So, I’m thinking of taking a French course next year, because I love the language and my French has gotten really rusty since high school. University of Toronto’s French department requires that anyone taking a French course in the department for the first time take their Language Placement Test to figure out what level they should be at.

Last year, I took the Placement Test, and got a score of 178.5/244. Since the test is used to evaluate all undergrads, and I think maybe grad students as well, it was a respectable score, and the course suggested for me was FSL 331/341: a third-year course. I ended up not being able to fit any French into my schedule, so this year I took the test again. This time, despite not using French at all during the year, I scored higher: 208/244. Now, the course recommended for me is FSL 461, a fourth-year course. Now I’m really worried—the department doesn’t like people registering for courses below their skill level, but I don’t think there’s any way my French is good enough for a fourth-year language course.

Or maybe I’m underestimating myself? My biggest problems are in the areas of grammar and vocabulary (I scored 63% on grammar section this time; on all the other section I scored between 80% and 100%.) I guess I’m worried that the Placement Test isn’t really finding my weaknesses, but maybe I should trust that the department knows its own business? I guess I’ll have to email one of the course counsellors, and see what he or she recommends. Whatever course I end up taking, I guess it’s nice to know my French is still pretty good, even after so many years away.

(You know what’s really weird? The test has seven sections, and on four of them my score this year was exactly the same as last year. I wonder if I even made all the same mistakes? On the other three sections, my scores went up. I still don’t understand how that happened.)