FSW WORLDWIDE

[ivicts]

"blood and tears"? Lol, you should see what we do at work . IELTS and TEF are relatively easy exams and there are no "blood and tears". TEF is annoying a bit, but we all have opportunity costs. Some of us are too impatient to be hung up in the immigration limbo and would finish it with predictability to focus on the real stuff we do. Remember it is not "me vs you", it is "can I get it?".

Depending upon how many things you've seen or what your exposure has been to the international immigration, you can go through a range of emotions. Look at these people (video starts from a timestamp):

I personally dislike this guy (imo he's a loser and non-inclusive), but I was very happy when he got his PPR in this timestamp. They spent 10 years in AU just trying to get a PR and were losing hope, but Canada offered him it instead. Dude still isn't working full time and driving Uber (and thinks of flukey businesses like dropshipping while buying courses from scam gurus), so that sucks, but otoh, he's at peace with what he wanted.

Similarly, I saw that PhD lady who was at 489 from a year or so and when the draws touched 489 she lost age points and was 484. She got an ITA today. She had to leave her research work and do janitorial work to survive. She's a published author and technically she did make a mistake by betting with IRCC. I went on twitter today to congratulate her today

Right or wrong, people went all in to this immigration program. If they get an ITA, we all should be very happy for them. Not so much if they are racist or discriminatory though, haha.

btw, if you believe that IELTS & TEF are relatively easy exams, then it is also relatively easy to get a Canadian PR right? Especially, if the score falls below 481, then we all just need to be:
1. Below 30 years old
2. Master's degree
3. 3 years of foreign work experience
4. CLB 9 IELTS

 

[pw0032239]

I guess if your score is around 440, then French is the only choice so it makes sense that you guys would have no regrets.. My question would be harder for someone who sits at 460 - 470, then it's more dilemmatic whether to learn French or to just wait.

But somehow I see the patterns here, people who keep saying that French is possible in 10 months seem to genuinely enjoy learning the language or french. I believe this only applies to certain people in the first place.



Can you give an example besides living in quebec and becoming a Canadian PM?

check crs score of ontario french speaking draw, you will get your answer

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

btw, if you believe that IELTS & TEF are relatively easy exams, then it is also relatively easy to get a Canadian PR right? Especially, if the score falls below 481, then we all just need to be:
1. Below 30 years old
2. Master's degree
3. 3 years of foreign work experience
4. CLB 9 IELTS

If IRCC keeps draws regular and the only condition is IELTS + TEF - Canadian PR will continue to be easy. If they pause, show inconsistency, or change rules - it can be an endless chase imo. Last 3 years have been a good example. With number of students and work permit holders crossing all limits, you can be sure that FSWs will take a big hit sooner or later. Right now 481 is good, but for how long? If the draw size goes low (which it should) and PNP applications go high (which are, increase PNP quotas), things won't be predictable anymore.

 

[ivicts]

check crs score of ontario french speaking draw, you will get your answer

the question is the benefit of French beyond getting an ITA..

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

the question is the benefit of French beyond getting an ITA..

Certain jobs require bilingual proficiency. Govt jobs in Canada ask for bilingual proficiency too iirc.

 

[ivicts]

If IRCC keeps draws regular and the only condition is IELTS + TEF - Canadian PR will continue to be easy. If they pause, show inconsistency, or change rules - it can be an endless chase imo. Last 3 years have been a good example. With number of students and work permit holders crossing all limits, you can be sure that FSWs will take a big hit sooner or later. Right now 481 is good, but for how long? If the draw size goes low (which it should) and PNP applications go high (which are, increase PNP quotas), things won't be predictable anymore.

The last 3 years were not a normal time due to COVID. The quota for economic immigrants through EE will increase from 83K to 109K next year so I assume the draw size will increase and the CRS will decrease instead. Maybe we will see CRS go back to 450s again? The thing that can keep the CRS high is the targeted draw which we have not heard anything about yet which is quite strange since we are at the end of March.

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

The last 3 years were not a normal time due to COVID. The quota for economic immigrants through EE will increase from 83K to 109K next year so I assume the draw size will increase and the CRS will decrease instead. Maybe we will see CRS go back to 450s again? The thing that can keep the CRS high is the targeted draw which we have not heard anything about yet which is quite strange since we are at the end of March.

