Congratulations Melody!

Then yesterday evening, when I connected with Michelle in Toronto, she broke the good news: earlier this week she had been called in (out of the blue) for the oral interaction test and she got the required B… she was not prepared for that at all! Actually, for the past 16 weeks, we have been doing French for the only sake of learning French (nor for tackling and acing the SLE tests) once a week… but, since we had been working rigourously on the concordance des temps and the conditional, I do believe it helped her a great deal for her presentation…  yet she deserves all the credit because we had never worked towards the exam together!

Congratulations Michelle!

And, when I got up this morning, I had an email from Denise in Toronto with  «Allo… mauvaise nouvelle » in the subject line!… For a second there, I stopped breathing!… But it was a prank!… She got her C haut-la-main!… Consequently I will be able to relax in Montreal during the long weekend because all the results are in!…  and even unexpected ones!

Congratulations Denise!

Besides those excellent news and four new trainees, everything is business as usual… this is why I am taking the opportunity of this recess in the PSC SLE testing process soap opera to write about my thoughts on online education sites… Once again, I will not point my finger at any of them in particular because a quick tour of their forums shows that a few (if not many) experience problems… and it seems that the larger they are the more bumps in the road they encounter!

What amazes me the most is to see that many do not have proper policies and the ensuing complaints are quite eloquent. Both community members (teachers and students) and staff spend lots of time and energy bleating about their problems (and some are very serious) yet the management of those sites refuses to do anything constructive. Of course it has a lot to do with their philosophy… some owners of such sites want them to be an open source for online education… therefore they open their doors to anyone who wishes to join the community without even elementary screening. Anyone can sign up to be a teacher: with no profile picture, no credentials, no background history, no teaching experience… and five minutes later they can create classes and use the platform to teach any subjects… it is an utopia to believe that anyone can teach only based upon the fact that they are good in some areas or they can speak a language… I think the boot camps here are a good example: most of their teachers never taught French but, because they do speak the language, those schools owners believe that they can!… Well… they cannot!… Actually if anyone could teach, there would not be any education programs in universities right?… Teaching is not an easy task and it implies a large part of responsibilities… language learning will not occur without the help of an expert… of course students will eventually get enough to get by and survive, but they will never become fluent in all areas (reading, writing and speaking).

Instead of trying and fixing what goes wrong by adopting professional policies and rules, they insist on marketing… according to them, if the teachers’ community does not succeed, it is only because they cannot market their services the right way… and, unfortunately, some excellent teachers with blind faith are convinced that it is their fault if they work hard for peanuts!… Well… marketing your services on a site where everything looks and, to some extent is, non professional will not help you build a reputation in your field of expertise. Also the type of clientele many sites attract is not the one who will buy you dinner at the end of the day!… Most of their students are inactive (not taking any classes) and those who do sign up for classes do not want to pay for learning… though I am not sure I would be willing to disburse money myself for being taught by someone with no experience, no credentials and, in some case, who is not even out of adolescence!… Anyone looking for serious and competent teachers will not join such communities (although there are some excellent and professional teachers/tutors there… yet they fall into the cracks of the system and their expertise cannot be recognized for its true value)…

I do not understand why so many community and staff members are so reluctant to implement screening policies… someone who is professional has nothing to hide: they have credentials and experience to show and it is only normal to be asked for this kind of stuff… when people contact me for training, they do ask me those questions… if they are going to invest in me for preparing them to take the PSC SLE exams, it is only natural that they want to make sure that they knocked on the right door and that they will not be disappointed…

If there were times when seeing so many teachers struggling to make a living out of online education services saddened me, I have to admit that I am less and less inclined to pity them… In many ways, they do nurture non professional sites by not taking action and staying there in spite of all the problems that systematically arise… and they also nurture the gurus’ egos and narcissic sides by providing them with a faithful blind audience. One would think that these teachers are somewhat internet savvy and that they could search for other avenues for their online teaching… because there are some sites that are truly professional… and finding them is actually at the tip of their fingers…

And for those who have some financial resources, it would be much more beneficial to start their own online education business… no one needs to be under the banner of a large site!… I think I do very well on my own and none of those sites would actually provide me with what I need to run my online teaching… I do have policies and rules which I abide by… Doing business either on the web or in the real world is the same… yet it appears that some people are still living in the dinosaur age… the internet is no longer something new that people are suspicious of… many transactions are done over the net and lots of professional services are also found there… and I think that consumers are keen and well educated (of course there will always be some gullible individuals): they can tell right away what site is professional and what site is not!… There is no need for a PHD to sort them out…

