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

Congratulations Seema!

I also heard from Kate… unfortunately, she did not get the C she was looking for, the examiner gave her a mere B… but, since her boss really wants her in that position and does know that Kate can communicate efficiently in French, the oral language requirement of her job position has been changed into a level B… Finally one person with judgment and common sense!… It would be great improvement if there were more… yet demain n’est pas la veille!… Therefore Kate joins Alicia and Christie on my list of this assessment process flaws! I would not be surprised to hear that the three of them had the same assessor…

This week will be another marathon of testing: Sun is taking her reading comprehension and written expression tests (she needs a C in both) this morning and Krystal will take hers tomorrow. Kelly, in Victoria, will be tested orally over the phone on Wednesday… she must obtain a level C… hopefully she will get it!… Based upon my trainees (located outside Ottawa)experience, examiners in Montreal are a bit more flexible (read less picky)… we shall see! And… I almost forgot!… Edna will go back to be tested for her written expression on Wednesday as well… hopefully she will not be given the test in English this time!

For those of you who do not know what the COFI (Centres d’orientation et de formation des immigrants) are, here is a brief explanation… When the province of Quebec made French its official language and introduced Bill 101 (Bill stipulating that immigrants’ kids have to attend French school unless one of the two parents had some kind of education in English in Quebec at some point – which is highly unlikely), new adult immigrants who do not speak a word of French are sent in those centers so that they can learn the basics of the language… there, they can acquire some survival spoken French and get acquainted with the culture québécoise… Those  aiming at learning how to write are invited to under’go day or evening programs that are tailored to their specific needs in any school boards across the province.

New immigrants who do not have jobs attend those centers full time… those who do have jobs or go to university attend part time… These centers are not giving highly qualified training in French… actually it is not their reason for being either. They are not teaching immigrants to take SLE tests: they are teaching them how to survive in a French environment by providing them with useful vocabulary so that they can communicate in daily situations.

Times really changed… I do remember my retired Italian neighbours in Montreal: they had arrived in Canada right after the World War II… the lady was fluent in both French and English, their adult kids only spoke English and the man could not speak any other languages than Italian (I always wondered how he had managed all those years… actually he was relying on his wife for everyday interaction with the outside world)… She had been a nanny in a family in Wesmount for years and it was where she had learned French and English (the father was an Anglophone, the mother was a Francophone and the children were bilingual and attending French schools)… Okay… back to my story now…

Last week, I assessed a new student located in Montreal who needs to obtain levels CCC in order to qualify for the job position he applied for within the PSC… Corey, a middle age man, arrived in Canada two years ago with only his mother tongue and English as a second language in his pocket: he did not know one single word of French at the time. Since he had a night shift job in an IT call center, he spent only half of his days (and still does) in  a COFI combined with 16 weekly hours in his school board evening program (for the written part of his learning)… In late Spring I had Yong who had also spent some time in a COFI in order to learn French and, even if he did not get his B in oral interaction, he could communicate fairly well… actually I was quite impressed with his skills since the COFI do not teach French formally!… Of course his French was not polished enough for the PSC examiner and did not meet the absurd standards of the PPC tests… although he managed to get his B in reading and writing!

I really did not know what to expect prior to meeting with Corey… if Yong had missed the level B, how could he get a C?… I know so many people who are bilingual in my book and who cannot get it!… On the other hand, I know some who cannot even have a casual conversation about weather or order a pizza in French and who actually have a level C… Go figure!… I stopped wondering about such a dichotomy because I would only waste my time!… There are no answers to this strange phenomenon… only because there are no real objectives, except that candidates have to perform the way the PPC wants them to… and even so, sometimes, one examiner will prefer another dance!… It is why it is imperative to know more than one, just in case!…

On Wednesday, I spent one hour online with Corey and I simulated an interview in French (with the four components of the actual oral interaction test)… Of course he was all over the place, providing me with more information than I was actually seeking… In the middle of this babel, though, I was quite pleased with his easiness to speak… and his comprehension was excellent… therefore I decided that he could get his C!… Yet I will have to put him in the box and restrain his wish to talk too much!… I will have to constrict him so that he will stay within the speech limits permitted!… It will not be an easy task to confine him in the work area only and I will have to provide him with the jargon they are expecting him to use during the examination… but it is manageable!… He has an excellent foundation in French and all that is needed to do is to have him speak more formally (yet I will make sure that he will keep his natural way of expression)… using words such as processus, gestionnaire, gestion de projet, affectation, note de breffage (do not worry if you do not know this word, it does not exist outside the PSC), intérimaire, protocole d’entente, etc.

After our session, I thought that it would be a great idea to have civil servants under’going French training in one of the numerous COFI throughout Quebec (there must even be one located in Gatineau!)… I am surprised that the famous PSC technocrates have not thought of such an option yet: they do not know much about pedagogy, but they are supposed to know how to count… that would save the government lots of money indeed, because I am sure it would be much cheaper to send employees in a COFI than in any language schools around town (institutions that do not give top notch services anyways!)… The bright side of such training would be that, afterwards, those civil servants would be able to communicate in French… and, at the end, it would only take a few hours to prepare them for their dance in front of an examiner… If I ever doubted the kind of training the COFI are providing, now I am convinced that they do a great and useful job!

“La danse est une cage où l’on apprend l’oiseau”

Claude Nougaro

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