Carrie and Shane made a deal. Carrie wanted him to pass the A1 test on Busuu. Basically, it was a summary of all the beginning Japanese lessons he'd taken on it.
The first try, Shane failed. He did decently, but it was just below the threshold for a pass. We were happy with Shane's progress, but he was a Negative Nancy. There's a one week lockout before Shane could take the test again. We wanted Shane to study and see how his effort could turn into progress and eventually success.
So yeah, Carrie offered a bribe. Bribes work with our kid. She asked Shane what he would want as a reward for studying hard and passing the test (keeping in mind it was supposed to be difficult and could take multiple tries).
Shane said he wanted a week off of chores. We'd been prepared to buy stuff, so we said "DEAL!"
A week passed and Shane sat to take the test again right before Spring Break.
It wasn't flawless and it was the exact same questions, but he felt like he'd achieved something. We cheered him on and said no chores for Spring Break! The timing couldn't have been better!
Eventually, there will be an A2 test. I suspect the kanji on it will be deviously difficult and Shane, if he's wise, will think up of a more extravagant reward for when he passes it (And we'll be happy to award it!).
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