In order to apply for permanent residence in Canada, you have to prove that you can communicate in English or French.
To prove that you can communicate in English, you have to pass the International English Language Testing System (or IELTS) test. IELTS is pronounced ‘I’ followed by ‘elts’. Lydia and I sat ours last Saturday, and it was fine but I’d hate to have taken it if English wasn’t my first language and it was less than perfect. I’d often thought about doing the French version and seeing how many immigration points my limited French would get me, but if it’s anything like the English version I can forget it.
Immigration Canada requires you to sit the general version (there is also an academic version), and it comes in 4 modules:
1. The listening test – You listen to a number of recordings and answer a number of questions on each one (fill in the blanks, multiple choice etc…).
2. The reading test – There are a number of written articles for you to answer questions on (multiple choice, match the heading with the paragraph, say a statement about the article is true, false, or isn’t relevant).
3. The writing test – For us, this came in the form of writing a letter of complaint (minimum of 150 words), and a small essay about a given subject (minimum 250 words).
4. The speaking test – You sit in a room for 10 to 15 minutes and answer questions on a given subject.
1. The listening test – You listen to a number of recordings and answer a number of questions on each one (fill in the blanks, multiple choice etc…).
2. The reading test – There are a number of written articles for you to answer questions on (multiple choice, match the heading with the paragraph, say a statement about the article is true, false, or isn’t relevant).
3. The writing test – For us, this came in the form of writing a letter of complaint (minimum of 150 words), and a small essay about a given subject (minimum 250 words).
4. The speaking test – You sit in a room for 10 to 15 minutes and answer questions on a given subject.
One thing that worried me was that the person running the tests kept saying spelling is important. I can’t spell for toffee. The F7 (spell check) key is my God! I’m not sure if you have to spell perfectly or it doesn’t mater if you’re almost there and understood (e.g. centre or center), I guess I’ll soon find out.
Spelling aside, the listening and reading tests were fine, but I found myself pushed for time on the writing test, not to mention finding it difficult to pad my complaint letter out to 150 words (I am very much to the point whenever I complain about anything :) ), and the speaking test was just a bit strange. It wasn’t really a conversation and it was very ‘scripted’ on the examiners side. To be fair she did warn that it would seem somewhat unnatural.
It turns out only the principal applicant needs to take the test (that’s Lydia in our case), but we’d booked the test before we realised that, and it was too late to cancel without losing the fee (£115). I’m not really bothered as it was nice to get out by ourselves to take the test (no offence kids), and if it turns out Nursing isn’t on the list of wanted occupations next year, but my occupation is, at least I will have a valid language certificate ready to go.
I have no idea if we actually passed of course, we will find out in roughly a week.
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