Sudden Panic Language Lessons
Jul. 25th, 2019 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paeanFor background, I work a tiny field, there's about 500 of us in North America.
Recently there was an opening in the city that Mr. P has fallen in love with. This city happens to be in Canada. We are not Canadians. I applied for the job. But because of *rules* they consider Canadians first, so I was not even considered before one of the 3 or 4 Canadian applicants was offered the job and accepted it.
In 2-3 years, there likely will be another opening. At least, assuming a person retires when expected. After that, its unlikely there will be another opening for at least 10 years, maybe more. I'm in the position where immigrating to Canada would be really easy with a job offer, but it appears that I need to be on the path to citizenship so I can even be considered for the job.
Did I mention it's a job I really would love to do, in a city Mr. P and I can actually agree on? It might be the only city we agree on that has a job I really am excited about. Not to be dramatic, but do I mean that in a global sense.
Did you know you can actually apply for Canadian citizenship before getting a job offer there? Then you can stay in your home country until you get a job offer and move to Canada. I always thought folks had to have a job before the citizenship process started. I was wrong.
It's a point system, and the cut off varies from year to year, but is usually just above where I am right now. (Having a PhD would help right now.) There's also an age related cliff that starts to rapidly drop from age 30-45. After 45, you get no points for age. If I can pass the French proficiency exam, and I apply before my next birthday, I might make the cut off. Next birthday its likely too late.
I studied French in high school. I have not spoken it at all in 24 years. I am okay at learning languages, mostly because I did them by brute force - hours and hours each week, preferably about 3 hours a day. I do not have that kind of time anymore. I also practiced without shame for my awful skills with anyone willing. French is actually the only one where most my learning happened in the classroom over a prolonged period. The others were more immersive, and these days my brain spits out grammatically incorrect phrases in Spanish when I try to access another language.
I just downloaded Duolingo on my phone. PANIC. I did the first test. I remember some stuff. I can definitely translate if they give me words to click on, but spelling? Vocabulary that is not multiple choice? It's definitely not going to get me the score I need. MORE PANIC.
I have about 6 months! I will have to look into some sort of Skype lessons, but first, basic vocabulary must be re-mastered. Allonz-y!
Recently there was an opening in the city that Mr. P has fallen in love with. This city happens to be in Canada. We are not Canadians. I applied for the job. But because of *rules* they consider Canadians first, so I was not even considered before one of the 3 or 4 Canadian applicants was offered the job and accepted it.
In 2-3 years, there likely will be another opening. At least, assuming a person retires when expected. After that, its unlikely there will be another opening for at least 10 years, maybe more. I'm in the position where immigrating to Canada would be really easy with a job offer, but it appears that I need to be on the path to citizenship so I can even be considered for the job.
Did I mention it's a job I really would love to do, in a city Mr. P and I can actually agree on? It might be the only city we agree on that has a job I really am excited about. Not to be dramatic, but do I mean that in a global sense.
Did you know you can actually apply for Canadian citizenship before getting a job offer there? Then you can stay in your home country until you get a job offer and move to Canada. I always thought folks had to have a job before the citizenship process started. I was wrong.
It's a point system, and the cut off varies from year to year, but is usually just above where I am right now. (Having a PhD would help right now.) There's also an age related cliff that starts to rapidly drop from age 30-45. After 45, you get no points for age. If I can pass the French proficiency exam, and I apply before my next birthday, I might make the cut off. Next birthday its likely too late.
I studied French in high school. I have not spoken it at all in 24 years. I am okay at learning languages, mostly because I did them by brute force - hours and hours each week, preferably about 3 hours a day. I do not have that kind of time anymore. I also practiced without shame for my awful skills with anyone willing. French is actually the only one where most my learning happened in the classroom over a prolonged period. The others were more immersive, and these days my brain spits out grammatically incorrect phrases in Spanish when I try to access another language.
I just downloaded Duolingo on my phone. PANIC. I did the first test. I remember some stuff. I can definitely translate if they give me words to click on, but spelling? Vocabulary that is not multiple choice? It's definitely not going to get me the score I need. MORE PANIC.
I have about 6 months! I will have to look into some sort of Skype lessons, but first, basic vocabulary must be re-mastered. Allonz-y!
