Speaking of being a good citizen (and also of being skeptical), I think I will soon quit the “green/beige bins” daily worshiping although I was willing to participate in the Ottawa Green Program!… Last weekend I lost patience and I wrote to the City of Ottawa… and, believe it or not, I was given a case number! My initial complaint was about the brown paper bags that do not fit properly into the beige bin… to quote my significant other, it takes four hands to keep the bag open and, then, we should probably borrow one of our neighbours’ kid to give us a hand in order to throw kitchen waste in the bag!… Man! What a time consuming and useless ritual!!!…

I guess our concerns were taken seriously since we got replies from two people… one suggested to use old newspapers (who reads papers in 2010?) as lining in the bottom of our designer beige bin and, then throw everything in the green bin… well, I am sorry but I will not spend one single minute trying to wash those bins that would become filthy in no time! Or… even better, we could use a cardboard box instead of the beige bin!… Wait a minute, I do not want a box filled with kitchen waste standing in the middle of my kitchen!… Bottom line, I think this program is defeating its purpose and, unless the City sits down with the companies designing the brown paper bags so that their products fit the beige bin, I will do what I did for years: I will use a kitchen garbage can and plastic bags! And… I will sell the beige bin on E-bay!!!… Des preneurs?…

I train people in a state-of-the-art virtual classroom and there is nothing one cannot do with high technology… and some gurus want to take me back to the Dark Age with green programs that, obviously, were not studied from a logistical point of view?… No thank you!… I cannot wait for the day my butcher will wrap my ground meat in some old newspapers!… This non sense circle would be then complete!…

When looking at this, I can see analogies with the whole SLE testing within the PSC… Both intent and purpose are great yet the process is absurd!… I will skip my opinion on the tests themselves since, by now, my readers know where I stand. For the past several weeks, I have been contacted by many civil servants who systematically failed at one or two of the language tests after months of either full-time or part-time FSL training through the regular channel… i.e. through the numerous boot camps contracting with the PSC across the country. Disappointed and fed-up, they were looking for some efficient training that will allow them to get the levels they need to meet their jobs language requirements as quickly as possible.

I heard a couple of horrific stories… for instance, take Shannon… she has been enrolled in a full-time training program for the past ten months. Useless to say that I am working on de-programming her so that she will be able to get her C when she will be tested orally again next week… Of course, she lost confidence in her skills: she now has to undo everything she was told to do for the past ten months!… It is even more discouraging since she sees her regular teacher during the day and me at night or on weekends. As a trainer, if I had students failing at the tests, I would seriously reconsider my approach and correct what is wrong… but it appears that teachers (who have no background in either pedagogy or andragogy) in private language schools are stubborn and will not budge, stating that there are no other ways…  Shannon, for months, wanted to use past tenses when summarizing the tapes in Part 2 of the oral interaction test because she thought it sounded weird to do it in a present context (by the way, she was right!)… her teacher refused to let her do it saying that Part 1 and Part 2 of the exam were assessing A and B levels!… First of all, no one is tested for an A because it is no longer in the equation for imperative bilingual positions. Anyone who have to get a C must demonstrate their skills right from the beginning of the interview!… According to this teacher, using “baby talk” (yet with the «sacro-saints mots liens») during the first half of the test and, then, moving to some elaborate ways of speaking for the second half will guarantee a C?… In your dreams!!!…

Of course people like Shannon, Deborah, Raymond, Morris and several others ask more questions concerning my method and approach… And I do not blame them! It is normal that they have trust issues given what they went/go through without positive results. On the other hand, it does not take them long to realize that this time they will be better equipped in order to achieve their required levels.

What I really do not understand is, why the PSC has not yet investigated those language schools programs, their methods and their teachers’ credentials… Billions of dollars have been/are/will be invested in second language training… Such inertia is beyond common sense… and, in the meantime, thousands of people are paying the price for something they do not have control on… Yet I see more and more  of them taking their destiny into their own hands and invest time and money so that they will be able to return to their jobs as soon as possible! I would not be surprised that, with younger generations now working within the PSC, drastic change could occur sooner than expected… Only because these people do not have the patience of the baby boomers and they are not as obedient either!

