はじめまして、
Long time lurker of WK/Tofugu, coming back for another round of action! Long, long story short, after all these years of on-and-off studying of Japanese since high school, I was given a very random opportunity to teach Japanese at a local public school last year. It went well, I had 3-4 students (very small school), and it was overall a good reboot to my career life.
This opportunity required me to pursue a teaching degree, so here I am in a Masters of Teaching program now. It honestly has been one of the best things for me, and I have learned so much more than just “teaching.” However, one of my state’s requirements to earning my teaching license in Japanese is to pass the ACTFL OPI test at intermediate-high or above. It’s used by a lot of governmental agencies and state licensure programs as a baseline test, but varies greatly from the JLPT in that the focus is completely on oral communication. Comparison article from Simple Gaijin for reference.
My Japanese is so rusty it’s going to take a lot of grease and practice to get it up to par, though I have the confidence I can do it. I’ve hired a language coach and begun the review journey at least! I was wondering if anyone else is aware of, has taken, or is preparing to take the OPI? There is little to no targeted study materials available for the OPI specifically, and ACTFL basically comes out and says “You can’t cram or study for this exam, you just need to know it well.” It would be nice to hear study habits, tips, or just share the experience with others!
よろしくお願いします~