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

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

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

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