Actually, I am the one who browsed properties located close to his office… of course, the first time he had visited houses for sale, he had been taken in some unsafe neighbourhoods… people from outside of town are easy preys for real estate agents who know they will have a hard time selling those properties to Ottawa residents! The second time, after research on the net, I went with them to visit houses in a safe neighbourhood located at only 10 minutes from Mark’s office. I remember, back in 2000, my real estate agent had done the very same thing: he had selected properties where selling was tough… yet he had not counted on the fact I had been studying in Ottawa some 30 years earlier!… No matter how many years go by, these neighbourhoods never lose their bad reputation…

Anyways… Mark will live in a quiet neighbourhood and he will not have to cross town to get to work. Besides touring houses for sale, we had dinner at Social on Sussex (in the Byward Market) where we were able to eat outdoors in their cosy garden… I would have liked to have him see more of Ottawa but I was busy with work and he had lots to do in terms of paperwork too! It is a raincheck because, soon, he will be here permanently and I will be able to show him interesting spots: «Ce n’est que partie remise!»…

I was so happy when I got that phone call from Pam Monday morning when she told me she had obtained her level C in oral interaction… There was no doubt in my mind that she would get it yet I am not sure she was convinced… In the last two months, I had been working on de-programming her, teaching her grammar basics and bringing back her natural way of speaking in French. All along, I had been able to see that she was skeptical… What I was actually asking from her was to undo and unlearn whatever she had been taught in the nine months she had spent in a boot camp… And, trust me, it was not easy for her… I also did understand why she was reluctant… she had taken the oral interaction test twice and she had failed to get her C… her confidence was quite shaken by the time I started training with her. Was I gambling?… Not really… I know my method, strategy and tips are almost infallible… yet I had to give her back the necessary confidence to tackle that test!.. I was aware that, if I failed to do so, chances were that she would not get her required level… In other words, my reputation was on the line (well… not really, but I saw it this way)!… I did not have nine months to teach her full-time the grammar basics she needed to know so that she could organize her speech the way Francophones do… I only had eight weeks, part-time… «C’était pour ainsi dire une course contre la montre!»… I am always focused but, this time, I was even more focused than ever!

Our first weeks together were very challenging… I was asking her to forget about what she had memorized and I wanted her to speak naturally, without using those useless «mots-liens» that nobody uses in real life contexts… In other words, I was demolishing the cult of brainwashing already well engrained in her mind… My unorthodox method was not agreeing with what she had been told!… Many times, she encountered frustration and temptation to burst into tears!… Slowly, but surely, she learned how to trust me and my judgment… it certainly did not happen overnight!… And I never gave up: it would have been the easy way out and I could not let her down and do to her what others had done by telling her that she had fossilized habits that could never be fixed…

In my book she never failed to get her level C: those who were supposed to teach her and bring her up to that level did fail to do their job!… First, alledged teachers in language schools have no expertise in the field: they speak French and they have a university degree (it does not matter if this degree is in theology or physics!) – real experts are not found there because the pay cheque is ridiculous!… second, they do not care whether their trainees achieve their levels or not… and finally they do not see the importance of connecting with their students. As for support, they do not provide any mainly because they are not interested in their students’ ups and downs… It is never about “trust us, we know what we are doing”, it is only about “do what we tell you to do and shut up!”…

How many people did those teachers traumatize?… What is the extent of the damages they cause by not paying attention to their trainees’ needs and concerns?… How many civil servants never managed to meet the language requirements of their positions, thinking that they were at fault and they would never be able to achieve their goals?… Too many indeed! Pam was the lucky one!… She was pretty devastated when I had met her two months ago… yet today she feels empowered and she knows that she can communicate in French in a very efficient way!… Me telling her so was not enough, she had to believe it herself and now, she does!… She will take the written expression test again in 10 days because she knows she will be able to get her C… I will see her a few hours to prepare her and I know she will make it!

All it takes is to believe in someone… Pam believed in me and I believed in her and, together, we succeeded!… It was tough at times, but we also had some great moments!… I am really proud of her!!!