“Toute activité orientée selon l’éthique peut être subordonnée à deux maximes totalement différentes et irréductiblement opposées : l’éthique de responsabilité et l’éthique de conviction”

Max Weber

On the other hand, although some weeks are more painful than others, when I get great news it certainly lifts my spirits!… For instance, Krystal got her results and she got her level B in both, written expression and reading comprehension… and she was very close to get a C in reading (yet… cut off scores being what they are… you miss one answer and you are taken one level down… Edna’ s case is a good example!)… I was so happy for her because, after six months in this process, she was exhausted and overwhelmed… I thought she really deserved a break and be able to sleep at night… well, it did not last very long because  yesterday she got an email saying that her oral interaction test had been scheduled on October 13!… She was panic stricken… finally she managed to have the test postponed to October 21… it will give us more time and I am convinced that she will do just fine!…

Congratulations Krystal!

Melody wrote me a short message after her oral interaction test yesterday… she wrote that it had been AWFUL… yet it made me smile because her assessor had led her in the fourth part of the interview… and, according to my stats, she should get her B without any problems!

And I finally heard from Pam!… She did not go for her written expression test the morning she was scheduled to take it… she had a migraine and, on top of everything, she was afraid of losing her B… Since she already does meet the language requirements of her position (CBC), she did not want to gamble at this point… she knew that the September version of the test was quite difficult… she decided to wait a couple of months before trying again… I do agree with her decision… why would she take such risk when actually she does not need a C?… She acted wisely…

Yesterday afternoon I met with Corey online and, when I asked him how he was, he said he was discouraged… I did not take his answer too seriously since he had a big smile on his face!… He had been studying hard and playing my 105 flashcards on prepositions… another one who is now addicted to that game!… It is okay by me, as long as my students are getting better and the usage of those nasty little words becomes a reflex! Actually I have to admit that this guy is very good… he has an acute analytical mind that serves him very well for the PSC SLE type of tests… and he remains calm! He needs to get the levels CBC in order to meet the language requirements of the job position he applied for… I am pretty sure that he will be able to pull out EC easily in reading comprehension and written expression… the oral component of the test will be his biggest challenge… yet he communicates fairly well in French (not the way candidates are expected to perform though)… I will put him in a box, then wrap it with a nice ribbon and I am confident he will pass his C in oral interaction as well!…

For the past 10 days, I got many last minute requests: people who had to take either the reading comprehension and written expression tests or the oral interaction exam in only a few days. Although it was never my intent to sell my study sheets separately, I now started to do it with people who have no time left to under’go some training… Of course, in my mind, it is not enough yet it is better than nothing at all!… I do believe that people with a solid background in French can use my advice, tips and strategies in their favour and they might get their levels… but, candidates with no or little background cannot ace the written test without some kind of training (even if only a couple of hours)… unless they have excellent guessing skills!

This last minute wake up call is beyond Krystal’s understanding… and my Aussie friend Phil cannot understand either!… Do I?… Well… I think that people do minimize the impact of this SLE testing in the PSC  hiring process and, unless they decide to dig a bit further into it, they are expecting to take some kind of generic easy exams. Usually, they start searching only a few days before the tests… and, if they happen to read those test descriptions on the PPC website, then they freak out!

If people like Mark and Joyce managed to get an E in oral, it is because they were bilingual to start with… yet, if they had not had 10 and 14 hours of preparation with me, they would probably have received a C (the level they actually needed) but never an E… Maggie, in NYC, could have gotten an E as well… but, with only one hour of training, she just got her C…  Of course, with people who are already fluent in French, it is less of a problem… Unfortunately, most people are not at that level! Candidates with little background can be brought one level up, but merely… I was able to bring Edna from level X to level A in 14 hours… actually if she had had some more time, she could have received her B in oral… she did well during her interview until the examiner started asking her questions of general opinion: her vocabulary was too limited and, even if she had picked up the questions, she could not have expressed her thoughts in French.

As for Kate… she communicates fairly well in French yet she missed the level C three weeks ago… there is so much someone can do in 2.5 hours just before the interview… But, since it will take three months to approve her position new language classification, HR decided to send her back to the oral interaction test. This time, she should make it since we planned sessions in advance… Sometimes, it does not take much: some planning ahead, a couple of extra training hours and less pressure. I know that some people claim that they work better under pressure… except that we are not talking about a project here!… It has nothing to do with meeting the deadlines…  It has to do with knowledge, strategies and state of mind…

Earlier today I met online with Denise in Toronto… she found me yesterday and I am preparing her this weekend so that she can be at her best when she will go for her oral interaction interview on Monday. In my book, she is bilingual… there is no doubt about it!… I am sure she will get her required C but, with so little time, I would be surprised if she could get an E… yet, she could have… because she is an excellent candidate for the exemption level.

