Immigration

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Ron Avery"].............or too be correctly corrected[:P][/quote]or even "to be corrected"  ([:P]to you too!)

[cooperlola]

And talking of the subject of this thread...[Www]

Would you pass the test to live in the UK?

http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/3

(Be honest, now)

[maude]

Diusagree with this one.I want entertainment not the challenge-Maude

[mint]

Inceni, "my" in this context is, of course, right but nobody seems to understand that "my" is the right word to use in front of your gerund "doing".

Cooperlola and I contributed to a post about gerunds recently and we only found 1 or 2 Brits (and Clair, who is of course French) who understood what we were on about.

Nowadays even I, the stickler, have been known to use "me", if only to make it easier for others to get myself understood!

PS, meant to quote your post, Iceni, but I have now "lost" it and can't do so but this reply is based on what you posted earlier

[jimmytaktak]

[quote user="Just Katie"][quote user="jimmytaktak"][quote user="terry"]

[quote user="jimmytaktak"]Thank you for your reception. Have you got questions which I can answer ?[/quote]

 

Yes i have.

            Why did you move to France and when?

[/quote]

I did not move to France, I am French. On the contrary, I have been two weeks in England when I was twelve, that is all.

[/quote]

Hi Jimmy, may I correct your English?

"I spent two weeks in England"

I hope you don't mind me doing this.  I am learning French and need to be correctly constantly.  It is the only way we learn.

Where in France are you from?

[/quote]

I am from Marseille (south of France). And you, where in England are you from ? (everybody can answer !)

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="jimmytaktak"][quote user="Just Katie"][quote user="jimmytaktak"][quote user="terry"]

[quote user="jimmytaktak"]Thank you for your reception. Have you got questions which I can answer ?[/quote]

 

Yes i have.

            Why did you move to France and when?

[/quote]

I did not move to France, I am French. On the contrary, I have been two weeks in England when I was twelve, that is all.

[/quote]

Hi Jimmy, may I correct your English?

"I spent two weeks in England"

I hope you don't mind me doing this.  I am learning French and need to be correctly constantly.  It is the only way we learn.

Where in France are you from?

[/quote]

I am from Marseille (south of France). And you, where in England are you from ? (everybody can answers !)

[/quote]

Hmm.......................that should be

"everybody can answer" [;-)]

[krusty]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

And talking of the subject of this thread...[Www]

Would you pass the test to live in the UK?

[/quote]

no ........does that mean I have to stay in France ............yippeeeeee [:D]

oh and Jimmy I am from Manchester 

[jimmytaktak]

OK. Where in manchester ? Can you tell me more about you ? (name, age...)

[5-element]

[8-)]

Jimmytaktak, I am intrigued.....

You claim to be French, yet, on another thread, you wrote that "they lived happy forever after" - i.e. standard ending for a fairy tale in English, is, in French: "Ils vécurent heureux pour toujours". That is patently wrong, and very un-French.

I don't know any French person who would NOT know that the standard ending for a fairy tale in French is "Ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants". This is standard in Marseille as well as anywhere else in France.

Any comments?

[Tony F Dordogne]

Perhaps Jimmy is related to Magaret?

[Clair]

[quote user="5-element"][8-)] Jimmytaktak, I am intrigued.....

You claim to be French, yet, on another thread, you wrote that "they lived happy forever after" - i.e. standard ending for a fairy tale in English, is, in French: "Ils vécurent heureux pour toujours". That is patently wrong, and very un-French.

I don't know any French person who would NOT know that the standard ending for a fairy tale in French is "Ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants". This is standard in Marseille as well as anywhere else in France.

Any comments?[/quote]

I'm glad you noticed it too [:D] [Www]

[Iceni]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

And talking of the subject of this thread...[Www]

Would you pass the test to live in the UK?

http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/3

(Be honest, now)

[/quote]

Failed happily.

Interesting point on Q2 - PM is also First Lord of the Treasury so shirley he is responsible ?

If there were a written constitution we could check.

John

[Gluestick]

[quote user="cooperlola"]
And talking of the subject of this thread...[Www]

Would you pass the test to live in the UK?

http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/3

(Be honest, now)

[/quote]

I am loving the English in this tests.

Goodness gracious me!"

"What percentage of the population in Scotland"

I'm still waiting for the next bit!

[Cat]

Yep, and the question "What is Wimbledon Championships?"  lacks something too.

[Gluestick]

Having worked in the past with a number of guys from the Indian Sub-Continent, they have always amused me when they add redundant definite and indefinate articles: and don't when they are in fact needed

And pluralise words which ought properly to be singular!

 

[Cat]

If you want to see the type of question asked in the real test... http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk/htmlsite/self_10.html

I'd fail it big time.

[Gluestick]

So, I'm sure would most, Cathy.

Which beggars the question, unless putative testees are carefully coached on the answers, (Rather than the general areas), beforehand, how many in reality would pass?

Very, very few, I suspect.................

In which case, one might suspect the whole process, like 99% of current government "Solutions", is flim flam.

