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

Of course, Krystal is a bit nervous thinking of her upcoming oral interaction interview… but she is focused for the time being and… rather calm. That might change next week though!

And my blog stats show that someone played my 105 flashcards on prepositions 11 times last night… I has to be Corey!… Who else?…

Today I found an interesting quizz for you to play… actually I had to think carefully before finding the correct answer… what we call in French «faux-amis» are all over the place and it is not always obvious to avoid using a word with its English meaning… I got the correct answers yet I have to admit I wasn’t sure about a couple of questions… I did what often my students do at the PSC written expression test: I guessed!

If, sometimes, I do have problems with some signs in French… there are some in English that are not the best either…

My Aussie friend Phil had a problem with this one… and I do agree with him… even if we know what it means, the wording is weird… what do you think?

While making up your mind on this one, click here to take the test!

Have fun!

Photo credit by Philip Lean, Canberra, Australia

Besides, I am still waiting for Krystal and Pam’s results… Is this long waiting unusual?… not at all!… The waiting period depends on paperwork, departments’ HR and other stuff such as staff’s vacation or sick leave… Since we cannot tell from one week to another, we only have to be patient!… This afternoon, I will see Melody for the last time before her oral interaction exam… I am sure that she is glad it will be over soon… although candidates are nervous about the SLE tests, towards the end, they just want to get it done and turn the page!… so they can get their lives back!…

Once again, I decided to check your ability to avoid the influence of English when you speak and write… sometimes, it is quite subtle and people are not even aware that they are using anglicism. And it is one of the reasons why we do have to pay special attention to those faux-amis or a syntax that is borrowed from English. I took the test myself and I got 50/50… well… one would not expect less from a French trainer, right? If you take that extra second to think, you should get the same score!… Were they any traps?… Hmmm… maybe one or two, but nothing to make you sweat!

I do not intend to set one foot outside again today…

It is the kind of day for staying home and enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate!

Sit in front of a nice cracking fire and click here to play!

Bonne chance!

Photo credit by Philip Lean, Canberra, Australia

On the weekend I came across something that kind of disturbed me… Originating from any Federal Departments, I would have probably giggled and made fun of their «français boiteux»… but what I read originated from the «bureau des langues officielles» in Montreal. Of course this generic text can be found in the PSC templates, which I assume were created in Ottawa… yet one would think that Francophones located in Montreal would have spotted this text right away (unless they never read what they are actually sending to candidates)!…

When my trainees get their official results, most of the time, they forward me the email they received from the PSC… since I am always eager to know their results, I never read the generic introduction message of this email. Honestly I am not interested in whatever is written… my only concern is: did my student make it?… I made an exception last Saturday, I probably had some spare time since I read the whole thing… Then I had the shock of my life! «Quelle horreur!!!»… I had to read this paragraph more than once to make sure I was not having a bad dream:

VEUILLEZ NE PAS RÉPONDRE À CE COURRIEL VIA VOTRE SYSTÈME DE COURRIEL. VOTRE COURRIEL NE SERA PAS RÉPONDU.

What in the hell is that?!!?… Everything is utterly incorrect in this short paragraph!… It looks like someone scanned the English version of this warning through some Google free translator:

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL VIA YOUR EMAIL SYSTEM. YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE ANSWERED.

No one could ever come up with a better literal translation than this one!… Even with time and effort, nothing would beat this paragraph. Maybe it is time for a crash course in French… First of all, «courriel» is the electronic version of «courrier» (mail) in French… it actually stands for the longer version «courrier électronique»… what we have here is a «message électronique», not a «courriel»… usually, when referring to the email system, we say «système de messagerie électronique»… and, grammaticaly, we do not use the passive voice in French for expressions such as I have been told or your email will not be answered… Even my beginners know that!… Am I being a fussy purist?… I really do not think so! I just cannot stand anyone murdering my mother tongue!… Here is what I do with this horrific paragraph:

VEUILLEZ NE PAS RÉPONDRE À CE COURRIEL VIA VOTRE SYSTÈME DE COURRIEL. VOTRE COURRIEL NE SERA PAS RÉPONDU.

Not much left indeed!… To make sure that Francophones who do not happen to be bilingual would understand such a warning, it should read like this:

VEUILLEZ NE PAS RÉPONDRE À CE MESSAGE VIA VOTRE SYSTÈME DE MESSAGERIE ÉLECTRONIQUE PARCE QUE VOUS NE RECEVREZ AUCUNE RÉPONSE.

Et voilà!… Le tour est joué!… Actually, my first reaction was to reply to this email in order to pinpoint the mistakes… then I realized that no one would read it!… L’ironie du sort quoi!… Of course, I could see this as a pathetic joke… and move on… yet I do have a serious problem when I think of all those Anglophones having their second language skills assessed by people from the PSC… If those who claim to be a so-called panel of experts in French cannot even write (or at least review and correct) such a short and simple paragraph according to the French language standards, well… I am scared!… What if their assessment were based upon their own flaws and mistakes?… I have seen enough of those in both their reading comprehension and written expression tests to be worried!… Why would it be different when they are evaluating candidates on their abilities to communicate orally in French?… It is certainly something to ponder upon seriously… Anyone claiming the right of assessing others on their second language abilities should be flawless experts… therefore each time I come across something that tells me otherwise, I do question the present system…

“J’ai toujours rencontré si peu d’esprit autour de moi qu’il a bien fallu que j’utilise le mien”

Paul Léautaud

Since they are calling for a cold weekend, I guess everyone will prefer staying inside… cocooning in front of a fire… playing games on the computer or taking my quiz.

I always noticed how tough it is for Anglophones (and some Francophones!) to decide if some words in French must be written with an upper case or not (as they are in English)… actually, we are less inclined to use upper cases in French. I found an interesting test for you today… I got 60/60 but I have to confess that I went back and changed two of my answers (would I be somewhat influenced by English?)! What I believed would be a piece of cake was not as easy as I had first thought… it will be kind of interesting to read your comments!

Am I obsessed with weather?… Well… I think all North Americans are!… especially Canadians!

My Australian friend sent me this great picture of South Canberra… it is Fall over there, yet I would take it anytime!

Now, whenever you are ready… click here to play!

Bonne chance!