This is something that gets my goat. Partly it’s a good thing but as is typical of governments they’ve really screwed up its application. I’m talking about the possible upcoming Australian immigration exam. Part of me is very much for this kind of thing, but they just ened to iron out a lot of kinks.
First off, anyone complaining that the exam is in English should **** off. Australia’s main official language is English. If you can’t speak it, you shouldn’t be there (unless you’re Aboriginal in which case you have more right to the country than anyone else who landed by boat or plane). Before you qualify for citizenship you have to go through a 2-year residency scheme which is plenty of time to learn the language.
As for the questions on the exam… I’ve been a tourist in Oz for some time, been on all the trips, read the books and I can’t answer a load of them. Having said that, with a bank of 200 questions it’s only memory work anyway so what’s the use? I’ve asked some Aussies and they can’t get most of the answers off the top of their head. So what’s the point?
The other part of the exam tests for “mateship” which is a very Aussie thing, and a good thing at that. But again, how the hell do you test for it. Anyone can answer what the like on an exam and still be a psycho axe murderer who’d as soon shove the body of a hitch-hiker in the car boot as help a little old lady across the road.
So, nice idea but overall worthless. At least it should keep out the people who are too lazy to learn English though. Oh, and before anyone has a go at me for being pro-English, I’m not (as such). I’m pro-national language. If I moved to Thailand, I’d expect to have to learn Thai, for example. Right now, it just means if I want to move to Oz I have to learn a load of pointless trivia.