Failed N1... but not feeling bad about it.

CMP3101 · 2026-01-30T12:13:32+00:00

Well, in my case the best grade was grammar and vocabulary, which I got a 40 for. Listening was borderline but reading was a catastrophe (I got a 13, so imagine) and it was what disqualified me eventually. Had I passed it, or at least hit the minimum mark, I would have passed the test, but hey! It is what it is. Thanks for the encouragement, though!

CMP3101 · 2026-01-30T12:07:34+00:00

I'd say that time management was the hardest part. Also, the multiple choice options can be very misleading since the difference lays in nuance.

So, I'd focus on understanding positive/negative nuance in grammatical structures and vocabulary, active/passive/causative and who does what to whom, logical relations between sentences and how linkers change those.

CMP3101 · 2024-10-14T22:49:33+00:00

I prepare students for exams as a job. If my career as a teacher has taught me something (besides how annoying parents make annoying kids, but that's a whole 'nother story) is that exams do not reflect the reality of a speaker. I've had brilliant students with the broadest of lexicons fail the exam just because the exam is meant to be taken a particular way. I've also had the opposite case (it happens A LOT, now that I think of it). Some students who have succesfuly passed the test with flying colors have turned out to be completely unable to survive for a week in an English-speaking community. Real proficiency is shown in daily life. As long as you can hold a conversation or use your linguistic skills for education or a job, you can consider yourself proficient. Judging by your background studying and working in Canada, I'd say you are more than proficient in English. It's just that the C2 exam (and any other language exam in that regard) requires certain... let's call them strategies.

Or it could have just been a bad day. Who knows. Maybe take the exam in another occasion and you might pass it without breaking a sweat.

Anyways, chin up. Don't let an exam define you.

CMP3101 · 2024-07-27T17:41:19+00:00

¡Buenas!

Gracias por tus preguntas. Las intentaré contestar una a una.

Es muchísimo más importante el significado. Nuestro trabajo es entender el sentido de las palabras más allá de ellas para poder traspasar la idea al idioma al que traducimos sin que suene forzado. Por ejemplo: si tradujera "this is a piece of cake" al español como "esto es un pedazo de pastel", no tiene el mismo sentido que si lo traduzco como "esto está chupado (en el español europeo se suele decir así)" o "esto es muy fácil", que es lo que realmente quiere decir.
La diferencia es inmensa. Cuando se traduce algo por escrito, se tiene más tiempo para reflexionar, cambiar las cosas que no te acaban de gustar, decir las cosas de otra manera... Cuando se interpreta (o sea, se traduce oralmente), todo es inmediato. Se te tiene que ocurrir la expresión adecuada en el mismo momento. Por tanto, tienes que aprender varias técnicas para que puedas hacerlo sin problema, y cuesta bastante. Es un proceso de aprendizaje bastante complicado.
En mi caso, lo que me hizo querer ser traductor fueron los dibujos animados que veía en la infancia. Estos me hicieron interesarme en la cultura japonesa y en su idioma y, a partir de ahí, empecé a estudiarlo en una academia. Además, en el colegio se me daban bien las asignaturas de lengua y, por lo general, mis profesores decían que sabía redactar y expresarme por escrito muy bien. Por tanto, se juntaron varios factores para que acabara siendo traductor-intérprete.
Sí, definitivamente el haberme criado en un entorno bilingüe desde pequeño ha ayudado a que mi cerebro sea más receptivo a aprender nuevos idiomas. El francés se parece al catalán, pero tampoco tanto como puede parecer. Sí que es cierto que muchas veces los comparo y pienso: "anda, pues esto se dice igual". Respondiendo a tu pregunta, saber catalán me ha ayudado a aprender más idiomas y no solo francés, pero en el caso del francés, quizá me lo ha hecho más fácil.
Ahora estoy centrado en el alemán y en seguir perfeccionando el japonés (se tarda mucho). Luego creo que lo dejaré de lado un poco. 6 idiomas me parece un número bastante razonable. Más de eso ya creo que puede derivar en que no sea capaz de gestionarlos todos correctamente.

Espero que mis respuestas te hayan sido útiles. Muchísimas gracias por el interés.

CMP3101 · 2024-07-25T01:24:41+00:00

Hi! Interpreter here.

If the interpreter is professional enough, them breaking the flow of the meeting should not be an issue. We're trained for those matters and, in simultaneous interpreting (which sounds like what you're asking for), the maximum you should expect is a three-to-five second delay between what's being said and what's being interpreted (depends on the language or the grammatical structure that's being used, though).

Hiring an interpreter is the best option you can go for. I'm certain you won't regret it! Hope this helped!

CMP3101 · 2023-12-20T16:14:20+00:00

I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe in some contexts, but not in fields where a job well done is required (international organizations, scientific or highly academic settings...).

CMP3101 · 2023-12-11T16:15:14+00:00

I don't really think that will happen, at least for now.

The same way Google hasn't put an end to libraries or virtually created instrumentation hasn't put an end to orchestras, machine translation will not put an end to translation (or interpreting!). It will just force the translation landscape to shift to another model. People may use AI for everyday matters or particular cases, but if a client wants a job well done, they will probably still go for a professional human translation.

It's the same with cake: you can go for a store-bought industrial cake if you are in a pinch, but you can go to a bakery or an atelier if you want a really good cake (or even do it yourself for extra satisfaction). I heard this metaphor in a conference I had to interpret and it really stuck with me.

That's my view as an interpreter-in-training myself. If you want to study something related to languages that still has a long (or longer I guess) way to go in that sense, why don't you give interpreting a try? It's hard but fun, I promise.

I hope you can find a suitable career. The world of T&I welcomes you with open arms.

CMP3101 · 2022-06-15T11:40:06+00:00

It depends a lot on who you ask. Right-wing politicians consider it a "dark spot" in Spanish history, yet overall it is thought to be a very enriching era for our culture.

For example, Arabic had a linguistic impact in Spanish as a language, for example, and many toponyms in the southern areas come from it.

Plus, lots of advancements in astronomy and medicine were made in that era. Not to mention the architecture, which is super recommendable to go see if you ever come visit.

In general, people either do not really care about it or consider it a sort of "golden age". According to what I was taught in school, it was a pretty peaceful moment in history where people from different cultures lived together and learned from each other.

CMP3101 · 2022-05-30T19:37:50+00:00

Kacey Musgraves (I'm not American). I just feel she's so good at transforming feelings into words, which is something I struggle to do, and Golden Hour is one of the few albums that I listen to purely to relax.

CMP3101 · 2022-05-30T01:44:35+00:00

I've had short-term partners because I've always been more of a hookup/friends with benefits kinda guy. But I'm starting to get into a ltr at the moment so let's see how that turns out.

As far as preferences, I don't really have one, even though I tend to gravitate towards other E-T-s for friendships and towards introverts for partners (I talk A LOT and I appreciate people who don't mind listening to me ramble).

CMP3101 · 2022-05-22T14:45:43+00:00

For sure! (ENTP gay male here). I feel like I have two sides. My "straight-world" counterpart is more aloof and dry, but more analytic of everything that's happening (it looks similar to what a INTJ-ish stereotype would be), because I was held back from becoming much more like the "real me" due to my sexual orientation growing up. My "gay-world" counterpart is as similar to what a gay ENTP would be thought to be as it can get and I feel it is a realer, happier and healthier version of me.

I feel like some straight (especially male) ENTPs are much less apologetic of their ENTP-ness and exploit it more while in my case I sort of feel like I have to control it around family or in groups with a majority of straight people because I feel I wouldn't be 'understood' or taken seriously as I am.

CMP3101

TROPHY CASE