Yes, I finally know what the BTS English exam is like. I was there! And will continue to be there. I'll be getting to the big old BTS exam in a moment, but the things leading up to that discovery are kind of important.
Yesterday, we had dinner with some guys we met at Cuba the other night. One of them used to be a student at my school... he had Claude as his teacher. They're both super nice and I'm kind of sad that we met them so late in the game.
Today... wow. Today was busy. What I thought might be one (maybe two if at all) hours of class maximum turned into six hours at the lycee. Okay, so the BTS oral English exams started today. Claude had asked me last week "Tu vas rester avec nous?" (Are you staying with us?) when the students were signing up for their times. I replied in the affirmative, but I wasn't quite sure if he meant that he wanted me there or what. I never had a chance to clarify after that, so I pulled myself out of bed for when I thought the first exams were. Nope. I had missed them, and those students probably don't realize how lucky they got off. No biggie though. But Claude said I could come to the rest if I'd like, so he had me go check the schedule with him. Oh, but guess what! Look who's here at the same time! The younger BTSers. Next thing I know, I'm being asked to take a seat and I then stay for the rest of class. After class, it was another big guess what! The 1re S are coming, so you should stay as well! I didn't mind, because I am going to miss all of these students.
Well, it's a good thing this order of events occurred. While I was looking at the schedule before the 1re S arrived, I made the comment that my contract was over Wednesday which inevitably led to the conversation of what I will be doing afterwards. Claude was then like "Tu veux pas rester en France?" (You don't want to stay in France?) to which I responded "Mais si! J'essaie de renouveler mon contrat!" (Yes! I'm trying to renew my contract.) He asked me if I wanted to stay at this school. When I replied positively, Claude stepped into action. Before I knew it, we were in the secretary's office calling the school district. He gave them my name, and they told him to also write a letter on my behalf. I'll have to ask him later this week if he in fact sent a letter, but this is a very good thing! It also made us like 15 minutes late for the next class, but he didn't seem to mind. When he told the students why we were late, they all seemed thrilled I wanted to stay.
After a short break, there was the BTS class where only two people from the group actually showed. Gotta love them. We had some good conversations. Claude also told them that I wanted to return, and they were all happy until they realized they would no longer be there themselves. Next up, 1re GM. How could I not stay for them? Someone different sat next to me (oh the scandal!). The class went well, and it was short, because they had to go to a play that started halfway through the class time. The play... not as bizarre as the last one, but it was still weird. This time, it was on violence towards women (at home, in the workplace, on the streets). Obviously, it was geared to the 95% guy population of the school. I stayed for most of it (got to see one of my students put up on stage where he had to act out the part of the woman. Hilarious!), but I finally snuck out because I had BTS exams to get to.
I was kind of intrigued to see what goes on in the oral exam. I've been hearing so much talk surrounding it all year, and here was my chance to witness it. There were two this afternoon. First up was N. It's been a long time since we've hung out, but we talked a little in the hall until Claude pulled us in. Oh man, I thought I would just be watching and listening. Wrong. While Claude read through the information about how it would be graded, he said that the part about if the student could be understood in general was up to me. Okay, still not too bad. Plus, N. is very strong in English. He got to choose an image out of the book Claude gave to him. He then talked about that for awhile. I was allowed to ask questions, but I pretty much remained silent unless Claude asked me to comment on a word or something.
But then, now here's the real kicker, he asked N. to have a conversation with me and to start by presenting himself to me. Wow. Was not expecting that. I think it went really well though. After he did the basic info, I started questioning him. I asked him the basics (brothers/sisters, music, hobbies), recent films he saw (totally asked about what similarities he saw between Chauny and the film Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis), what he does on the weekends, his plans for the summer, traveling, and the like. He was able to understand everything and answer everything. Then, Claude asked me to ask where he gets his spending money from. Get this, he gets a grant (which is very common for older students) of 400 euros a month just to study! Crazy!!! I was like "I had to pay for my education, not get paid."
N. stayed after he was done to watch the next exam. Next up was another student who is a really nice guy, but not very strong in English. He did... okay... I guess. He couldn't decide on an image so Claude chose one for him. He had trouble coming up with things to say, so Claude had me ask questions about the photo. Did not go well. He just could not understand me. Finally, Claude asked N. if he understood what I was asking, and he did, so it wasn't like I was forming horrible questions. After the photo torture, I had to ask him about his personal life. We made a little bit of progress there. We talked about his job a lot (ahh... McDo), what he does in his free time, and his girlfriend. But I still got a lot of "Je comprends pas la question" (I don't understand the question).
After it was all over. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. No one was expecting this whole "have a conversation with the American" thing. I mean, N. did well, but not only is he a stronger student, but he knows me. He knows my accent. And on top of that, I know him. It was easy for me to come up with questions that I knew he could answer. Not that they were all easy... I did use some more difficult words sometimes, and I would ask questions about his answers, but still... With the other student, I was going in blind. I know very little about him (I did know he works at McDo though), and I felt kind of bad. And it's not like Claude doesn't know I've seen N. outside of class, because it has become obvious in past classes. That and an answer or two to his questions alluded to that fact.
Tomorrow, I have two more of those exams on top of my normal classes. This time, I won't be caught off guard with the question and answer thing. And then the listening comprehension exam (where they listen to a recording in English and then answer questions that are in French in French). The students who have exams when I won't be here are lucky. Though they probably just have to hold a conversation with Claude. But I will probably continue to go to the exams next week once I get back from Aix.
Oh right. I don't think I ever mentioned it here yet, but I am going back to Aix this weekend. I leave Friday afternoon and will be staying to late Tuesday afternoon. Can't wait! Though it looks like I will be missing some fun things in Chauny this weekend.
And wow. This entry turned out to be a long one! I just thought the BTS part would be informative to any assistants who read this entry. The exam has pretty much been a big mystery the entire year.
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