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DLAB Study Guide

Terms in this set (19)

Noun
a physical object or an abstract idea and can include a person, animal, place, or thing
Pronoun
Replaces a noun or another one of itself in a sentence and can be used instead of a noun to refer to the noun. Usually used if a subject of a passage already been established in a previous sentence and discussion on same subject is continuing.
Ex- Jack climbed the tree but HE fell off it.
Article
a type of determiner that comes before a noun. Only two types- indefinite (a/an), and definite (the).
Ex- He dropped THE piano
Ex- She yelled at A cow
Subject
Part of the sentence that tells you what the sentence is about. In most cases, it's the "who" or "what" that does the action. Usually a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.
Verb
used to give actions, events or states of being to subjects or nouns. Usually come after the subject, BUT the DLAB plays with sentence structure, so do not rely on it.
Ex- John SAW her FALL.
Adjective
word used to describe, identify, or quantify a subject and modifies the noun or pronoun. Usually before a noun, but DLAB will try and trick you.
Ex- the BIG bowl is filled with bread.
Object
a(n) "blank" is that which the subject is acting upon. Can be many different types including direct and indirect.
Ex- Athena bought a MOVIE
Direct Object
a noun phrase denoting a person or thing that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb
SUBJECT+VERB+BLANK
Ex- John (subject) ate (verb) bread (blank)
Indirect Object
a noun phrase referring to someone or something that is, or will be, affected by the action of a verb. This means it is present when someone or something interacts with direct object. For a sentence to have "blank", it needs to have a direct object.
Ex- Jeremy gave his sister a sweater.
(Direct object is sweater, blank is his sister)
3 parts of the DLAB
Personal Survey, Audio, and Visual
Part 1 of DLAB
10 question survey about tester and study habits
Part 2 of DLAB
Audio portion which is separated into 5 sections. Each starts w a new grammar rule(s), used to answer the q's in that section. Last section requires tester to use all the rules given in preceding four sections.

Five sections are-
1- Stress syllables
2- Nouns and Adjectives
3-Possessives
4- Verbs and subject/ objects and comprehensive rules
5- Use all of the above
Part 3 of DLAB
Visual Portion, comprised of images w corresponding translations. Figure out plausible translations using the pics you have to work with.
Stress Syllable Section Tips
Keep track of syllables, tones, and stresses. DLAB USES ESPERANTO in this section. Use musical point of view to Count out beats and see which option is a "quarter note" as opposed to all the "half notes" if confused.
Nouns and Adjective Section Tips
Use grammar rules to choose right answer/ translation. Must be memorized. Not written out. Only read aloud one time.
Grammar rules (from the test itself)-
1- Adjective comes after its respective noun.
2- Both the adjective and its respective noun will end with the same vowel sound
3- Never include articles in a sentence.

Ex- translate "a tiny elephant"
answer- Elephanto Tinyo
Possessive Section Tips
A set of rules is introduced that must be used to choose correct option. Rules vanish. Options only read to you once.

Grammar rules (from test itself)-
1- The possessor always comes after the possession
2- That which is being possessed always ends with either a "u" sound (like mute) or an "a" sound(like hay)
3- The possessor always ends with a short "i" sound (like meet) (this is an "i" which sounds like "ee").

Ex- Translate "Jim's Wallet"
Answer- Walleta Jimi

* Important to quickly establish which word is possessor and which is the possession, bc you can easily eliminate options, rather than focus on endings right away*
Verbs and Subjects / Objects section
This asks tester to identify verbs, objects, and subjects. Rules shown and then disappear when questions start. Cannot see options, and options only read one time.

Grammar rules for this section from the test itself-
1- The subject has an "aa" sound, like "mall", in the middle of the word.
2- The object always ends with a long "a" sound, like "day"
3- Never include articles in a sentence
4- Verbs always begin with a "ya" sound and never end with an "s".

Ex- Translate "Kim gave Tony a Card"
Answer- Kiaam yagave Tonya Carda

*Rules say nothing about the nouns, so kim and Kimo are technically ok*
Comprehensive Rules Section Tips
This asks tester to pick an option that satisfies all rules from previous section. Difficult bc you have to memorize 9 rules, so write rules down as you go if given paper, if not, concentrate and memorize.

Grammar Rules-

1- Adjective comes after its respective noun
2-Both the adjective and its respective noun will end with the same vowel sound.
3- Never include articles in a sentence
4- Possessor always comes after the possession
5- That which is being possessed always ends with either a "u" sound (like "mute"), or an "a" sound (like "hay")
6- The possessor always ends with a short "i" sound (like meet)
7- The subject has an "aa" sound (like "mall") in the middle of the word.
8- The object always ends with a long "a" sound (like "day")
9- Verbs always begin with a "ya" sound and never end with an "s".

Ex- Translate "Tim threw the white ball"
Answer- Tiaam yathrew balla whitea

*Key skill- the ability to break the sentence down into a noun, verb, adjective, possessor, possession, object and subjects is critical*

*Important to remember- When the test tells you the sentence that is going to be translated, quickly break that sentence apart into SUBJECT, VERB, OBJECT, POSSESSOR and POSSESSION. Then translate the words so that you can hear in your mind what the correct option should sound like. *

*In most cases, the subject will be one of the first words in the option sentences. If you do not hear the long "aa" sound (like "mall"), quickly stop listening and prep for next sentence. Doing this enables process of elimination*

* In most cases, the verb directly follows a subject, so after identifying the subject and ensuring it meets the grammar rule, you should next ensure the "ya" is in the verb and the verb does not end with "s". *

Follow the strategies above bc although they do not work 100% of the time, you hear the sentence being translated prior to hearing the options
Part 3 DLAB Overview- Visual Portion
Pictures and corresponding translations for the pictures are shown to tester. Questions consist of another picture and the options are translations. Use info from pic set to figure out translation of pic in question.

*Key Skill- Looking for connecting details. Some pictures may need a combo of a verb and adjective. Ex- if there is a pencil, it might not just be a pencil, but a pencil being dropped. Details need to be understood from pics presented and used accordingly. *

*Approach it by first listing all the things seen in the picture, including verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. Do this for each picture and link similarities between pics. Common nouns, adjectives, and verbs, in that order!! Common translated words used to find answer. *

*If you can't link the pics, use grammar rules to help find answer. What are the positions of the verbs and nouns? This helps decipher meanings*
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