How to relieve the tension of the SLE testing process?

This week has been quite emotional for most of my trainees… some had lost sleep over the upcoming SLE tests, some could not hold back their tears any longer and some others had reached a high level of frustration… Why?… Well… for various reasons…

For those who applied for a job position within the Public Service of Canada many months ago, the length of this endless process had its toll on them… after so many exams and interviews, they are exhausted… and the mere idea of the upcoming SLE tests stresses them out… for those who already work for the government, but must take the tests again so that they can meet the modified language requirements of their positions, memories of bad past experiences either in boot camps or during the oral interaction exam weakened their confidence in their skills and competencies…

Top that with a greyish, cool, rainy summer and you have the perfect recipe to end up breaking down!… I am fully aware of how tough it is for these people to get prepared for their SLE tests… I have been helping individuals to get through this painful process for years now and, each time the PPC modifies one test, it becomes harder… Before June 2008, the oral interaction test was no fun yet manageable!… At least it was run more like a conversation and there was some room for creativity and control on the candidate’s part… Now it is conducted like any other job interviews in the government: it is very formal… although examiners pay more attention to the container than to the content of what people are actually saying. Yet! because of the structure of the interview itself, candidates are under the impression that they have to come up with the correct answers… actually there are no correct answers because expectations are about how they answer and not about what they answer…

This is why, at the beginning of the week, I spent some time with each of my students to try and convince them to change a few things regarding their attitude and their methodology. First, after having noticed that most of them (all women!… in general, men are less nervous and more strategic when they have to tackle tests) were spending hours everyday studying and memorizing, I came up with a study plan that would allow them to breathe between our training sessions. For instance, Pam is more energetic in the morning… therefore, instead of studying at night before going to bed (and then she would not be able to sleep), I suggested that she could spend 30 minutes in the morning reading her notes while having her first cup of coffee… Then, she could set her radio in French for the rest of the day and listen to it the way she would in English… in other words, with only one ear… Since she suscribed to L’Actualité (an interesting magazine in French), I told her that she could pick an article once in a while and read it only for entertainment… not with the purpose of studying syntax, vocabulary and grammar. Of course, the memories of her last oral interaction interview left her with a bitter after taste… yet I told her to turn the page and look forward… instead of always looking back… and to adopt a positive attitude. Well… I can already see a change… she is much more relaxed and she now performs better during our sessions. Before, she was stressed and too concerned with the test itself… it was only preventing her from concentrating on what she was doing. Next week, she will be away on vacation and we elaborated a plan this morning… she will spend some time reading her notes or doing a written exercise  early in the morning and, then, she will read an article in French before going to bed… and in between she will enjoy her time away and have fun!

I had a similar conversation with Krystal and, the last time I saw her online, she did very well… For some reasons, people (most of the time women) tend to overdo things… they overthink, they overstudy, etc… doing this only leads to stress and discouragement. It is like they never give a break to their brain… take people who do too much when they are physically training, at some point their muscles ache so much that they can no longer move… well, the brain is also a muscle!… It needs to relax once in a while…

Spending hours studying and memorizing will not accelerate the process… acquiring a second language is not like studying History or geography… there is so much someone can absorb at once!… and since it has nothing to do with memorization, reading notes and applying the new knowledge is the best way to learn… but, with moderation!!! One must let new knowledge makes its way through their brain until it slowly sinks in… It is very similar to boiling versus simmering… «Le plat est bien meilleur lorsqu’il est cuit à feu doux»…

Men seem to do all this by pure instinct… in school, it is not unusual to hear that boys are lazy compared to girls… actually, both genders learn differently: girls tend to be logical and rational… they pay attention to details and they want to get high marks…  boys, on the other hand, learn better through games: if they do not have fun doing something, their interest disappears quickly… as for details, unless exceptions, they are not very concerned with them and, as long as they pass, they are not looking for the highest marks!… When I was in grade school and high school, I never saw guys being stressed out because of upcoming exams… well… maybe they were a bit nervous, but stress was certainly not eating them up! It was quite different for girls though… This week I was watching Greg and I was amazed to see how quickly both his grammar and vocabulary had improved in such a short period of time… he spends 15 minutes each day reading his notes and, if the opportunity is there, he does any other activities related to French that is fun for him: listening to the radio, watching a movie, reading an interesting article, etc… And Nelson is exactly the same! Okay… maybe instead of having a strong B, they will have a weak B… but, for them, it is not important as long as they get the B they are looking for!

My best advice to everyone who is preparing for their SLE tests is: find a routine that is easy to follow… do not spend more than one daily hour studying and take breaks!… Look for other activities that will give you some exposure to French, without being streneous… Adopt a positive attitude and I guarantee that you will enjoy learning much more!

“Insensés que nous sommes, nous voulons tout conquérir, comme si nous avions le temps de tout posséder”

Frédéric II Le Grand