Driving theory test - woohoo!
I PASSED!!!
I've been learning to drive over here in France, and before they'll let you in a car, you have to pass the theory test - 40 multiple-choice questions, of which you have to get 35 correct in order to pass. Meh, no pressure....
So, I had to get up at horrible o'clock this morning in order to get to the driving school for 7.30am, so they could drive those of us taking the theory exam up to the test centre. At 8.45 there we were, 40-or-so terrified peeplies
(from several different driving schools around Nice), sat in rows in front of a slide projector, with a clever little handset thingamajig each which would record our answers and tell the computer if we passed or not. After the exam, we had to go and wait outside for the results. The other students from my school were taking the piss out of me, as apparently I was rather green....
But, when the results came out.....I only had 1 fault!!!!!!!! I was stunned,
as I had been getting 4 and 5 faults in the test exams, so I figured that I'd only scrape through. The reason I'm so very, very chuffed is that my French is still not actually that good. Before I moved here 3 1/2 years ago, the last time I had studied or really attempted to use French was for my school GCSE, which of course I promptly forgot most of, as soon as I'd finished it. So to pass this test felt like a huge achievement, bearing in mind I can still only understand about 60% of what's said to me in a conversation. I am getting better, but I just don't get to talk to enough people, and it's hard to learn unless you do that. Therefore passing this a massive weight off my mind! I know I can learn the actual driving part; I was having lessons back in the UK and doing fairly well, but I really wasn't sure I could manage this. I certainly wouldn't have been able to a year ago.
Unfortunately, the driving school closes over the summer, so I'm not gonna be able to play squish-the-tourist in Nice, but I have booked my first lesson for the 27th August. Woooooooooohoooooo! I'm soo excited! One step closer to being able to drive my little Ka, and get meself up to the mountains, to go horseriding.
I've been learning to drive over here in France, and before they'll let you in a car, you have to pass the theory test - 40 multiple-choice questions, of which you have to get 35 correct in order to pass. Meh, no pressure....
So, I had to get up at horrible o'clock this morning in order to get to the driving school for 7.30am, so they could drive those of us taking the theory exam up to the test centre. At 8.45 there we were, 40-or-so terrified peeplies
(from several different driving schools around Nice), sat in rows in front of a slide projector, with a clever little handset thingamajig each which would record our answers and tell the computer if we passed or not. After the exam, we had to go and wait outside for the results. The other students from my school were taking the piss out of me, as apparently I was rather green....
But, when the results came out.....I only had 1 fault!!!!!!!! I was stunned,
as I had been getting 4 and 5 faults in the test exams, so I figured that I'd only scrape through. The reason I'm so very, very chuffed is that my French is still not actually that good. Before I moved here 3 1/2 years ago, the last time I had studied or really attempted to use French was for my school GCSE, which of course I promptly forgot most of, as soon as I'd finished it. So to pass this test felt like a huge achievement, bearing in mind I can still only understand about 60% of what's said to me in a conversation. I am getting better, but I just don't get to talk to enough people, and it's hard to learn unless you do that. Therefore passing this a massive weight off my mind! I know I can learn the actual driving part; I was having lessons back in the UK and doing fairly well, but I really wasn't sure I could manage this. I certainly wouldn't have been able to a year ago.
Unfortunately, the driving school closes over the summer, so I'm not gonna be able to play squish-the-tourist in Nice, but I have booked my first lesson for the 27th August. Woooooooooohoooooo! I'm soo excited! One step closer to being able to drive my little Ka, and get meself up to the mountains, to go horseriding.