I’m happy to report that I improved my French language score by almost one point to 1+ / 2. I tested in French three years ago and earned a 1 / 1 for speaking and reading (on a scale of zero to five, five being native fluency). Two weeks of brush-up did the trick. That, coupled with my previous French study (over 15 years ago!) and my recent Spanish study, helped me improve my score significantly. Knowing the testing methodology helped more than any other single testing factor. I made many grammatical errors, but I was able to keep the conversation going well enough. My reading also improved. I learned many of the key words I needed in order to read intermediate-level texts. Plus, my knowledge of Spanish helped me guess the meaning of some French vocabulary words.
Why did I do all this work studying French after I spent three months cramming Spanish into my brain? Simply put, it opens up job opportunities in Francophone nations. I now turn to German. If I can improve my German score, I would qualify for assignments in Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. Not a bad plethora of countries. I will spend the next two weeks polishing my German using the same methodology and will test again at the end of June. Wünsch mir Glück!
