(no subject)

[waterspyder]

I wrote my Reading and Writing Second Language Tests today. I feel good. I expect to see at least a B and a C come of this. Actually I think I did well enough on the Reading to possibly merit an Exemption. 

I was conflicted to see only three women in the room to write the test. And by three, I mean one of them was me. I was disappointed that not more women made it this far in the competition. I am happy because it means I'm almost assured to get a position via employment equity providing I didn't tank on the test (not that I'm not already a prime candidate).

Okay, I sound conceited now, but whatever.

Government staffing processes are sort of akin to being dragged really slowly across miles of sandpaper.... are we done yet? 

Comments

[feli-valkyria.livejournal.com]

It may be that not many women applied for the position but I seriously doubt that.

I couldn't get a government position because I don't know French, which is related to one of my disabilities known as profound hearing impairment, lol. So I don't know how effective Employment Equity will be for me. It's true that I worked for Canada Council for the Arts but they are an arm's length government agency and not directly related to the government.

[kookiemaster.livejournal.com]

Many jobs in the government have an "English Essential" language requirement. Which means you don't need to know any French at all. My last position as a Research Economist was like that.

[waterspyder.livejournal.com]

I think they should make some exceptions in these cases. Not every job needs to be bilingual, and one presumes the kind of work you do usually would not entail dealing a whole lot with the public, and as such, I really don't see why you couldn't get an English Essential position.

[kookiemaster.livejournal.com]

There are also "French essential" positions in Quebec but those are super rare. But then again, if you've graduated highschool and CEGEP in Quebec you have much more second language training under your belt. It starts in elemetary school in third grade and is mandatory every year afterwards except the last two years of highschool where you can do both year at the same time if your grades are good enough.

I was actually amazed / disappointed with how little French is taught in the Ontario public school system. It's good news for me but bad news for people who want to come work for the government.

[waterspyder.livejournal.com]

I think it's supposed to be every year from Grade 4 until Grade 9... but it's like 3 hours a week. I really don't think it's enough.

I took immersion from Kindergarten until Grade 5, enriched French in 5 and 6, Core French in 7 and 8, and Advanced French from 9 to OAC.

I have been known to fool people into thinking I'm a francophone, and can conjugate plus-que-parfait, but can't tell you when to use it.

So I spent 15 years speaking French on a nearly daily basis in school in Toronto, only to move to Ottawa, and speak it for 5 minutes a month.

[kookiemaster.livejournal.com]

Having an boyfriend who only spoke English helped me a lot.

But with all the latin you took, it probably gave you quite an edge when it came to French. If you think French verbs are fucked, try Spanish ... they had my head spinning and are the reason why I stopped taking it after four years.

Sometimes I fool anglophones but it's rare because I still have some slip ups with certain sounds. Mind you for some reason everybody in Montreal seems to think I'm anglophone. Maybe I've "assimilated" the "english canada look" and don't know it o_O

[zenten.livejournal.com]

You know, Isobel defiantly comes across as an Anglephone.