Second Lang Training St.Jean

[rf]

I will be doing BOTC/IAP at St. Jean starting Jan. and then SLT for 8 months immediately following.
With a wife and child at home, I would like to be able to live together with them after BOTP/IAP. One possibility is requesting SLT in Gatineau, the other is to move the family to St. Jean or Montreal for the 8 months. I won't know until further down the road what I am able to swing, but is there anyone out there that has done SLT with a similar concern about being separated for 11 consecutive months? No moving allowance is standard, at least for Basic, this I know. But what about SLT living arrangements in general?  Do those with families/kids usually live together in St. Jean near the MEGA?

Cheers,
rf

 

[HCA123]

I might have some answers for you. I just finished up IAP/BOTP and am going on to SLT (hopefully for a short stint).

Moving SLT Locations:

We had all our requests for a different SLT location rejected. We were told we could request again when we arrived back at St-Jean (most of us are smart enough to know they won't change it then). The only way to really work it is if you make arrangements before you sign on the dotted line.

Living with your family off base during SLT:

Shouldn't be a problem. Things to be aware of - Quebec's rental/lease laws (they are some of the worst in the country). We have a guy who is going to live off base with his family starting in January during SLT (he got a good lease deal until July 1st). The 2nd Lang School was very receptive to his request.

Hope this helps.

 

[rf]

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully we can find a good lease arrangement if we start looking soon in the new year. I will not need to have a rental home off base (either in St.Jean or in Montreal) until the beginning of May, at the anticipated start of my SLT. SLT is 33 weeks. Possibly my wife will find some insurance work as an underwriter/broker (personal lines insurance) in an anglophone job in Montreal (?). We'll see. If anyone reads this and knows someone in the home/auto insurance business in Montreal, can you let me know? It could help us to get my wife work during my SLT. It may even open a lead on a rental home off base that would be flexible on an 8 month term. Thanks again.

Cheers,
rf

 

[Pieman]

Are SLT courses offered anywhere else aside from St.Jean and Gatineau?

 

[Ralph]

rf - I agree with HCA123 - I've haven't heard of anyone doing SLT anywhere but St-Jean. Never hurts to ask, I suppose.
If you do want to bring the family, you have two options: finding a place in St-Jean proper, or requesting a PMQ...unfortunately, there aren't any at the Mega. (There are a few at the CMR campus, but they're for people training there). The PMQs are up in St-Hubert, directly north of the airport - it's still a CF base, to a certain extent. Good points about St-Hubert - close enough to Montreal that most locals are bilingual (important if your wife doesn't speak much French), the rent's good ($500-something for a 3-bedroom duplex), and you get a free room at the Mega for the nights you need to stay over. Bad points - a 40-min commute either way (although you should be able to find carpoolers). Living in St-Jean - far closer, but from friends' experiences, you're looking renting an apartment - with the same weird rent laws (all rentals in Quebec, except PMQs, come open 1 Jul - which means you'd have to find a sublet). And landlords there can be jerk-filled, especially if you're a soldier (and dare I say it, an Anglo soldier). Not that we didn't bring it on ourselves, to a certain extent.
Anyway, my wife was on maternity leave and didn't have to worry about leaving a job. If you can swing it financially (you can claim the move on your taxes, which helps) it turns eight months away from your family going insane in the Mega into eight months of 8-4, getting paid to go to school with free meals and no sergeants yelling at you. You won't be getting a ride like that again in your career.
Any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[rf]

Pieman,
I don't know of any other SLT locations. Only reason I was hoping for Gatineau is that I live in Ottawa (family) and have seen military personnel at the Asicou complex. But I have also heard that those members doing SLT at Asticou are rare exceptions. No harm in requesting, but the planA will be shaping up to be St.Jean from the sounds of it.

Ralph & HCA123,
Thanks for the replies - much appreciated. Got the feeling that PMQ may be more our song when the time comes to decide. Ralph, may PM you in the future to get more info and guidance. Thanks again.

 

[hoote]

2 questions...

1. What is the daily/weekly structure of SLT.  8-4 each day as mentioned above?  So that's 8 hrs of french a day?  a lot of homework?  Weekends off to do PT?  Go to movies? 

2. What is the process if someone has advanced but not fluent French abilities?  Is SLT as long?  I served a mission for the Mormon church in Quebec for two years so I was basically fluent when I left in 97 but have not had much french since then.

 

[Ralph]

The timetable changed a few times when I was there, but it's pretty much 8-4 with ample time for lunch, a couple breaks, and a grande pause for tea and toast on Fridays. Homework depends on your teacher - some give out a lot, others trust you to hit the livres yerself...
For the army candidates, there was mandatory PT three mornings a week and a ruck march on Wed. Other than homework, your weekends (and nights) will be free. It's a civilian-run school, with a Sgt to handle paperwork and a Sgt-Maj to handle the naughty people. I think there was a captain there...
Those who felt confident about their language abilities did the language tests the final week of Basic. You have to be truly and absolutely bilingual to skip SLT. Otherwise, you sit down with a teacher the first week of SLT and answer questions in French until you have no idea what they're saying, which didn't take long for yours truly. That lets them know what you know/remember. Then you do a test in Basic Kurdish, which lets them know your overall aptitude for language skills. Then you're slotted in to a class. A friend of mine who had taken French Immersion her whole life started on Module 15, and the majority of us started at the beginning. The problem with finishing early is that, unless you're lucky, write the tests early (which is decided by your teachers) AND immediately get loaded on a CAP course, you'll end up in the Gagetown PAT Pl, doing very little. And Fredericton, while nice, cannot be compared to Montreal...