hoops and reasons for jumping through them
2007-01-10 | 1:53 a.m.

Today I jumped through another hoop on the way to becoming a fully-licensed professional. I wrote my provincially-mandated French exam.

At the risk of getting my hopes up, I think that I passed at least three of the four subtests. The reading and listening tests were easy enough. The writing test would have been far more fair if the questions hadn't been so business-oriented (seriously ... what the hell do I know about why an accountant shouldn't be hired as a human resources director?), but I think I still did okay on it. (Only a 60% grade is required to pass.) The only one I have doubts about is the oral interview. As I was saying to Marc earlier tonight, whether or not I pass depends not on how strict they are, but on what they consider important. I know I mealy-mouthed some words, resulting in a few grammatical errors and weird pronunciations. But vocabulary related to my field ... that I nailed. Communicative competence in general, which I consider to be the most important aspect of language ability (and yes, I am qualified to hold an opinion ... linguist, second-language teacher and soon-to-be SLP), I also did pretty well on. I was able to say exactly what I meant and to answer every question (except for the question about why I find neuropsychology so interesting, but I'm not sure I could answer that in English either). So... we'll see. I figure I've got about an even chance of passing it this time, and if I don't, I'll get it on the second try.

Of course, scheduling a second try is going to be a pain in the ass, should it come to that. Stupid Office de la langue française and their pokey scheduling procedures.

It may be a perfectly fair and justifiable hoop, but it's still a hoop, and I have to jump through it.

I have to wonder whether I'd be willing to make the effort to re-take the exam if I didn't have a boyfriend here. I would have taken the exam regardless, and I was certainly thinking about staying here. Montreal is a wonderful city (despite the falling bridges and the municipal government's stupid obsession with renaming famous streets after controversial politicians). But now, suddenly, I'm finding myself willing to do whatever it takes to get a Quebec license.

I guess this is what I was thinking of all those years ago, when I first remarked that one advantage of having a portable career is that it makes it easier to factor the location of a significant other into your decision about where to live and work.

Which only goes to show how close I actually am to the finish line.

My adult life awaits!

looking back | looking forward