Time is the keyword here… people must give themselves enough time to prepare for the SLE tests… they must get as many hours of training they can (depending on their budget of course) and invest lots of time into studying… otherwise chances are they will not pass their required levels… I am excellent at what I do and I have many success stories to prove it… but I am no miracle worker!… and preparing people for the SLE testing is very demanding… therefore I need their help as much as they need mine! We must work as a team in a kind of love-hate relationship and it is not easy to achieve… Everyone has to be mentally prepared… and, sometimes, it means giving up some quality time with family and friends…

Corey left his full time French course at the COFI and it was not easy to do… instead of having fun learning French in a friendly group, he now spends his afternoons studying and focusing on the upcoming SLE tests… it was certainly a tough decision to make, but he truly believed it was what he had to do in order to get his levels… and the job position he wants!

To summarize, it takes courage… dedication… time… hard work… patience and the will to achieve in order to get through the SLE testing process… But do not wait until the very last minute!…

“Ne vous hâtez jamais. Ainsi vous ne rendrez le soupir qu’à la dernière minute”

Maurice Donnay

This morning, Pam took her written expression test and Candice went for her oral interaction exam. I already heard from Candice: apparently, her interview went pretty well… her position language requirements are BBB and she already got CB (reading comprehension and written expression)… so far so good!… And, today, she was led in the fourth part of the test which means that the examiner thought she was strong enough to possibly earn a C… awesome! Her resuls will probably not come in soon yet we can both sleep tight since the level B is guaranteed!… Consequently I will not worry about her results.

Kate, who took her oral interaction test a week ago, is still waiting for her results: she needs a C… Although I am confident that she pulled it out, I will not rest until I get the final results. I will see Kelly for the last time this coming Friday, then she will go for her oral next week… she also needs a C and I am convinced she will get it (unless nervousness takes control of her!).

Edna got the result of her oral interaction test yesterday afternoon and she missed her B… although a bit disappointed, she was not upset because she actually did great considering that she knew so little in French when I first met her a month ago… she improved drastically and she made every effort to do her best during the interview!… She is a very hard worker and I am really proud of her! I do not know many people who can go from level X to level A in 14 hours of training!… And, if she is ever given a second chance at the test, I know she can move up to the next level…

Chapeau Edna!

Speaking of Edna… Last week, she was scheduled to take both the reading comprehension and written expression tests on the same morning… When she got there, she was mentally prepared and ready to tackle those absurd exams. Actually she got her B in reading comprehension, missing the C only by three answers.

What about her written expression test results?… Well… she did not take the test that morning… What happened?… You will not believe it, but I swear it is the truth… Everything went wrong from the start indeed: candidates were supposed to take the reading comprehension test at 8:30 then they were delayed until 9:00… not a big deal so far… afterwards, they were given a 15 minute break that actually lasted 30 minutes… what was the excuse?… your guess is as good as mine!… Anyways, by the time they finally started the written expression exam, the candidates were probably hungry and quite tired!

I guess it would not have been so bad if they had been given the right test… keep in mind that these people were there to take the two tests in French… but the written expression test was in English! Of course they pinpointed this trivial mistake to the garde-chiourme… The moron (excuse my language yet I cannot find a better politically correct word to qualify this individual’s incompetence), instead of re-programming the computers, sent them back home with a new testing date at the end of the month!… As if people had only to take the SLE tests in life!… Take Edna’s case for instance, as a casual employee, she does not get paid when she takes time off work… as if she had any other choices! When such employees must take the SLE tests, it would be normal that they get paid since it is required for their job!

Same thing in Candice’s case: she will not get paid for the two half days she took to be tested in French. Last week, when she got that email saying that she would be tested orally in less than five days, she went to see her director asking if she could ask for another date… because she felt she needed more prep!… The answer she got threw me off my chair (though I should be used to those stupid statements by now!): “Don’t worry, the sooner the better!… Then you’ll be able to put it behind you… all you have to do is go there and chat for 30 minutes… no big deal!”… No big deal??? I cannot wait and see this director (and many others), who took the oral interaction test prior to June 2008, be re-tested and chat for 30 minutes!… I am convinced that the tune will change afterwards!

It is beyond me that so many people are that oblivious of the damages they cause: with either their stupid/hurtful remarks, their inability to fix their flaws or their new versions of the SLE tests (without any warning)!… And the worst part is that they do not have shame at all!

