I really do not know what is happening because, usually, there is less language testing in the PSC during the summer… yet, this year, there is not respite. If I had to guess, I would say it is probably due to baby boomers’ massive departure from the work force. Therefore there is an urgent need to replace them! Whatever the reasons are, it is real and I am busier than ever… Many of my trainees were tested these past two months and they all got the  levels they needed to comply with their job position requirements (or even higher). It would be too long to name them individually in this post, therefore I will congratulate them all in one sentence:

Congratulations to everyone!

It has been a rumor for many months but, now, it is official: there will be a new version of the reading comprehension test as soon as July 30… Instead of 65 questions, there will be 60 but the time (90 minutes) will be reduced to 80 minutes… consequently I do not describe this as a bonus! Apparently there will be five more questions at the end (which will not count) and candidates’ answers will be used for statistics purpose!?!

The first question that comes to mind is: will the new test be more or less the same or will it be more difficult. Well… it will be much more difficult. From what I heard (former students who voluntarily participated in the pilot project), it is not a piece of cake!… I agree that the current test may be a bit too easy, and it is precisely for that reason that the PPC made the decision to change it. I am not against designing a new version of the test… but I do not understand why the gap between the former test and the new one is so huge! 

When the written expression test was changed in October 2007,  it passed from 55 rather easy questions to 80 very difficult questions. The rate of failure was very high and the PSC decided to standardize the scores (which was helping people with low raw scores, but punishing the ones with high raw scores)… Finally, in June 2008, the 65 question version of the test was introduced: did it really help people to pass?… It is hard to tell… since they cut in the time as well and kept the same amount of long questions, I would be tempted to say that it did not really make a noticeable difference… and the difficulty level remained the same.

I would not be surprised that, in a few months, the reading comprehension test would go through the same process.  For sure, the difficulty level of the new test is higher… there will no longer be questions in English and, in many cases, candidates will have to fill in the blanks or finish a sentence/paragraph with the correct syntax, grammar and accurate vocabulary… It sounds more like a grammar test than a reading test as a matter of fact.

Right now, I can only anticipate what it will be… I am sure I will know more in a couple of weeks when my trainees will start taking the new reading comprehension test. Then I will be able to talk more about it… I am sure of one thing though, it will be difficult and I doubt we will see many candidates get an E like it has been for several years now. Therefore, in a week from now, all of the three SLE tests will be a pain in the neck!

In the maze of all this testing, Le Club français manages to meet once a month for some activities in French. Last Friday we went to «Le Théâtre de l’Île» in Hull where we had dinner on the patio and attended a play… As usual, we all had a great time though many players were missing due to summer vacation… Judge by yourself:

Happy Alice, Mark and Seema

Mark, La Dame dragon and Corey having a great time

Two big smiles...

Having a great time here!

Great food, excellent play and a friendly environment

And we will do it again soon… with more participants hopefully! In spite of the painful process of preparing for the PSC SLE tests, many of us became real good friends in real life… and it is one of the reasons why I do love my job!… I would not do anything else…

«On ne se lasse pas de changer les institutions, ne pouvant changer les hommes.»

Jean-Lucien Arréat

There was a slow down in the PSC SLE testing though… it is always like this when the financial year ends: it takes a while before the Departments get their new budgets going. Nevertheless, requests for training are still coming in!

Patrice finally got the results for his three tests (after several months) and he got EEC… quite an achievement indeed!

Congratulations Patrice!

Adelaide also got the results of her oral interaction test and she got the B required for her to keep her current position and, even better, she was offered a promotion within her division!

Congratulations Adelaide!

And… Monica, who was totally depressed after her oral test and had nightmares thinking she had only achieved and A, got her results last week and she got her C!…

Congratulations Monica!

Therefore I am happy… it looks like everyone managed to get their required language levels… Yet I have to say that I have them work like slaves sometimes!… Getting prepared for the SLE tests is a long and painful process and I really do admire my trainees. I am not convinced I would be able to suffer as much!

That being said, I had time to browse some tests and I finally decide to have you try and take an exercise on pronunciation… though pronunciation in French is more or less consistent, sometimes there are words that are not pronounced the way they are written (or maybe they are!). I took the test myself and I got 50/50… I am sure you can get a perfect score too!

After some freezing temperatures last week, we are back to above normal tempartures this week… Go figure!

It is such a pleasure to see stuff like this!

If you are not sitting on some patio somewhere, click here to play my game!

Have fun!

Photo credit by Philip Lean, Canberra, Australia

Both March and April are always hectic months for me… I guess it is due to the end of fiscal in the PSC, as well as the beginning of another fiscal year… yet, I do not really see the link between so many people being tested for their second language and fiscal years!… Actually, maybe there is none and it is only coincidental… Who knows?