That's the thing, one ITA doesn't mean one immigrant, it could be one, two or more. RCICs are saying IRCC only need to issue ~70k ITAs this year (I'm not sure if the math checks out). Even if you set that aside, the pool will replenish very fast. Previously, EE was not that popular, now everyone knows about EE and if scoring a good CLB in IELTS is not a big deal - that's why I wonder if 450s or sub 460s will ever happen. Also, in 2019 as the awareness of EE increased, we saw scores in the range of 460s (not sure if there was a pause at the start of 2019 too).

There are 800k students that entered Canada last year, they'd easily get 460+ score too. IRCC has the pool of future 460s+ ready with those numbers. Bill C-19 is going to slash a percentage of FSW draws this year and that doesn't seem to help people below 460 either.

Finally, 7k size draws could be outliers too, compensating for past pauses and could go away.

 

[pw0032239]

Dont forget all the people from Ukraine entering Canada, after 1 year quite significant of them will qualify for CEC. My nephew is coming here for doing his Bachelors and he is already taking french classes.

 

[Rach WLT]

hi the consent letter/authorization letter for joint account with my spouse to use as proof of funds. the letter should address to IRCC or to the bank?

 

[wonderbly]

hi the consent letter/authorization letter for joint account with my spouse to use as proof of funds. the letter should address to IRCC or to the bank?

IRCC.

 

[Derr28]

Nope, no regrets.

French added 62 points to my score (if I remember correctly). I would be on around 440 without it and I don't expect CRS to drop this low anytime soon (if ever). It would take another 3 draws of 7,000 each to get it down to around 472.

I started learning French at the beginning of Covid lockdowns so I wouldn't be able to apply via FSW until mid 2022 anyway, so I didn't 'lose' any time or anything like that.

I got ITA at a perfect time (Oct 2022), when processing times are ridiculously fast. I never expected to get from ITA to COPR in 2.5 months and from ITA to landing in just over 6 months (landing at the end of April). This allowed me to time my move perfectly when I hoping for it to happen.

Learning another language, especially widely spoken one, is never a bad thing

Last but not least - I like doing hard things. Learning French to B2+/C1 level in 10 months was something I would consider absolutely impossible if it wasn't the only way to increase my CRS score. Hell, the first French teacher I approached even refused to take me on because he said it's impossible. Well, I like proving that very few things are impossible and I consider learning French one of my biggest achievements.

So once again - nope, zero regrets

Congrats on your ITA, hope everything will work well for you in Canada! This just gave me even more motivation to pick up French now.

If you don't mind, could you share some tips on how you managed to get B2 in French in such a short period, or how you managed to break into the initial B1 level? Did you rely on a tutor throughout the 10 month period?

I've been learning French on my own for about 6 months now (about 2.5 hours a day) and would say i'm between A2-B1. But the thing is.. I've been stuck at this level for 2 months now. It just doesn't feel like i'm making any progress at all.

So far I'm just reading Harry Potter books, listening to InnerFrench podcast, doing Anki and writing a few short journals by myself. It's still hard to get used to all the "intermediate level verbs" that are so different from "A1-A2" verbs like "Tenir à + XX" = "vouloir XX". But i think i probably need them to get B2. Maybe it's time to engage a tutor for myself but i'm kinda hoping to save as much money as possible now for Canada.

I'm at 474 so I have 7 more points to go

 

[AndyUK]

Congrats on your ITA, hope everything will work well for you in Canada! This just gave me even more motivation to pick up French now.

If you don't mind, could you share some tips on how you managed to get B2 in French in such a short period, or how you managed to break into the initial B1 level? Did you rely on a tutor throughout the 10 month period?

I've been learning French on my own for about 6 months now (about 2.5 hours a day) and would say i'm between A2-B1. But the thing is.. I've been stuck at this level for 2 months now. It just doesn't feel like i'm making any progress at all.

So far I'm just reading Harry Potter books, listening to InnerFrench podcast, doing Anki and writing a few short journals by myself. It's still hard to get used to all the "intermediate level verbs" that are so different from "A1-A2" verbs like "Tenir à + qqc" = "vouloir". But i think i probably need them to get B2. Maybe it's time to engage a tutor for myself but i'm kinda hoping to save as much money as possible now for Canada.

