Sooraya, Julio and Yvette - ESL testing - Wednesday afternoon

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The three non-native English speakers get the joy that is ESL testing.



The test was multiple choice, plus essay. Required by New York Board of Education to gauge how it's non-native English-speakers were doing. Each student was given a test and answer booklet, very official looking and vaguely scary for those who were not used to such things. Julio frowned and finished filling the appropriate bubbles for his last name, R-I-C-H-T-E-R. Three hours, and he would be done with this utter waste of his time. He did feel bad for the other two girls in the room. Neither had the benefit of a parent who forced them to learn English.

Over from the table where Yvette sat came a frustrated little noise as she tried to grip the pencil in her talons. Even with the gloves protecting it from being cut in half, it was still awkward. With a sigh, she dropped the pencil and sat back in the chair. "I am not being able to do this," she complained.

Glancing up, Sooraya looked over at Yvette with a sympathetic expression, her own pencil still grasped tightly in one hand. "It would be not as hard if it was on the computer," she murmured, shaking her head. "Why has it to be on paper?"

"Because they are evil people. They want to kill trees." Julio muttered. He was going through the "race" box, and half-temped to fill in 'Other: specify' as 'mutant.'

Yvette had given up on the written part and had turned to the first question, lips moving silently as she read to herself. She'd get one of the others to be her hands later, at the end of the test. But in the meantime... Pulling off one glove, she carefully used her fingertip to poke a hole in the box she thought was the right one. "I am not understanding why Mr. Julio is here," she said, looking over at him. "You are speaking English good."

"It is Julio. Not Mr. Julio, or Mr. Richter," the boy corrected absently. "I only moved from Mexico in the summer, I think they do not believe I can speak English as well as I can."

If her skin had allowed her to blush, Yvette would be beet red. Not that she wasn't red, but any way... "Julio. I am sorry, I am forgetting." It was a bad habit she had among the people she didn't know so well. She continued onto the next question, peering at it in confusion.

Sooraya had frowned in confusion at Julio's remark about killing trees - she really didn't see what that had to do with this silly test - but she was now having trouble of her own with the reading. Of all three students, she was the newest to English, and her reading, while vastly improved from what it had once been, was still very slow and halting. She was still on the first page as she heard first Julio then Yvette flip to the next page, and her heart began to race. ~I will never be done in time...~

The basic reading was almost insulting, but Julio blithely filled in the answers anyway. He snuck a peek at the two other girls, Yvette's face was still the impassive mask that hid her true feelings, but Sooraya looked pale and slightly panicky. Test anxiety, Julio thought to himself. A part of him wanted to say that it wasn't his problem, but the other, more gallant part of him knew he had to do something.

He began to fumble with his pencil, dropping it, picking it up only to drop it again, making little noises of dismay every time he dropped it. The motions getting more and more exaggerated and slapstick. He hoped the silliness would break at least a little bit of the tension.

A small giggle broke the silence, Yvette peeking over at him. She glanced at Sooraya, hoping she wasn't breaking the other girl's concentration, but glad for the change in the atmosphere.

It took some time for Sooraya to realize anything else was going on; she was staring intensely at the printed words before her like they were ants crawling about on the page. Finally, though, she jumped as Julio moved his chair in order to get his pencil off the floor, and looked over at the young man in confusion. "Something is... no, is something wrong?" she asked, remembering the inversion she and Nathan had been practicing.

"No, nothing is wrong." Julio flashed her what he hoped was an encouraging grin. Inwardly, he wondered if had just made things worse. Just finish your test stupid. He looked at Yvette and shrugged, and then went back to work.

Yvette returned the shrug with a flaring of her eyes, and then also returned to her test. If her brow could have furrowed, it would have been. So many words she didn't know, even with the Professor's 'help'... "'I am want...' no, that is not right..." Hesitating, she punched a hole next to another box.

Sooraya had set back to work after Julio's pencil-dropping, making her way slowly through the first page and finally turning onto the second. The test was absolutely inane, she had decided by this point, and thought that maybe, just maybe, the American educational system might not be perfect.

Julio flipped another page and continued, filling in the boxes quickly. Even if he hadn't been fluent in English already, he was a good test-taker. He slowed down a little when it came to the vocabulary section, because there he actually had to stop and think. He also privately hoped that they would never force him to take another test, but he had his doubts.

For her part, Yvette was growing more and more confused. And the problem with using her talons to make her choices was that she couldn't change her mind. She hunched more in the chair, pulling her feet up to almost crouch on the seat as she peered hard at the test, lips moving as she read. A, B, C or D? She didn't know. And what did they mean by antonyms? She glanced over at Sooraya and Julio, wondering if they were finding this as difficult as she was. To judge from their continuing progress, possibly not.

When all the little bubbles began to swim together on the page, Sooraya knew she needed to stop. She had never had to concentrate this long on reading without a break before, and she felt a headache growing between her temples. "I must rest," she declared, putting down her pencil and raising her hands to cover her face for a moment. "This is very silly," she said then, her voice muffled. "Why cannot they talk to us to see our English? Or ask the teachers?"

Making a dismayed little noise, Yvette climbed off her chair and went to Sooraya's side. "Are you being okay?" she aked anxiously. "Are you... do you need the glass of water?"

Pulling her hands away from her face, Sooraya shook her head, wrinkling her nose a little. "No. Thank you. It is only my head hurting about the test. I will be well if it is over."

Julio appeared over both their shoulders, glancing at Sooraya's test. "You know," he said, "Since this is just a stupid way to torture us all, why do I not help? I mean, I am not giving you encouragement to cheat," He held up his hands placatingly when the girls looked at him. "But I will not say no when you ask me a question," he glanced at the door. "Since there is no one watching us, after all."

Yvette frowned - or as close to frowning as she could get, which involved a slight shuttering of those unnaturally glowing eyes. "I am not thinking that is the right thing to do..." she began, uncertainly. She had to get one of them to help her with the writing parts, after all...

"A teacher will maybe come in," Sooraya pointed out thoughtfully, not judging Julio's idea, just thinking of the eventualities of the plan. "Will they be angry?"

"I am not saying cheat," Julio ammended, "but if you have trouble understanding the question. I can try to help explain it for you. Unless I do not understand it myself." Which wasn't likely.

Looking at Sooraya, Yvette hesitated. It seemed reasonable enough, but there was the part where it was only all right because no-one was watching them. "If someone could be writing things down for me, I think it would be easier..." she began.

"That is no problem. I am almost finished. Just let me know when you need my help," the older boy shrugged, and then made his way back to his seat. "Do not worry so much about this. I think the teachers know how pointless it is."

Sooraya sighed and picked up her pencil again, bracing herself to begin the test again. She would much rather be doing a dozen other things that weren't pointless in place of this, but she would do all that was asked of her and more. "After we are finish, I will make food. To be glad we are over," she announced, glancing at the other two students.

Yvette nodded, eyes glowing brightly. "I am thinking this is a good idea," she agreed, and a little mischievous tone entered her voice. "We are working hard and needing the... how you say? Brain foods?"

"Excellent." Julio said, clasping his hands together and grinning. "Now, to finish wasting my time." And with that, he ducked his head and began to scribble in earnest.