All I can say is that there are no breaks in the SLE testing… I believe it is because most of the entry level job positions now require a minimum of BBB and more and more of them require CBC… Also, it appears that many Departments cut into their language training budgets, leaving many civil servants in a limbo… they need to be either tested or re-tested, but they are not offered any paid training to prepare… I now work with many of them, which was quite unusual a few months ago… If there is a hiring freeze within the government at this point, there is no testing freeze!

In the news department, Mitch got back to me a couple of weeks ago: he finally got his B in written expression and we are currently working on his upcoming oral test preparation. He had a hard time with grammar because he never really took any formal French courses… on the other hand, he is from Montreal and he is more at ease speaking… therefore it should be easier for him to get his B (and possibly a C) in oral interaction.

Congratulations Mitch!

Chrissie went for her oral interaction test this morning… I am impatient to hear from her… I am convinced she will get her B… Sally, in Vancouver, finally went for her oral interview as well and she got her B!…

Congratulations Sally!

Bonita went for her written expression test yesterday and, unfortunately, she missed her B by only two points. She was really disappointed because she had worked very hard… yet, she was pressured with time and she would have needed a couple of more training sessions… And, from what she said, she got one of the tough versions of the test… but, good news, she is not out of the competition!… Sharon got her B in oral although she did not really believe she could make it… well… she did!

Congratulations Sharon!

Finally, and not the least, Haiyan - who was really nervous during the whole excruciating hiring process (from interviews to tests/exams) – saw the end of it last Friday… and she got her B in oral as well!

Congratulations Haiyan!

Sometimes, I think my job is redundant… of course, there is not much variety when it comes to SLE tests… they have been the same forever… yet, when I see my trainees get their required levels, I am very proud of their achievement and I do forget the repetitive aspect of my work… And, with Le Club français, we can enjoy sporadic outings and forget about the SLE tests for a while…  Those provide people with the opportunity to use their French outside the fake box they have to enter when they are tested… and I am always amazed of how good they are at communicating their messages and thoughts… when often they struggle so much with the tests!

Last Friday, we went to the The Higlanders’ Pub where we celebrated three April Birthdays… We had a great time and it was fun to get out of our lairs after the long winter months…

Celebrating Seema, Mark and Corey's birthdays!

Alice, Seema and Mark shining!

Corey, Mark and La Dame dragon smiling!

Corey (who never stopped smiling that evening), La Dame dragon and Keely

At the end of the evening...

Happy Mark on his 30th Birthday!

“J’avance dans l’hiver à force de printemps”

Charles Joseph de Ligne

And now, I have more and more requests for preparing people to their oral interaction test in English. Therefore, the trainer/coach who was working for me occasionally is now busier than ever taking on the students who need help with their English.

In the news department, three of my students took their oral interaction tests early last week. Two of them got their results: Mia and Tamara…

Mia, who was almost in tears the day before her exam due to her anxiety and fear of failing her C, wrote me an email early Friday morning… she got an E… What an achievement!

Congratulations Mia!

As for Tamara (who was also very nervous the day before her test), she obtained the B she needs to comply with the requirements of her job position… Now she wants to move on with her training so that soon she can target a C!

Congratulations Tamara!

Since I have little time to write a post, I decided to give you my first quizz of 2010… Of course, I chose my favourite topic: les anglicismes!… In this test, you will have to find the sentence in which the word is used incorrectly (with its meaning in English). I gave it a try myself and I got 50/50… yet I had to ponder upon a couple of them before making my final choice… Let me know how it went for you!

Weather is weird… it’s March in January here… very mild temperature and rain…

I always whine about bad French… but bad English also exists!

While trying to figure that one out, click here to play my game…

Have fun!…

Photo credit by Philip Lean, Canberra, Australia

Last Thursday, I got a message from Dara: she got her B in oral interaction!… she is still waiting for the results of her written expression and reading comprehension exams though… I guess she will hear about them tomorrow or Tuesday…

Congratulations Dara!

Yesterday I heard from Nelson who went for his oral interaction test on Friday morning… usually stuff like this does not bother him too much yet he told me that he got so nervous during the interview!… Well… he is not different from the others… I do no know anyone who does not panic a little when sitting in that small interview room!… The whole process looks so much like a job interview, no wonder why candidates do not feel comfortable…

I chose an easy quizz today… those are common expressions in which we associate  adjectives and nouns when we want to establish comparisons. I did it in only a few minutes and I got 50/50… I did not know one but, knowing all the others, I just associated the last noun left!… I believe you should do pretty well also!

Apparently we will have a sunny week with above normal temperatures… Great!

I just want to enjoy this type of scenery a bit longer…

Are you ready to play?… Then click here!

Good Luck!