I'm at 474 so I have 7 more points to go

Thanks!

Sure, always happy to help.

Yes, I had a tutor for the whole 10 months - 5x 1h every week plus exercises etc. so I was doing around 2.5h a day in total (literally every single day- if I missed a day, I would make up those hours on some other day).
I really admire people who can teach themselves to that level but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it plus have someone pushing me every day was really helpful.

Resources I used:
Cosmopolite books (with my tutor)
Grammaire progressive
Bescherelle (la conjugaison)
Coffee Break French podcast
InnerFrench podcast
French news, websites, movies, etc.
Conjuu app

Here's the important thing - I never reached 'true' B2+/C1 level (even though I passed TCF at B2+, B2+, C1, C2).
I was a solid B1/weak B2 level but the last 2 months I spent as much time as possible going through exam papers. Taking test/exams in any subject is a skill in its own right.
Writing and speaking parts often have similar or sometimes even the same questions - once you do enough of them, you can start creating templates, which will help you save time during the test.
As my teacher said - you're not supposed to use the language in a 'normal' way (unless you're VERY fluent, then it just comes naturally). It's a test and you're supposed to 'pimp it up' a bit Have some more advanced words and grammar structures prepared, which you can use in almost any situation. Don't forget to use subjonctif a few times - it's required at B2+ level.

If you're already at a B1 level, do some mockup TEF or TCF tests and see how you score. Get a teacher (ideally someone who has previous experience in grading TEF/TCF) and ask them to grade you written and spoken answers.

Good luck!

 

[AndyUK]

Can you give an example besides living in quebec and becoming a Canadian PM?

Some jobs either require or prefer bilingual proficiency.

 

[Derr28]

Thanks!

Sure, always happy to help.

Yes, I had a tutor for the whole 10 months - 5x 1h every week plus exercises etc. so I was doing around 2.5h a day in total (literally every single day- if I missed a day, I would make up those hours on some other day).
I really admire people who can teach themselves to that level but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it plus have someone pushing me every day was really helpful.

Resources I used:
Cosmopolite books (with my tutor)
Grammaire progressive
Bescherelle (la conjugaison)
Coffee Break French podcast
InnerFrench podcast
French news, websites, movies, etc.
Conjuu app

Here's the important thing - I never reached 'true' B2+/C1 level (even though I passed TCF at B2+, B2+, C1, C2).
I was a solid B1/weak B2 level but the last 2 months I spent as much time as possible going through exam papers. Taking test/exams in any subject is a skill in its own right.
Writing and speaking parts often have similar or sometimes even the same questions - once you do enough of them, you can start creating templates, which will help you save time during the test.
As my teacher said - you're not supposed to use the language in a 'normal' way (unless you're VERY fluent, then it just comes naturally). It's a test and you're supposed to 'pimp it up' a bit Have some more advanced words and grammar structures prepared, which you can use in almost any situation. Don't forget to use subjonctif a few times - it's required at B2+ level.

If you're already at a B1 level, do some mockup TEF or TCF tests and see how you score. Get a teacher (ideally someone who has previous experience in grading TEF/TCF) and ask them to grade you written and spoken answers.

Good luck!

Wow that is a really really impressive score! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and experience! I do agree with you, I guess I was too hard on myself by trying to aim for native level fluency. Definitely feel better about myself now. Time to look for a tutor who can spare an hour per day for me Thanks again. I'll come back once I get my B2 scores this year

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

Wow that is a really really impressive score! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and experience! I do agree with you, I guess I was too hard on myself by trying to aim for native level fluency. Definitely feel better about myself now. Time to look for a tutor who can spare an hour per day for me Thanks again. I'll come back once I get my B2 scores this year

Additionally, there are two type of French learners who make it in short time and win:
1. Learn french the @AndyUK/my way. Give time, enjoy it, etc.
2. And the other ones, who focus on understanding the basics and then get hyper-focused on the exam itself. You'd be surprised on how repetitive some questions really are. If you are able to lay the land, get through those repetitive questions and incrementally improve upon your weaknesses - that could be another strategy too.

Seen quite a few people who did #2 and are in the post-ITA club now too