Say no to orals!

Dear Qualifications and Curriculum Authority,

I entirely agree with the proposals that oral tests should be banned from foreign language examinations. Our poor school children are under far too much stress as it is . These "speaking assesments" in a language they are learning is just too unfair for these hard working kids.

The amount of pressure involved in oral examinations is unbearable and these students are often scarred for life with such terrible memories, often breaking into a tremendous sweat when thinking of how to say "hello", "how are you?" and "where is the train station" in French or German.

I cannot imagine such psychological trauma these young humans must endure to pass these examinations - it was so much easier in my day. I would never trade in my 12 hours a day in the coal mine as a 14 year old boy for these horrendous examinations. Spending every weekend shining shoes in the town centre (and being spat on) sounds a much more pleasant experience for a youngster then these ridiculous stressful examinations.

I truly fear for our future if our society continues to put so much stress on our talented youth. Please abolish these exams as soon as possible.

Prof Scrub.

These images of myself as a youngster just highlight how much easier it was for me then the stressed children of today. Oh what a wonderful childhood I had.

This entry was posted by Prof Scrub, on Sunday, February 17, 2008. You can leave your response.