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.
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."
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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