Speaking of pride… I heard from Melody before dinner: she got her B in both reading comprehension and written expression… another success story… Now we are facing an even greater challenge: the oral interaction exam… but I am confident that she will make it!

Congratulations Melody!

“Les défis vous font découvrir sur vous-même des choses que vous ne soupçonniez pas.  C’est ce qui vous grandit et vous pousse au-delà des limites”

David Lyle Boren

That being said, what teachers tell their students (adults as well as children) have greater impact that one may think… I remember, 10 years ago, when Andy had told me he wanted to quit French after only a couple of weeks of part-time training. Of course I had asked him “But why?”… “I’m a slow learner” had been his answer… “And who labeled you as a slow learner besides yourself?”… “Well… all my French teachers, when I was a kid, told me I was too dumb to learn a second language!”… Useless to say that I was shocked!… Other times, other mentality would you think… Well… such statements, unfortunately, are still around… A few months ago, a couple of days before her oral interaction test, Pam was told she had fossilized habits that could never be fixed!… I beg your pardon?… Who would state something like this? Only someone trying to cover up for their own incompetence… It is so easy to let students take the blame for their failure! Yet… was everything done to help them achieve? I seriously doubt it!…

In 1999, I had taught French to a young woman who had been denied French training for several years based upon the fact she had failed the kurd test!… At the time she was fluent in English and German, but she was told she could never learn a second language (she already had a second language!). Such decisions are beyond my understanding!… If I had to take that stupid audio test, I would fail big time because I am anything but auditive!… I thought this test had been discarded a long time ago when I found out that two of my students had taken it in 2007… they had been given a nice personalized brochure with their learning styles explained in it: it looked like those certificates veterinarians give to their clients so that they will not forget about their pets’ next vaccination!… I wonder how much this testing and analysis cost to Canadian tax payers! I prefer not knowing actually… especially since this whole process is not an accurate diagnosis of people’s learning abilities! But I am sure it is a perfect way of screening people before they under’go second language training…

In the course of my practice I met several people who, like Andy and Pam, did not have sweet memories of their French courses in school. When came the time to go on training so that they could meet the language requirements of their positions, it was more than stressful!… Over the years, they had learned how to compensate for their learning differences and they were achievers… the mere idea of going in a setting that would bring them back where they were once, feeling truly miserable, was enough to prevent them from learning…

I can accept (with reluctance though) the fact that, with groups, teachers cannot really adapt their teaching methods to answer these students’ specific learning needs… yet, it is easy to have small groups of people who learn more or less the same way. It will not happen soon in language schools though!… They prefer to ignore those differences and blame the students instead!… Why would they not since those people’s employer could not care less about their fate anyways?… They are not interested in divulging this kind of problems because they would have to change quite a few things regarding their stiff teaching methods! What I do not buy is that no effort is made to help these students out in one-on-one training!… Though I am not sure their so-called teachers can actually see the problem!

A couple of weeks ago I had a short conversation with someone who trains  and prepare civil servants for their SLE tests… we were discussing language schools’ methods when she said “How many times shall we repeat the same grammar notions over and over without success?… It’s the student’s problem!”… Well… we shall repeat as many times as needed!… And we shall adapt our teaching methods to this student’s learning styles and special needs… Maybe some of them will never manage to pass the PSC SLE tests (only because of the nature of these exams) yet they will be able to communicate in French! And, in my book, the ultimate goal is not passing tests: it is to communicate…

Andy who was alledgedly too dumb to learn French is now bilingual and, while he was my student, he wrote the most creative and beautiful stories I was ever given to read… As for Pam, I did fix most of her fossilized habits in two months… So tell me… who is to blame?… 

“L’incompétence règne dans toutes les relations et, avec le temps, elle produit très naturellement l’indifférence”

Thomas Bernhard

Actually, Krystal was the most relaxed one… not that she stopped caring or worrying, but because she realized it was taking too much of her energy… Let go some of the pressure is sometimes a great idea!… I am sure she will go through tough times again soon but, for the time being, she is cool!

