Sporcle!

Does everyone know what Sporcle is? Sporcle is an amazing way to procrastinate and actually learn at the same time.

This is what Wikipedia says about it, which can define it better than I could: "Sporcle is a trivia quiz website launched in July 2007, on which users have a set time limit within which to name all of the items within a given subject, such as Presidents of the USA or Countries of Europe. According to the website's founder Matt Ramme, the name Sporcle is inspired by the word 'oracle'.
The website was founded in response to Ramme's own desire to learn trivia, and his accompanying frustration that there was no existing website suitable for his needs.
Sporcle's mission statement is "We actively and methodically search out new and innovative ways to prevent our users from getting any work done whatsoever."

Over the summer, my sister, my mom and I had a contest to see who could memorize the most countries of the world. Coll won by a landslide, but by the end of the summer I was doing a lot better than I had been at the beginning.

Anyway, so why is Sporcle relevant to the DR?

During my layover in JFK two months (exactly two months) ago, I remember frantically doing Spanish exercises on Sporcle, knowing that once I got to the DR I was going to need to take a Spanish placement test which I reallllllly didn't feel prepared for.

Because I am a frequent Sporcle-er, I got an account so that all of my scores are saved. I logged on today to do some Spanish stuff for fun, and I saw that when I took a certain Spanish verb test in JFK, my best grade was a 75/100. I just took it again, and got a 94.

Can you name the 100 Spanish Verbs?

I only missed establecer (to establish), devolver (to give back), charlar (to chat), fijar (to fix), merecer (to deserve), and quejar (to complain). Not badddd. I think.

So here is some concrete evidence that my Spanish is getting better. I kind of want to do a mid-point recap, but I'm in a café next to a row of tables where there's this great big group of 25 screaming Dominicans and I'm getting a headache.

But before I go, some of my favorite Sporcle quizzes for your procrastinating pleasure:

Countries of the World (the infamous)

Countries of Europe (a good warmup to Countries of the World)

US States (if you didn't pass 5th grade)

Pokémon Characters (pro.)

Harry Potter Top 200 (amazing.)