(no subject)

[aadler]

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The revision of sroni’s “God Save the Queen” continues. Yesterday I finished the second chapter … almost all of which was new copy, added scenes and dialogue, with the majority of the original text left for later use. I’m nearly to the 6,000-word mark (two-thirds of the former total), with two chapters remaining to do. As a result, what was a three-chapter fic will become at least four chapters, while — I hope — preserving and extending the flavor of the original. Then comes “Queen’s Gambit”, where I can really dig in and get serious.

That’s the good news. The not-good news is that I got hosed on my DLI ambitions, and it happened over two years ago.

Open Cut — How my DLI plans hit a speed bump

When I was three months into a six-month study of Persian Farsi at Fort Bragg, a former instructor returned to assist the main instructors. He brought some handouts for our use, specific areas of study. Most of us didn’t pay a lot of attention — we were getting handouts all the time, the common reaction was to glance over them, nod appreciation, then get back to reviewing previous material for that day’s verbal quiz — but the senior NCOs among the students recognized something, quickly gathered up this new offering, and took it all upstairs to report it.

The new stuff had been drawn from the official end-of-course test. A big no-no, needless to say. The returning instructor was escorted off-base within the hour (never to return), there was an investigation, and it was determined that — though none of us were guilty of any wrongful behavior — the end-of-course test had been compromised. Nor was there a replacement.

As a result, our final exam, instead of being the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), was an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Conducted by an Afghan woman in Texas via speakerphone. (Afghans speak Dari, a variant of Farsi. Some claim to speak Farsi also, but Iranians — the original Farsi speakers — question their fluency.) Her credentials aside, I spent the entire interview with the phone receiver crammed into my ear as close as I could get it, because I couldn’t hear her.

There were three classes. Agreement among the instructors was that I, and a captain in one of the other classes, were the best students. A passing grade was 1; language proficiency rated a 2. Occasionally someone scored a 3, but that was extremely rare in a six-month course.

I got a 1. Everybody got a 1, except for a kid in my class that I had tutored: decent brain, but not much dedication. He scored a 2. My instructors were livid, and one of them said flatly, “There is no way that guy knows as much as you!” I was annoyed, but I put it behind me; I had finished the course, already knew I was going to Afghanistan with my unit, and still Arabic study at DLI as my real goal.

Well, guess what? There’s trouble getting me a DLI slot. Because I’ve already taken a language course, and didn’t score a 2 on the DLPT. (We weren’t given a DLPT. We weren’t — technically — graded by a native speaker.) It’s still being argued, because the language NCO at my unit knows the circumstances; he also speaks Farsi, and is personally aware that I can hold my own in normal conversation. At this point, however, it appears that the situation can be cleared only if I actually take a DLPT.

And the earliest opportunity for that is January.

Close Cut

All of that is vexing, but in a way, it works to my advantage. If I have to “re-take” the qualifying exam, I can profit by having a few months to get ready for it. Though I’d been reviewing Farsi by means of the Rosetta Stone software available online for soldiers, I let myself fall out of that during the events of the last three months. Time to get back into it.

Still, it pretty much rules out the November slot for which I had hoped. I’m not even sure the next slot — in January — will be open by the time I satisfy their requirements. What had been immediate plans have just been shifted to long-term goals.

***

Meanwhile, I changed my mind and signed up for NaNoWriMo anyhow. I’d already waited a year (I first learned about NaNoWriMo halfway through November 2005), and wasn’t willing to wait another. I’ll still keep my promised work on sroni’s stories as a priority, but I’m going to give novel-speedwriting a shot just to see what happens.

With the other things already on my schedule … well, November should be an interesting month.