Mark, on the other hand, is going through different emotions… although the hiring process is over for him, the waiting game got into him a couple of days ago… he would want to have an answer now!… Unfortunately, with the governement, it is never that simple… they have a long and painful hiring process and they actually have no clue (and they do not care in the first place) of what it does to candidates… Mark thinks that they enjoy torturing people… I told him that they are not that clever: doing something like this with intent would imply strategic thinking and creativity… and I am not sure that they have either one!

And Pam had a very frustrating week… I am kind of trying to undo what she had been taught during her full time language training… Of course, it does not come easily because she has been programmed to speak a certain way and it is tough to change… I know for a fact that pressure is very high right now! I could let it go and let her speak the way she learned to… yet it kills her natural way of speaking and she sounds like a robot! She has been taught to use complicated sentences where there is no need for them… all it does is to obscure the message that she is trying to convey…  The purpose of the oral interaction test is to verify whether people can get their message across with clarity or not… it is not an exercise of style!

Usually I work with people who applied for job positions within the federal government or with civil servants who had no previous full time training in either one of the too many language schools swarming Ottawa like mosquitoes in June!… Therefore they have not been contaminated yet… Of course I do prepare them to tackle the oral test based upon the PSC standards and criterias, but I insist on them being and sounding natural just like native French speakers do! For instance, when I am asked to summarize something, I go directly to the point: it is short and clear!… I am not asked to be stylish and use words that are not essential to convey my message… and it is exactly what I want my trainees to do. So far, my method proved to be efficient since 90% of my students passed their levels on the first attempt and even some of them got higher levels!… Language schools cannot show such high rates of success and they could never bring someone from an A to a B or from a B to a C in only a few hours of training because of the method they use…

Languages are tools used by people to communicate… and I do not know anyone who masters a language, «encore moins deux»!… Except for our Canadian journalist Robert G. Scully, and there are times when he sounds pretty odd!… Therefore anyone who is not Scully trying to speak like him will be the laughing stock of the party!… It is impossible to train people so that they will not make mistakes during their oral interview. Even Joyce and Mark, who got an exemption in oral, did make mistakes!… Yet, they were at ease and sounded natural… and their message was always clear… consequently understood by the examiner! Who cares if someone missed one or two subjunctive verbs or misused a couple of prepositions?…  The goal is to communicate clearly, not to apply all the rules stated in the Grevisse!…

Alice was a good example of this kind of brainwashing… last year, before she attended a language school full time, she was natural and she was very close to the level C… then she missed her target the first time she went for her oral interaction test… In six weeks, they had managed to change her into an automated speaker: lots of useless «mots-liens», self-consciousness, etc… She finally got her C some five months later… But did she suffer during this process!

Although Pam had a rough week, by Friday, she was back on track… she sounded much more natural, the way she sounds when we are having a normal conversation… and my ultimate goal is to make sure that she will be like this when she will go for her oral interview! Mistakes are no big deal when people’s speech flows… yet they are easily spotted when their speech is robotic and studied… 

This week, I thought of Dr Phil’s intervention squad… specialists he send out to grab people by force so that they can be saved from either religious cults, drugs or alcohol… for instance, take all these people who have been indoctrinated by some religious leaders and firmly believe it is okay… usually, after such an intervention, they come back to their common senses… but not without encountering pain during the process…

To some extent, I sometimes do feel like I am de-programming people who have been told that there is only one way to pass the oral interaction exam!… I am sorry but people are unique and they express themselves differently, depending on their personalities… and it is imperative that they remain who they are during their interview!… Why would they speak differently in French?… I would never try to kill spontaneity because it is the most engaging part of communication… And I know that I am right because my trainees do get their levels!… Hopefully, one day, language schools will change their teaching methods but… I would not bank on it! Only because it would require work, effort, creativity and programs that are adaptable to each individual’s strengths and weaknesses… Therefore I think I will be the only intervention trainer in town for quite a long time… of course I cannot save them all, but the idea of saving a couple is comforting and, when I do, it is the most rewarding moment of my professional life…

“L’histoire est une galerie de tableaux où il y a peu d’originaux et beaucoup de copies”

Charles Alexis Clérel de Tocqueville

Congratulations Seema!