But, in spite of all this, there are success stories… Danny achieved ECB (and he only needed BBB) a couple of weeks ago…

Congratulations Danny!

Chrissie got a comfortable B in both reading comprehension and written expression… she is now working on preparing for her oral interaction test…

Congratulations Chrissie!

Sharon got an E in reading comprehension and her required B in written expression… we will start preparing her for the oral when she will return from her ten day trip in Europe…

Congratulations Sharon!

“Un beau désordre vaut mieux qu’une inerte ordonnance”

Eugène Savitzkaïa

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 

Last week, I have been contacted by someone who, after full-time training, missed the C in both written expression and oral interaction. Will part-time training over a period of two months do the trick?… Well… I will know more tomorrow after having assessed this public servant’s abilities in French…

I am reluctant to set my own online students as examples because, if they manage to achieve the levels they need, it is only because they have a solid background in French… and, if they do not, I try my very best to teach them what they will need to perform on their tests. Therefore I can bring most of them from either an A to a B or a B to a C in a very short period of time… yet those who do not have enough background in French usually need to be re-tested, especially at the oral  (if they are allowed to!)…

Let’s say I would have beginners in full-time training…  since I would have plenty of time, I would spend several months teaching them the basics of the language… I would start from scratch, adding new grammar notions along the way, making sure they would not lose from sight anything learned before… I see learning a language as adding up layers… in an organized way of course! For instance, teaching all the language verb tenses at once is not very efficient!… It is only confusing…

I had Seema as a part-time student for several months… when she left for attending a language school full-time, most of the basics had been covered… yet she made her teachers believe that she was a true beginner because she did not want them to rush the process. She thought it would give her time to digest and integrate everything she had learned so far… Well, right from the beginning, they started to teach her to the tests… by asking her about her work and her responsibilities… She had just arrived, mid-January, and she had until some time in September to be tested… Eight months! What was the rush?… As for grammar, it was (and probably still is) all over the place! One day they will teach the Indicative present and the next day, they will teach the Subjunctive past!… Hey!!! Anybody home?…

Yes! I do agree that the ultimate goal of this exhausting training is to pass the three SLE tests… But teaching to the tests right from the beginning is pure nonsense! No wonder why, after such a long process, most people cannot really communicate in French… they never learned how to do so! As for writing, I doubt they ever wrote a full sentence of their own… Everything is about “fill in the blanks” and “choose the correct answer”… Not very helpful when these people have to write a memorandum on their own…

If language schools do believe they are accelerating the process by skipping the essential basics of the language, they are actually not!… Most of my online trainees, who know the basics, can prepare for the tests in ten or less hours!… All we need to work on is to refresh some grammar notions, brush up their vocabulary and polish the way they express themselves.

I see language training as a recipe… if, in order to save time, you do not add all the ingredients that are needed; chances are your dish will not be a huge success!…  and if you are left with some spare time, you will have to re-do it before your guests show up! And then you will be rushing for a good reason!

When teachers have full-time students for almost a year, I do not see why they would try to push them ahead of their time… Six weeks at the end of the process should be more than enough to teach them to the tests… and their students would not be disgusted and discouraged with French… People cannot go through such drill for months without getting fed-up!… Especially when they lack the basics in both grammar and syntax…

If the reason is that their students must achieve at the tests so that their schools will have good statistics, well… it appears their methods fail many times anyways! Learning a new language is actually exciting and fun… yet it seems that the way it is taught in language schools kills enthusiasm… it would not take much to make changes and it would not jeopardize the trainees’ goal of meeting the languages requirements of their job positions… But, it would take some effort and… who wants to invest effort in something that has been around for ages and has never been challenged?…

“Tous les pères sont les mêmes! Un moment vient toujours où ils ne voudraient pas être regardés par leurs fils avec les yeux qu’ils leur ont faits”

Carlo Collodi

Congratulations Nelson!

