simply not do not come naturally to me.
Comments, Pingbacks:
Comment from: marilyn [Member] 
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Sorry! What does one mean by flowery as this does not ring as one and the same context when linked with formal - for me anyway. Perhaps I've got it wrong - that's not unusual.
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08/10/07 @ 21:21
Comment from: chausiku [Member]
I should perhaps have said 'elaborate'rather than 'flowery': formal letters in Spanish need an awful lot of words like 'abovementioned' and 'heretofore'and 'may I allow myself to address you on the matter of...'
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08/10/07 @ 23:24
Comment from: marilyn [Member] · http://www.writelink.co.uk/blogs/marilyn
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Thank you for the explanation, Paola. I've learnt something.
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10/10/07 @ 23:59