Wednesday, April 27, 2011

More Like Slammed Shut

I thought I was on a plateau.

I was wrong.

I am falling into a hole.

And that hole has a name: avatud uksed

It means "Open doors" and is the name of our new Estonian textbook.

You see, we finished the basic textbook (hold your applause) and have graduated to the next one.

Apparently we are now at the high school level...or not, if you ask me.

This book makes me feel whole new levels of stupid.

And I only have 10 weeks left to get to my 3/3.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

you can do it!! i've been frequenting your blog for a month now and thought it'd be okay to interject a little encouragement ;) thanks for your consistent updates. i'm one fs hopeful (of probably many) that really appreciates them (the updates) and you!

Patricia Kushlis said...

It's not impossible. Keep at it systematically and work on vocabulary and reading you know you'll need for your job.

What do most FSOs get in Estonian after 44 weeks at FSI? E.g. is 3/3 realistic? It's a really tough language. And what scores have you been receiving along the way?

Fastest way to improve, of course, is in country language training - but that's another story.

Digger said...

@Cynthia - Glad you find it useful, and good luck to you!

@Pat - At my last progress test, the LTS said I was on track to a 3/3 or beyond. I think most everyone who gets 44 weeks gets a 3/3. I am just having one of those "I feel stupid" language moments.

Dispatch from India said...

I know this is a question that has been asked or answered somewhere else, but I saw your post and wanted to ask before I forget my question in the process of looking for a more appropriate forum.

What happens at this point if someone doesn't get their 3/3?

Digger said...

It depends. In some cases, they extend you in language. This is especially true if you are a junior officer still on language probation (I'm not in that position). They can also request a language waiver for you so you can go ahead to post with lower than a 3/3. I'd rather not do that, since it would mean no language incentive pay.