Took the TOEFL on Sunday. I am still seething by the humiliation of it all.
I probably write better than 80% of the Americans, I am well-understood when I speak around the world, I can understand most forms of standard speech (drawls are a different story) and I got a great score on GRE Writing.
My 4 year basic degree from my national university is in English Langauge. And I've gone through 16 years of formal education in English and I've gone through 1 year of teacher training, also in English. Damn, I'm even a qualified EL teacher. For the record, I'm teaching writing in a unversity!
Yet, I am required to eat humble pie and take the TOEFL. And all TOEFL tests is how much I can figure out their tricks in reading comprehension, how much I can recall from fake conversations and scripted lectures, how much I can speak about topics that are far removed from my life and how well I can write about some kiddy topic which I have not dealt since years ago!
Oh, never mind. It's all for a larger goal.
Someone should stop these Americans from bleeding us dry, imposing blanket requirements that are utterly irrelevant to many of us. When would the Yankees stop thinking that only white people in some lands can use English competently whereas a place like Singapore, where many of their academics come to teach and where their CON-(IN)-sult-ants come to grab money, is completely EL incompetent?
Many Singaporeans speak and write better than the Commonwealth peoples of Australia and New Zealand. I only wonder what it might be about "Maaaaate, how are you to-die?" that makes the Yankees love the Aussies to death. And for the record, I know how to use my apostrophes!
PS. The most probably reason for enforcing TOEFL on places like Singapore is for the money. So any attempt to fight this requirement will be a lost cause.
10 comments:
"The most probably reason for enforcing TOEFL on places like Singapore is for the money..."
I don't think so, Tef. It is one of several techniques that virtually every country uses to restrict and limit the number of legal immigrants. Others include the imposition of quota from "less desired" nationalities, etc; the imposition of quota on occupations...
Interpret that how you want.
TOEFL is better than Tofu, never have developed a taste for it.
Because, we, are, friends, I, promise, not, to, report, a, recent, comment, that, you, left, on, my, blog, which, demonstrated, quite, a, challenge, with, apostrophes, to, the, TOEFL, administrators, whose, offices, are, not, far, from, mine.
Care to comma -ent on that?
B'HD',
I'm ve'ry s'ur'e if you tr'i'ed, yo'u'll b'e a' re'sou'ndi'ng s'ucc'ess' in thwa'r'ti'ng my appl'i'c'ati'on.
J'us't ma'ke s'ur'e y'ou d'ont forg'et y'ou'r com'a in'duci'ng com'ma's.
TF,
There're wonderful ways of making tofu taste more wonderful than toe-fur. I mean, TOEFL.
You just haven't found the right cook!
By the way, I don't eat tofu cos it gives me very bad flatulence. I'm scared I'll fly to the moon, you know...
Probligo,
You New Zealanders have more sheep than I have fellow Singaporeans. Maybe more of your sheep arrive on the Yankee dining tables than live Singaporean bodies on the Yankee streets.
Still, adding the entire Singapore's population to the US wouldn't have changed the population numbers much.
And don't forget, for every Singaporean wanting to move to the US for good, there is probably a US family waiting to sink their roots here. So...
ET, I feel your pain.
When I was applying to Uni Helsinki (majoring in English) I was told by admissions that my language abilities were not adequate and therefore I was not invited to the entrance exam despite the fact that I've been through at least 12 years of formal education entirely in English. When asked what would be adequate, the admissions office suggested that I sit for TOEFL. Preposterous. I was just very mad that even though I speak and write better English than most of the Finnish applicants who apply for the same degree, I was being rejected just because I was educated in what was considered "non-native English speaking" conditions. Even Finnish applicants aren't educated (for the most part) by "native speakers" nor are their matriculation examinations graded by "native english speakers".
It's just bulls*** (Pardon my french). Native or no, if someone has a good command of English and can prove it in an entrance exam I don't see why they should be deprived of the opportunity just because they weren't born/educated in America, the UK, Australia or New Zealand.
atcherly Tef me olmate there are less sheep in enzed these days than there used ter be as they is more cows these days since the dairy boys began coining it big
an doan go spewin to me bout enzed mutton endin up on yankee plates cos since the shrub took over there ten years back thos berlady yanks have killed off the meat trade rooly good to protect their poor sheep cockies over there who wouldn no a perendale from a clydesdale
:D
Si, Plobleegor, them yanks dun luv u enzeds mooch. But as dey dam luv them orzies. Dey din go on a ship killin' spree to protec' there (that's how many yanks would've spelt it! And this is what I really hate about many dumb Yanks - they can't tell their from there and your from you're) ship.
Yoo'r udderly rite 'bout them cows at enzed today. Arh wars theenking 'bout Anlene milk powder and 'ow they wer braggin' 'bout enzed having more than for milln cows... but dip in maarh mind, arh was thinkin-bout marh mutton rendang (dry curry) and how naaace it wud go with roti jala... (Clik on the Tef link to si what it is.]
[The main problems with Singaporean speech is the absence of long vowels and a total disregard for intonational stress patterns. When we use long vowels, we are trying to stress a point.]
Marlina's mum makes great roti jala ya noe... Yum!
The strange thing about all of this - and Tef is right about TOEFL - is that (in Auckland for example) we have immigrant taxi drivers who can barely speak English, immigrant taxi drivers with medical qualifications...
If ever you want to test the current state of the State you talk to the taxi drivers.
Wish we could send you some of our mutton for your rendang Tef. I might even come up there and help eat it... :)
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