When I was told that the written expression test was entirely different from the samples civil servants are practicing with on Campus Direct, I admit I had a dilemma: should I tell Pam who was scheduled to take the test this month and should I share that information with Krystal who always reacts emotionally?… I knew Krystal would find out through my blog and, indeed, the very same day I had published my post on that topic, she sent me a “Mon dieu” email… As for Pam, I chose to tell her as soon as I got the news…

After the first reaction, everybody sat down and took a deep breath… knowing what this month test is about actually helped them… It is the element of surprise that pushes candidates to panic and then lose focus…  When I saw Pam yesterday morning, she was calm and she did very well on the practice tests (we had worked on the strategy to use and it proved itself to be quite efficient)… Yesterday evening, I had an online session with Krystal and she really did great: only 9 mistakes!… I was expecting her to be edgy because she will take her reading comprehension and written expression exams next Tuesday… but she was calm and in a very good mood: I could smell the tomatoes brewing in their juice behind her… preparing her vegetables to be put in jars was a very good sign of her excellent spirits!… And I am sure she will tackle those tests the best she can do, the way Pam probably did this morning.

In spite of everything, I manage to cheer my trainees up and prepare them to face all the flaws, mistakes and discrepancies that occur systematically in this whole SLE testing process… In other words, they can beat the system and, that only gives them the drive to move forward and achieve!

To all of my students (past, present and to come), I say…

You are the best… ever!

“Il est honteux d’être sans honte”

Saint Augustin

For instance, Krystal is going through a highly positive period… she now realizes how much progress she made and, of course, she feels empowered: if she keeps controlling her nerves, I am pretty sure she will be able to get a C (instead of the required B) in both written expression and reading comprehension. As for Pam, she was much calmer this week… she sleeps better and she also knows that she made tremendous progress in the course of the past two months.

On the other hand, Greg did not do very well this week… he had kind of distantiated himself from French for the past weeks and he had not really studied… unfortunately it showed when he did perform rather poorly last Monday. It gave him the push he needed though!… He realized he had to be consistent and he could no longer afford to take long breaks…

Melody did not have much time to devote to her French lately and, when I saw her on Tuesday evening, the minute she saw she was not answering correctly, she got frustrated… therefore, she could not concentrate any longer and it did not help her. She reminded me of Krystal: she would do the exact same thing and then she would get discouraged… Hopefully she will feel better next week so that we will be able to tackle the test samples with a positive stance… she will be tested on September the 1st, consequently she cannot afford wasting time on convincing herself that she will fail!… A positive attitude is a must in order to achieve…

I also started preparing Candice for both her reading comprehension and written expression tests… The first time, she was not very good… yet yesterday she had improved drastically!… She told me she had studied hard between her two sessions with me and it certainly showed! She is looking for a B but, since she is a product of French immersion schools, I would not be surprised if she were able to get an exemption…

So far, the situation is manageable… a pep talk and a bit of extra effort will lift my trainees’ spirit… Getting ready for the SLE tests is made of ups and downs and I know how to deal with this situation… 

What really broke my heart though was to tell Edna the truth… She applied for two job positions: one requires BBB and the other one, CBC… of course she is targeting the one with higher language requirements… When she contacted me, two weeks ago, she had just stopped attending a language school. After a couple of times, she felt that she was not getting anywhere… The “teacher” would park her there, on her own, and leave the classroom while she would do written exercises… or he would chat about simple daily stuff such as what she had done that morning or what furniture and equipement could be found in her office.

Edna is not a civil servant yet… therefore she has to pay for her training… she does not have the luxury of attending such a school on a full time basis for an entire year… When someone is on a budget and has only between 10 and 20 hours to invest in financially, one would think that the trainer would focus on preparing them for the three SLE tests…

Anyways that bad experience is now behind her… she had chosen that school (if not the worst in Ottawa, certainly not far!) based upon the fact they had clients in the Department she applied for a job position… Well, it is not because the name of a school is on the standing offer of several Departments that it means it actually has any contracts with them!

That being said, when we rehearsed for her oral interaction test on Thursday, she realized how difficult it would be to attain a C… I had no other choices than letting her know that she would never get a C… Right now she is a level A and I cannot bring her up to a C in such a short period of time… She thought she could make it somehow because, at the language school, they had told her that she was very good and it would be a piece of cake for her to pass… consequently it had given her a false feeling of security and confidence… being told the truth was kind of hard to swallow… yet, now, she knows what she is capable of and she will work hard to attain the B… I really do hate when I have to tell someone the truth… It is the dirty aspect of my job! But… I consider that I owe my trainees the truth… and who knows? Maybe Edna will get a higher level after all… sometimes they are up to such challenge and they improve drastically… but, realistically, we are now targeting a B…

I was interrupted while writing this post: Mark skyped me to let me know that he had gotten the job position in Ottawa!… Great news! And I feel that I contributed a bit to his success… well… a very small bit!!!…

Félicitations Mark!

