Photo by Tim Napier on Unsplash A couple of Saturdays ago I sat down to take my first official German test. It was a hot day and one of the examiners was using a little wooden fan to keep cool. It was that or open a window and that wasn’t going to happen since first up was the listening test, which demands absolute silence. I knew the drill : write my name on the answer sheet, don’t open the question book, don’t speak. I sat there waiting patiently, staring by turns at the clock high on the wall in front of me and the standard-issue pencil supplied to each candidate by the test centre. One of the odd things about me is that I’ve always liked tests. Other people feel sick and get sweaty palms . Not me. I don’t know what it is about exams that makes me feel both relaxed and energized. Maybe it’s the quiet and feeling of solitude that I get from being in my own little bubble , sitting at my own individual desk with no...
What the teacher notices when she becomes the student.