Of course, when I hear stories like these regarding the SLE tests, I wonder why the PPC sticks to tests that are not assessing either reading comprehension, written expression or communication skills. How can anyone (including myself) read 65 long texts in 90 minutes and be expected to perform well? It would make much more sense to provide candidates with one text (a document of some sort) and then, ask them to talk about what they read (this could be part of the oral interaction exam). But!… making sense does not seem to be a priority for the so-called panel of experts who design the SLE tests.

And tell me… how can anyone come up with a great articulate oral presentation with only 90 seconds to prepare?… Even when they go for a job interview they are given at least 30 minutes to prepare a few questions, which usually are easier to answer since they are related to what they do and know!… Both Greg and Krystal had interviews in the past 10 days and they had plenty of time to prepare the questions they had to answer… in their mother tongue! They are wondering how they will manage to prepare a two or three minute presentation (on a topic that will probably not ring a bell) in 90 seconds… in French!… How more stressful can it get?…

Late yesterday evening, I had my last oral simulation practice with Nicholas in Vancouver. One of my questions was: «Avez-vous déjà passé les tests de compréhension de lecture et d’expression écrite?»… I thought his answer was quite funny: «En fait, je n’ai pas passé un test d’expression écrite… j’ai passé un examen à choix multiples!»… Anyone who ever took the written expression test will tell you that, if they were asked to write in French, they probably could not do it (unless they already knew how prior to their intensive training)!… It is very sad yet so true…

Seema and I went out for brunch last Sunday… we had not seen each other for more than three months and we really enjoyed those couple of hours spent together… Of course, part of our conversation was oriented towards the SLE tests… she was not extremely disappointed regarding her results in reading comprehension because she knew that she had to work on her reading speed… as for the written expression test, she was quite confident that she would get her B… and, indeed, she did!

As our conversation was moving along, she told me that the person who had provided the candidates with the instructions on how to proceed with the reading comprehension test had said something quite strange… actually I thought it was hilarious and kind of weird given that these people were there to be assessed on their reading skills in French… here it goes:

“(…) there will be some questions which will have long text. Don’t waste your time reading the whole text. You guess the answer and you move on (…)”

Keep in mind that those instructions were given for the reading comprehension test… If, indeed, some texts are too long and because of a lack of time it is impossible to read everything; why, in the name of God, do they not design a test with shorter texts or with less questions?… Basically, candidates are told not to read but only guess the correct answers!… What kind of assessment is that?… Of course everyone knows, strategically speaking, that often it is better to read the answers first and then refer to the texts in order to read only the targeted sentences or paragraphs… there is no better way to get through those 65 texts in 90 minutes!… Yet! to actually say it in the instruction list is quite absurd! 

And it does not stop there… Like for the reading comprehension exam, there are instructions for the written expression one as well… although worded differently, the message conveyed is more or less the same:

“(…) don’t worry about the long texts. If there is difficulty, don’t worry spending too much time but choose the best choice and move on (…)”

How can someone pick the correct answers without actually reading at least some of the texts… of course, it is feasible with the right strategies… but, once again, it comes down to guessing the answers and it is not the purpose of a test!… Tests are supposed to assess people’s knowledge, not their abilities to guess… Am I surprised? Not at all… I mean… not about the fact that candidates have lots of guessing to do when taking those exams… though I am flabbergasted with the fact that they actually tell the candidates to do so!… It does not sound too smart to me… it is like telling candidates about their exams flaws and absurdity openly!… But, as I wrote many times before, common sense is not the PPC’s cup of tea!

In the news department, Mark skyped me earlier this morning… he started thinking that he did not perform well during his interview because he did not hear about his results yet. His assessor had told him he would get his results in 72 hours… well, I had to comfort and reassure him… usually it takes at least 10 days (if not more) to get the results (especially at this time of the year… many people are away on vacation)… I know how painful this waiting game is because I go through the same process each time one of my students is waiting for results… but it does not mean that they did not get their levels because they waited longer than usual… Both Joyce and Maggie waited for 10 days: one got an E and the other one received a C…

What really pushes my button is that the assessors keep telling candidates that they will be notified of their results within three days! In your dreams!… Sometimes they do hear the news rather quickly but, most of the time, they have to wait… Actually they should let candidates know that it may take a while, this way no one would lose sleep if they do not get their results promptly… but hey!… in the manual, it is written that results are communicated within 72 hours following the oral interaction test… therefore why would examiners bother to change that line?… It would be way too much of an effort!… I told Mark not to worry and go play outside because chances are that he will not hear from them before Thursday of next week… Yet I am not convinced that I managed to put his anxiety at rest… Hopefully I did!