“Celui qui dit la vérité est toujours insupportable”

Roger Fournier

I have been seriously reflecting on this lately… my thoughts were triggered by comments posted on the forums of an online education site (which, by the way, I will not name here because it is only one among many)… This site, as well as all the other similar ones, provides teachers with a platform so that they can start their own online teaching/tutoring business… Of course, many people are lured by the idea of having their own business… therefore there is a growing number of tutors/teachers signing up… although many are inactive or left the site a long time ago… yet figures show that there are many teachers working… It is the same with students: most of them do not take either private sessions or classes… but it looks good from a statistic point of view!… A quick tour of the classes offered on the site is enough to realize that there are not thousands of individuals registered in any of them… and the ones that are popular are the ones that are free…

For months, teachers have been ranting about students’ no-shows trying to find a solution (and some threads are now heating up)… most of the time, people sign up for classes with no real intent to ever attend… why do they do that?… well… your guess is as good as mine… Then, lately, it came out that many teachers do not dare to show up for the classes they opened… I guess they left the site (for any reasons) and, since they did not have the ability to cancel their classes and probably did not know that someone from the staff could have done it for them, they just left things the way they were!… I agree that it is not what is expected from professionals… anyone with a minimum of professionalism would ask for their accounts, profiles and classes be deleted…

Actually it is precisely where the problem is!… Since there is no screening done, anyone can sign up as a teacher/tutor… it is not rare to see someone with two profiles: one as a student and another one as a teacher… credentials are not important, therefore one can see several teenagers (some as young as 13) teaching!… I agree that some kids are smart cookies, yet they cannot teach!… To some extent, it is kind of insulting for experienced professional teachers!… Do you know many teenagers who are mature and responsible enough to hold a steady and demanding job such as teaching?… They will often neglect doing their school homework to go out with their friends and party!…

In a way, I do feel sad for the few true professional teachers who devote time and effort into trying to make their living on such sites… yet I cannot understand why they stick around while they could be using their time and energy in building their own online business… People who teach on those online education sites are not operating their own business: their status is similar to employees’ status, yet without a  regular salary and social benefits!…

Own a business means controlling everything from A to Z: targeting a specific clientele, establishing prices and methods of payment, choosing the proper tools, setting the rules, deciding on the ideal environment, etc… The minute there is a middle man, it is no longer someone’s business… it is the middle man’s business! He has total control on everything: rules (if there are any), methods of payment, type of clientele, platform, etc… and he takes a substantial percentage on the money his teachers earn!… If teachers want changes, they are invited to post their ideas on the Idea Board… the ones that agree with the middle man’s agenda might be adopted, but the ones rocking the boat are discarded!… Such an environment only creates frustration and dissatisfaction among teachers…

Yet I see people who are still trying to change things… investing time and energy into something that is doomed to fail! Unfortunately, teachers are not known for their business skills… it is why most of them work in the regular schooling system (grade schools, high schools, colleges and universtities). Only the ones who have an excellent sense of entrepreneuship can succeed in business!…

People who are not afraid of taking risks, however, can become very successful!… And I do believe that some can learn a few skills that would help them start their own business… All it takes is the will to succeed, some positive aggressiveness, some money, a good plan, a specific niche, some market research, a professional logo, attractive business cards and brochures, a domain name, a website, a blog (providing useful and accurate info), a good network (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other similar social networks are not the best – at least, not for training businesses), experience, credentials, excellent references and a platform (one branded with their business names that can be rented yearly – no strings attach) that suits their specific needs.

Of course, all of the above demand time and effort… it is not something that will happen overnight… On the other hand, if well done, success is almost guaranteed! Considering the hours and energy consumed in ranting on the forums of sites that will alledgedly allow teachers to become successful entrepreneurs (the question is: when? if ever…), I truly believe that people who are seriously contemplating the idea of having their own online teaching business would be better off on their own… unless they do think they still have some precious time left to waste on false promises…

Bottom line, it is a matter of personal choice… when teachers choose to work with a middle man, they have to accept the fact that it will never be their call to change whatever they do not like… they either stop complaining and try to make the best out of  a situation that is far from being ideal or they decide to take risks and jump in unknown waters where possibilities are endless…

“Je suis agnostique. Ce qui ne veut pas dire que je ne crois pas, mais que je ne sais pas si je crois”

François Mitterand