It's that time of year again...

Question

It's that time of year again... the end of winter... the beginning of spring... the flowers are blooming... the birds are singing... And hidden inside a windowless room, poor Spanish students across America are preparing to be tortured by the National Spanish Exam once again. "What?" you think, "the National Spanish Exam can't be THAT bad... who is he kidding?" Well, actually, its worse. Its like being tested on stuff in your non-native language that you didn't learn... probably because you were never taught this kind of thing. Unsurprisingly, scores tend to be VERY low; students who score about 50% have a good chance to receive awards on a national level.

Unfortunately, I have to take the hardest level. It is concerned with two things: grammar, and idioms. On the practice test we took, every question utilized at least one idiom. My personal favorite was "daba gato por liebre." (literal translation: "to give a cat for a hair") This actually means "to deceive somebody." Who would have guessed?

Ok, I am finished my tirade... but, to get to the actual purpose of this post... How many of you are going to take the NSE this year? What do you think about it? If you haven't taken it, and are interested in taking it, I would suggest taking a practice exam at "www.nationalspanishexam.org". To choose a level, think of how many years you have taken Spanish (as an official class. If you haven't learned Spanish in the classroom, I would say that beginners would use level one, intermediates level 3, and fluent speakers level 5) and click on the level with the same number. Prepare to be bamboozled... It's very hard!

• to give a cat for a hare (hair, hare) - qfreed Mar 10, 2010
• oh... thats why I didn't understand it when my teacher explained it in class... - JCameron Mar 10, 2010

Answer 1

Level one does not seem that bad.

• Well, with as many learning points as you have, I would expect you to do well! Have you tried any of the other levels? - JCameron Mar 10, 2010

Answer 2

JCameron:

Con permiso, JC

I suspect you have made an error in translating this expression:
"daba gato por liebre."

See this previous answer where the expression was discussed. It looks like the more correct interpretation is "hare" and not "hair". ----> Daba gato por liebre

This is hair ---->

This is a hare ---->

Mejor recuerdos/Best regards,
Moe

Answer 3

What exactly is the National Spanish Exam? Is it a type of Regents or Midterm? And how do you take it? I don't think we have it at my school. . .¡Gracias! ¡y también, la introducción de su pregunta fue muy cómica!