Do you know English?

[boondocks77]

"Rigorous test aimed at newcomers
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
June 01, 2008 09:48

Think you speak English? Try this test.


Find the grammatical (or syntactic) error in this sentence: The standard of living has increased.


Stumped? Soon, that will count against you if you’re hoping to immigrate to Canada. The rigorous language test that will be a requirement is vital to be fair and efficient with the influx of newcomers or vastly discriminatory and fatally flawed, depending on whom you talk to.


The correct answer is: The standard of living has risen.


The grammar questions are among the trickiest in the International English Language Testing System exam, broken into 30 minutes of listening, 15 of speaking and an hour each of reading and writing. Created at Cambridge University in England, IELTS scores from one (“essentially has no ability beyond a few isolated words”) to nine (“appropriate, accurate and fluent”) with a six (“generally effective despite some inaccuracies”) the most common pass.


The cost and the “one-size-fits-all” test alarms immigration lawyers. In a May 20 letter to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Canadian Bar Association calls the time, money and academic rigour of the test a turnoff for people who are fluent in English and French and too hard for bricklayers and plumbers."

That just blew me away.
I don't know about everyone, but I didn't particularly catch that phrase error. The school board in my province has a certain English exam (OSSLT: Ontario Seconard School Literacy Test), but that doesn't even come CLOSE to these exams that immigrants have to take, such as the TOEFL. The OSSLT is a test grade 10 students officially take nowadays as one of the several means to earning a high-school degree. But the questions on it are as ridiculous as :

Which of the following is the most correct?

a. Snowstorm the outside was strong.
b. The outside strong was snowstorm.
c. The snowstorm outside was strong.
d. Strong was the outside snowstorm.

(If you picked anything other than c, you don't deserve a high-school degree.)

[Relambrien]

I think my English teacher talked about something like the sentence in question before. Something about "increased" referring to specific numbers, which makes it inappropriate to describe a situation that doesn't involve concrete values, but rather a concept.

[Nightfirecat]

Uhh... interesting.

And 'The standard of living has increased.' isn't wrong.. It's just a fragment, and not a sentence.

And I got c. =D

EDIT: Crap, that's right.. increased refers to numbers...

Ninja'd anyway.

[xrav3]

I Picked D
it sounds sexy

[KlingPosnot]

Eigo o wakarimasen. gomenasai, demo eigo wa tanoshiku arimasen.

[boondocks77]

Originally Posted by KlingPosnot

Eigo o wakarimasen. gomenasai, demo eigo wa tanoshiku arimasen.

So both your username and your post makes no sense, your post is in chinese, your avatar has MLK. Very interesting . . . and diverse.

[KlingPosnot]

Originally Posted by boondocks77

So both your username and your post makes no sense, your post is in chinese, your avatar has MLK. Very interesting . . . and diverse.

Arigato, ga kore wa nihongo desu. ^.^

[smartdude1212]

ich habe keine hande

[boondocks77]

Originally Posted by KlingPosnot

Arigato ^.^

What I got from that was that you're typing in Japanese.
You welcome and goodnight. ^_^

[Xx{Midday}xX]

Originally Posted by KlingPosnot

Eigo o wakarimasen. gomenasai, demo eigo wa tanoshiku arimasen.

That's wrong. It should be Eigo wa wakarimasen. Gomennasai. Demo, eigo wa tanoshiku arimasen.
英語はわかりません。ごめんなさい。でも、英語は楽しくありません。

Originally Posted by KlingPosnot

Arigato, ga kore wa nihongo desu. ^.^

Also incorrect. The structure itself is wrong in the standard sense (may be ok in a colloquial fashion).

Should be Arigatou. Demo, kore wa nihongo desu.
ありがとう。でも、これは日本語です。

or

Arigatai kedo, kore wa nihongo desu.
ありがたいけど、これは日本語です。

And wow. English, was more complicated than I thought? Wow.

[KlingPosnot]

both structures are acurate in a standard conversational sense...(using ga in the place of demo is actually very common...and using the o instead of wa refers to the actual process rather than the standard english sense of using it as a noun)...but these still would be wrong in a formal sense...you are correct about that. :P (what do you know?...I do speak English!)

Edit: you did get me on spelling and punctuation errors though XD

[xrav3]

He finally speaks english!

[Xx{Midday}xX]

wo (notice the w, o = お, wo = を) isn't used in that case. wo is used when the subject is about to do something to the referred object. It is also used when looking back at something in a futuristic tense, like when a teacher would go "He won't do his homework."

ga and kedo are replaceable, yes, but kedo is more common. ga is a colloquial short form of desuga.

Ask jimerax. I'm very confident in my Japanese knowledge. As seen in my signature.

英語をわからない。is incorrect in any sense of Japanese. 英語はわからない。is correct.

[zoogarama]

D. Sounds like the yoda version of english.

[sumzup]

The sentence in the article is correct if one goes by generally accepted spoken English, which is where the problem lies. There is too much of a divergence between written and spoken, and when tests come along, students invariably perform worse due to having practiced much more spoken English.

[eric25]

Originally Posted by KlingPosnot

Arigato, ga kore wa nihongo desu. ^.^

Thank you this is Japanese. Ha I did remember stuff from last semister.

[sumzup]

Everyone should be able to recognize "Arigato"/"Arigatou" (whichever version it may be) as Japanese...

[sarahxjane]

I didn't catch that either.
I must fail at English then.

The OSSLT was so easy, all you need to do is read the instructions.
The majority of people who fail didn't read them carefully.
And if you don't pass the first time, well, you have a few years to complete it.

( We need to pass it to graduate high school )

I passed it first time around in grade 10.

[rzr]

Originally Posted by boondocks77

That just blew me away.
I don't know about everyone, but I didn't particularly catch that phrase error. The school board in my province has a certain English exam (OSSLT: Ontario Seconard School Literacy Test), but that doesn't even come CLOSE to these exams that immigrants have to take, such as the TOEFL. The OSSLT is a test grade 10 students officially take nowadays as one of the several means to earning a high-school degree. But the questions on it are as ridiculous as :


(If you picked anything other than c, you don't deserve a high-school degree.)

Actually, with the proper grammar, such as commas, the fourth answer could be correct.

[GuidoHunter]

Originally Posted by Nightfirecat

And 'The standard of living has increased.' isn't wrong.. It's just a fragment, and not a sentence.

You must have absolutely no understanding of the English language if you actually believe what you just said.

It is most definitely a sentence, as it has a subject and verb which can stand independently. Also, "increased" is quite incorrect, as per the reasoning given in the article. Values increase; standards don't have values. Rather, standards rise.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com