Canadians’ hearts may be brimming with pride as Canada Day approaches, but a new poll suggests their minds aren’t full of the knowledge needed to pass a citizenship test.
This is how tests in general work, though. You study hard to pass it and then once you get your mark you forget most of the stuff you studied because it’s not actually relevant in real life.
Exams are for testing ability to learn that knowledge. If/when you need that knowledge you have a starting point for how and where to obtain the necessary information again.
Bah. If you don’t know it cold, then forget about it.
Reposting this from user Six@kbin.social
If you are curious about how you would do on a citizenship test, the Richmond Public Library has practice tests that you can try your luck on.
You can find the practice test here: https://www.yourlibrary.ca/citizenship/
I passed, but this is the question I got wrong:
- What is the name of the Mayor of Richmond, British Columbia?
I feel like this is kind of a wildly specific question for a test like this, haha.
I took a different one and got 60%. I’d say that’s not horrible given that I never had a Canadian education and grew up almost entirely in the US. One about the voters’ list is weird. Can someone who will not be 18 on election day get on the voters’ list? I would assume only eligible voters could be on the voters’ list (which could include people who recently lost eligibility, I guess).
the Richmond Public Library has practice tests
My ego is already crushed for the day. You want to see me cry when I discover HOW unCanadian I am?!?
Name a Canadian, go!
This asshole:
Red Green
Justin Bieber
That one guy that is prime minister of Canada!Yeah, prime minister Tim Horton!
Oscar the Grouch and Wolverine are both Canadian.
Ryan… uh any last name. All the Ryans!
Reynolds, Gosling, George… and all the others, too many to count.
The guy I’m responding to: probably a Ryan. The next Canadian who replies to this? Probably a Ryan. Me? I’m not Canadian, so no. It’s illegal to name your child Ryan if you’re not Canadian is what I heard.
Lol tbh when i went to elementary school there were so many people named Ryan
Just scored 112 out of 152 in the practice test, with fatigue being the main factor of many of the wrong answers. The actual test is only 20 questions, but my score still doesn’t feel good.
In fairness, some questions are about such obscure events or specific politicians that I can see why many wouldn’t be able to answer them correctly unless they are involved in politics or Canadian war history all the time. And many were specifically about our First Nations people, which I don’t think many Canadians would even learn about outside the school system.
I got 18 out of 20. I’m not going to be able to do all 152 :-)
Some of the questions mentioned in the article seem a little vague, are they normally multiple choice or something? For instance:
Who established the first European settlements in Canada?
I was torn between Champlain and Cartier (google says it was Champlain) but the answer they were looking for is just France.
but the answer they were looking for is just France.
Leif Erikson did not establish Vinland in 1000 AD to suffer this kind of disrespect.
Seriously - the far northern tip of Newfoundland island has archeological remains of a viking settlment that carbon-dates to somewhere around 990–1050 CE.
It lasted for anywhere between twenty and sixty years, and while it appears that Vinland was still heavily dependent on supplies from Greenland and Iceland, it was definitely a settlement and the Norse are well-established as definitely European. It had permanent dwellings, and permanent communal work buildings, including a smithy, a carpentry shop, and boat-repair facilities.
There is arguable case, but intangible intent, that it may not have been a long-term attempt at colonizing North America, but the question on the test wasn’t asking about colonizing Canada - just who gets to claim the “first European settlement.”
The actual test consists of 20 multiple choice questions
The vikings
No surprise there. We know more about American History than our own.
As someone who has taken the test, it was much easier to do than the study material and sample tests led me to believe. I read through the citizenship guide so many times memorizing crazy facts that my Canadian friends couldn’t answer. The actual test was so basic that even logical guess work and basic knowledge would probably get you a pass.
Oh, and I couldn’t tell you a thing from my studies now. All went out of my head the moment after finishing.
My (American) wife took it last year and passed. She studied the hell out of it for months though. After all that she said it was an easy test.
