How to prepare for the Mandarin OPI test by the ACTFL
I took the Mandarin Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) test by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) this week and got the results on the following day. You can find the details of the test here: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3348.
As expected, I received the highest level: Superior. I know I should reach that level since I am a native Mandarin speaker, although the language I speak with my parents is not exact Mandarin. In my opinion, language learning has no limits. Everyone’s native language needs to be improved continuously as well as one’s foreign language, especially for literacy building. Thus, I will write something about how to prepare for the Mandarin OPI test from the position of an advanced Mandarin learner.
First, I would like to share what the questions were and how the tester asked them during the telephone interview. There seem to be mainly three approaches. One is that the tester will ask about your background, as in a self-introduction and your hobbies, and then she will delve into deeper and more complicated questions based on the contents and the language proficiency of your answers. The typical questions will require your opinion on something or your explanation of the reasons, or differences and similarities between A and B. I think that as test-takers you can practice your speaking by expressing your opinions or explaining something clearly and logically whenever you are speaking on any topic in Mandarin. Another approach is that the tester will ask you to describe or introduce something, like a piece of current news that you are interested in or one special experience. I hesitated for several seconds to come up with a piece of news I am familiar with. I think that I could have predicted the question and prepared the topic before the interview. The third type of question is that the tester will set up a specific situation and ask you to act in a certain role to speak. My question was to present the importance of environmental protection to Chinese college students within one minute. I was not allowed even a second to prepare and organize my presentation. It was more about your thoughts on the topic than the language proficiency itself. I just chose the safe format of speech, statement – two points to support – conclusion, even though only one point came out when I started the speech. Preparing some speech outlines to talk about an issue in advance will be very helpful.
Needless to say, proper pronunciation and grammar and fluent speaking are the basic skills. Another thing is, I think it would be better to avoid difficult expressions, which are easy to use incorrectly. I considered using some idioms or old sayings to make me sound more educated but I didn’t find a good time to apply them in the interactive conversation. To sum up, for all levels of Mandarin learners or even other language learners, effective speaking practice could be to describe things clearly and completely, always try to express your opinions and explanations logically, and improve your literacy of your target language. Good luck to all.