Also… Luna started in her French essential position this morning… although she was a bit nervous, I am sure that she did very well… I will know everything about it when I will see her online for her weekly lesson tomorrow evening. As for Krystal in Toronto, she is kind of fed up with the endless process (more than six months for the two positions she applied for) of trying and getting a job within the Public Service of Canada… therefore she started looking elswhere… yet she still wants to move  on with her French training, judging that being bilingual is an asset for any career she will pursue. And, if she is ever called in for the PSC SLE tests, she will be ready…

Tomorrow Joyce in Moncton and Michelle in Toronto will start preparing for the SLE oral test and working on improving their French. None of them has a date for their testing yet… but they know that, sooner they are getting at it, better they will perform when they will be called in. It is what I call a judicious decision… waiting until the very last minute is rather ill-advised…

Which brings me to what I have been pondering upon for quite a while… Is teaching online taken seriously?… Of course, I am excluding my own trainees because they really do appreciate being able to get the help they need because of  a technology that allows them to get the same quality training they would get in a face-to-face setting. A few years ago, this type of training would have been unthinkable… well, it could have been done over the phone or Skype with a minimum of tools (if none at all). Today, with virtual classrooms, screen and library content sharing, a whiteboard and access to their sessions recordings, my trainees get a state-of-the-art professional service.

That being said, the kind of specialized training I am providing is quite draining… often I have only a few hours to help people preparing for their three SLE tests with the federal government. Of course, I want all of them to achieve the levels they need to meet their positions language requirements… therefore, it is as much stressful for me as it is for them! Although most of my students get their levels, some do not and I cannot help it: if I had had more time with them, I could have prepared them better… even if they never blamed me for not passing their levels!… Unfortunately I am no miracle worker… though there are some days I wish I would be!

This is why, last winter, I thought I could join a site where I could teach French a couple of hours per week without stress… I was thinking of people wanting to learn the language based upon personal interest instead of upon vocational purpose… I did not want to add this type of training to my already existing business because I wanted to keep it the way it was: a service intended for federal public servants and people who had applied for a job within the PSC.

It did not take me long to realize that it was not what it was supposed to be… I gave two series of four classes each that ran in April and May: the first one was kind of successful… five people had joined and they attended regularly. Then, two dropped out before the second one started… then another one after the first class of the second round… I finally ended up with two students. I do believe some teachers do just fine by providing one-on-one tutoring… most of their students are probably the ones they already had and they brought them there so they could use the platform.

There are thousands of people (both students and teachers) on that site, yet I would say that the vast majority is inactive…  Also, when they had introduced classes at the end of 2008, in order to attract students they had made them free… Of course people were signing up for classes yet, when teachers decided that their work had to be compensated financially (online teachers have to pay their bills as anyone else) and started to open classes that were no longer free, the numbers of attendees dropped drastically. In my mind, it was already too late for that shift… the FREE culture had already taken deep roots… Since then, management is trying all kinds of incentive to attract people into paid classes… so far, the no shows rate has not dropped!… instead (from what I read in the forums) it would have increased… Giving away mugs, bumper stickers, pens or T-shirts is called  advertising/marketing, but giving away the actual service? I call it dumb!… especially when it is done on an extended period of time…

I have even seen people requesting free classes from teachers on topics they were interested in!… I do believe this is rude and I actually do not understand such mentality of “give me, give me”… Some argue that it is due to the nature of the Internet: apparently people using the web are expecting everything for free… FALSE!!!… In my mind, if you do market your services based upon free stuff, you will get the individuals who are indeed looking for freebies all the time…  then do not expect them to change overnight when you want to turn things around!… This is why, before starting giving away your services, it is important to know exactly what you want… if you want your site to be a free resource, well… so be it!… But if you wish to make it a source of income, then think twice… because professional teachers who will join your site are expecting to be paid for the service they will provide and they will not wait for ages until that happens!… And, above all, do not maintain false hope… they are intelligent people and they will choose for themselves whether they wish to pursue or move on elsewhere. E-teaching is a serious job… and I do know that motivated people with a goal value it… I see it every day in my practice…

“L’expérience est une lanterne que l’on porte sur le dos et qui n’éclaire jamais que le chemin parcouru”

Confucius

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