“Notre vie est un livre qui s’écrit tout seul. Nous sommes des personnages de roman qui ne comprennent pas toujours bien ce que veut l’auteur”

Julien Green

Preparing people for their SLE tests with the government, with only a few hours, is a very intense process… All of us are fully aware that we have to beat the clock and yet, at the same time, make progress… And whatever the outcome is, I am always affected on a personal level… Why? Simply because I do care for these individuals… because I do know that their future depends on their results… because I do know that their lives can be turned upside down in a matter of minutes…

This morning, at 9:00, Lara was tested on her oral skills in Brussels over the phone… she needs a C to get the job position she applied for in Ottawa. I have not heard from her yet… I have no idea how it went for her… Getting or not the level C will actually determine her future. Only a letter on a piece of paper…  it is how decisions are made… even if a candidate is best qualified and suited for a specific job, if the required level is not met, the position will be given to someone else.

On Monday, Luna will take her oral test for the second time in the attempt of getting the B she needs to go back to her position in Montréal. Will she get it? At this point, chances are 50/50… we have to be realistic here! No one has the power to move their nose and see miracles happen… it takes time to bring someone from one level to the next one… but time she does not have much left: by the end of August, she will need that B otherwise she will have to accept an essential English position. She could do it right now actually… but why would she? She is entitled to get back her position… the one she wants… Why would she renounce because of the language requirements? She will eventually obtain her level, if not Monday, the following month… she will keep moving until she finally gets it!

Marina, unfortunately, was not given such reprieve… tomorrow will be her last day at work… only because she did not manage to get her C in English… HR exhausted all their resources in trying to keep her and they do not have the power to change the language requirements of her position. I do not remember how many times I wrote it but I will write it again: Marina is bilingual… if she were not, she would have never been hired in the first place because no one can work in Ottawa without reading, writing and speaking English… this is plain reality in the National Capital!… if policies on official languages are more political than anything else, it is only in regards of French… English is a must around here! If the PSC were reasonable and flexible, they would have more than one oral test version to accommodate people who have problems that have nothing to do with their abilities to communicate in their second language. Someone like Marina should be tested in the conversation mode because the way the present test is structured, chances are that she will never pass the level C… if language mistakes can be fixed, there are other things that cannot and the fact that the PPC does not recognize that is beyond me!… It is not given to everyone to come up with a two-three minute  structured and articulated presentation (introduction, development, conclusion) in 90 seconds! I wonder if those who designed that oral test could indeed pass it… maybe they should try and have a taste of their own medicine for a change.

Both the PSC and the PCC have way too much power, because their decisions to have someone pass or not affect the candidates’ lives… one day they have a good job and the next one, they are unemployed… of course their power is not that visible, yet the letter they affix on a piece of paper have serious consequences… Marina asked me if she should contest her results and file a formal complaint… I told her to do it although we both know she will not win against this huge machine… yet it will empower her! And I reassured her… not having passed her C is not a reflection of her language competencies… it is the reflection of the system’s incompetence to see the obvious and address important issues.

On a merrier note, Alicia finally got her reading comprehension and written expression tests’ results (after more than three weeks!)… she got an E in both! I it is awesome!… Now I will start preparing her for her upcoming oral interaction test… She needs a C and I am sure she will get it, though we will have some good polishing to do!… She certainly needs a brush-up in order the meet the nonsense criterias of the level she is targeting.

Congratulations Alicia!

AND…

Marina… I am very proud of you! You went there and you did what you had to do!…

“Tout homme qui aurait conscience de ses actes ne pourrait pour rien au monde  presser du doigt la détente d’un fusil”

Henry Miller