 

[Cat]

No no no Gluey, you don't understand.  The candidates are allowed to take the test as many times as necessary.  There is, of course, a fee of £34 payable each time the test is taken [Www]

 

[Gluestick]

Ah, I understand now, Cathy; many thanks.

So the questions are the same each and every time the candidate sits the exam.

Great shame my professional exams weren't like that!

 

[Chancer]

And like a PADI dive exam if you fail you are told on which questions you failed!

The above is slightly  hearsay as I havnt taken an immigration test but know someone who is trying to get his Thai "web-wife" to pass, they actually have a book written solely to help you pass the test, unfortunately not speaking English and I believe being illiterate in her own language is somewhat of an obstacle.

Re the PADI exam, being multiple choice and with a very low pass rate I only ever saw one person not pass and he was given all the questions that  he answered wrong and then only retested on them, it still took him a couple of goes though! I cant be sure that all instructors coach their students like that, or indeed if any students actually never manage to pass.

On the subject of multiple choice: many years ago I did an evening class (I attended only about one in five lessons) in order to take the C&G IEE 16th edition electrical exam. Most of my classmates were practicing electricians working for larger contracting firms (some for the local electricity board) and in their mid 30's despite this none had yet been able to pass the exam enabling them to work on their own.

Given the above I thought that it would be tough but not at all, the course consisted of where to find in the book of regs the answers to the questions in the exam, to explain further each question was a multiple choice and if you didnt already know the answer it was in the book of regs, admittedly difficult to find but crucially it was an "open book exam" meaning you had the book with you to refer to in the exam.

To make it all the more ludicrous the questions had 4 possible answers and the pass rate was only 62.5% meaning that for every question that you knew the answer to you could guess another and by the law of probability pass the exam.

It was a 2.5 hour exam, I answered all the questions in about 40 minutes including double checking a few in the book of regs, I was allowed to leave the hall after one hour. I met the other "electricians in the pub later who commiserated with me thinking I had left at the first opportunity as it was all too much for me, they said things like "I would have done the same mate only me guvnor would get the right hump if I walked out again!"

I sincerely hope that the Corgi gas exam is a little harder, most gas guys I have met seemed more switched on that my electrical classmates.

I have also met some very intelligent electricians, few of which naturally feel inclined to carry on "housbashing" and crawling through loftspaces.

[Tressy]

[quote user="Gluestick"]

Ah, I understand now, Cathy; many thanks.

So the questions are the same each and every time the candidate sits the exam.

Great shame my professional exams weren't like that![/quote]

The Life in the UK test isn't like that either![:)]

The questions vary every time a candidate takes the test.

If someone takes it several times, some of the questions from earlier tests may eventually be repeated.

[Gluestick]

A further thought....................................

The webref Cathy kindly provided, earlier, is an excellent example of how bureaucrats have descended into being somewhat brain-challenged!

Bearing in mind the information is being provided on a website, two dedicated pages are provided - with advice on how to use firstly a mouse and second, a keyboard.

A moment's clarity of focus might, perhaps have allowed the site authors to latch on to the fact that if someone cannot use either, then it's very doubtful they could navigate the site and learn how to operate a PC!

A wee bit like the ISP who advise you to check their service status online or report faults or look at their idiotic FAQs.......................when one is phoning to report the singular fact that their service is, err...........down!

Years ago when faxes were scarce and very expensive, I used a bureau for both fax and telex.

The nice but rather nervous lady who took copy and destination numbers always wanted to include a fax header sheet: since I was being charged per sheet I resisted this and typed out a ready made message sheet with the usual header details on the top.

Still rather confused, she amended the first few by typing "This is sheet One of One. If you don't receive all the sheets then please telephone XXXXX XXXX immediately."

[:D]

 

[Tressy]

[quote user="Gluestick"]

Bearing in mind the information is being provided on a website, two dedicated pages are provided - with advice on how to use firstly a mouse and second, a keyboard.

A moment's clarity of focus might, perhaps have allowed the site authors to latch on to the fact that if someone cannot use either, then it's very doubtful they could navigate the site and learn how to operate a PC![/quote]

I don't understand your apparent objection to this.

No one has to 'learn how to operate a PC' to take the test. They just need to be able to use a mouse and keyboard.

While the operations they need to understand for both items seem very simple to experienced users, they aren't to novices.

Some of the applicants will be novices, and because they have to take the test on a computer, it makes sense to provide simple instruction beforehand.

[Russethouse]

Do they have to take it on a PC ?

I see glueys point - to access the instructions they first have to arrive at the right section, which somehow indicates they have at least basic knowledge.....

[Tressy]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Do they have to take it on a PC ?

I see glueys point - to access the instructions they first have to arrive at the right section, which somehow indicates they have at least basic knowledge.....

[/quote]

Yes they do, and if they're complete novices then that would indicate someone would have to guide them to the website and click on the 'start' of the process, but clearly when it comes to the test they're on their own.

ETA; The keyboard and mouse training isn't very good, as it happens.[:(]