Two in One
The journey has already begun before stepping foot in China! Today was the day of my first OPI and the first time my host family contacted me :). Just in case you’re wondering, as I assume you are, OPI stands for The Oral Proficiency Interview, which is facilitated by Language Testing International. All NSLI-Y participants who have studied their chosen language prior must have this interview no matter have amazing or how poor their language-speaking skills are. It serves as a pre-test and will later serve as a determination of how much one learns during their NSLI-Y program. I scheduled my OPI for June 1st at 6:00 pm, so I wasn’t expecting a call until… well… six o’clock. However, I kept on getting calls from some number in Tampa, Florida from 5:00 to 5:30. Since I didn’t know who was calling, and I wasn’t expecting a call at that time, I didn’t pick up.
Around 5:40 pm I got another call, the fourth call in a span of an hour, but this time it was from Yonkers, NY, so I picked it up, thinking it may be a NSLI-Y related call. I was immediately greeted by a woman speaking English with a clear Chinese accent. After my uncertain greeting, she asked me if I was ready for my OPI. At the time I was in the car and in the process of eating about a pound of carrots, so as a matter of fact, I was not ready.
Despite my situation, I said why not go for it because waiting twenty minutes probably wouldn't have had made me feel much more prepared. With my limited Chinese speaking and listening skills, I survived a twenty to twenty-five minute conversation in Chinese. The first part of the interview was fairly conversational: what is my name, what do I like to do, what is my favorite color, how many people are in my family, etc. The second part was a role-play activity in which I was an English tutor for Chinese students, and I was talking to a mother who was considering my tutoring services for her son. After the role-play activity, she asked me a few more questions, and the interview ended.
I didn’t feel like I did absolutely horribly... The interview was actually kinda fun. I don’t often speak to people in Chinese because my parents don’t speak Chinese, no one speaks Chinese at my school, and I have yet to find a Chinese speaker in my little town in North Carolina. The score you get on the OPI is anywhere from Novice Low to Distinguished. I felt like I scored Novice Mid at best, but at least I had a good time. Reflecting on my first Chinese OPI, I believe that I could best improve my score on the OPI by speaking more, asking the interviewer more questions, and improving my tones. I’ve heard for the OPI that speaking as much as you can in the given language is a great way to improve your score because more speaking tends to demonstrate a better understanding of that language and a higher level of language proficiency.
In addition to my OPI experience, my host family contacted me for the first time! It was a simple email of greeting, but I thoroughly appreciate the welcoming vibe and the shiny heart.