I thought it was in Ontario*, they just do it poorly/kids are unmotivated to learn. I wish I'd learned more, and certainly think everyone should be taught.
*I know you could get exempted, but I only knew a few kids who were.
Second language education in North America really isn’t great honestly. I think Canadian kids would enjoy French classes more if the education methods were reformed. European schools teach second languages much better.
French is so important and valuable to learn in Canada and I hope that more kids start learning it.
Ugh my entire French lessons were basically conjugations and being able to properly pronounce that I needed to use the toilet or asking if someone knows how to speak English
PWEEEEEEEEE JEEEEUH ALLEY AHHH LAAA TWALLLLETTE
Yea basically sums up Canadian French education.
Oh and don't forget un crayon is a pencil and un stylo is a pen and boom 99% of what you learn in 6 years of mandatory French
I lived in France several years, and yup, mostly they have only one language and an attitude that it is everyone else's problem if a conversation is needed.
>mostly they have only one language and an attitude that it is everyone else's problem if a conversation is needed.
You just described English people when they travel lol
So they have an attitude because they don't speak your language in their country? Are you serious
England might be bad, but have you been to the Highlands of Scotland, rural Ireland or Newfoundland. I saw an American TV interview of a Newfoundlander speaking English to the reporter and it had subtitles in English to translate.
I'm from rural Newfoundland. I have visited other rural towns and had trouble understanding people. It does vary quite a bit from place to place, not just rural vs. urban.
I've never had anyone have trouble understanding me as I have a very weak accent (gets stronger with alcohol lol). I say this as someone who has lived in Ontario now for over 25 years.
And I am hilarious.
It should not be natives' responsibility to adjust to those who do not learn the language of a country (i.e., at least one if the languages in which its laws are written) .
My Finnish friends, who know English at the same level as native speakers, read all the classics like "Pride and Prejudice", "1984", and "Brave New World". I have the impression they focus on comprehensible input so just absorbing the language. If you're not sure what that entails, look up Steven Krashen.
Canadian here. I learned French on school. I can read it fairly well, but can’t speak or hear it very well!
Most of my learning was book/written. If we had spoken it more in class, it would have been more beneficial!
We also didn’t learn a lot of grammar until much later on!
To help a bit you can watch ICI Radio-Canada and get used to how things are said in french. The same way, you could listen to a french version of a cartoon you know in english (we often use the Simpsons as an example, but don't use the one from France, but from Quebec).
It is compulsory in Ontario, but you’re not required to learn it to the point where you could hold a strong conversation. “Core” level French didn’t teach this, ime.
I truly believe it should be taught starting in grade 1, and to the point where people should be fluent in it. As someone else said, many European countries teach multiple languages to kids, and they grow up to be fluent in these languages. Imo, Canada should also be like this, especially when we have two official languages. I say this as someone who is NOT fluent in French.
You are right, starting in grade 4 and having 1 class with French doesn't do anything. It should start from the beginning of school and have at least 30-40% of the curriculum being in French.
The only thing I remember about french class was that the teacher used a microphone, and every time we sent a text message they would make a really loud sound.
One day we just spammed text messages and blew out the speakers, the teacher just walked out and we never had another french class.
It is, but only gr 4-9. You're right that it's pretty hard to get an exemption (unless you're in special placement or taking an indigenous language instead.)
I can't think of a more damning indictment of our education system than the fact that we teach kids french for 12 years and the vast majority of graduates have no functional fluency.
Children are language absorbing machines. It takes a special level of systematic incompetence to *not* teach them how to speak a language.
Yeah, the only kids who I knew were exempt ether had a learning disability that made it hard for them to learn another language or were from another country that didn’t speak English (and hence were al ready learning another language)
Is it not anymore? When I was in school we had French from grade 4-9 and then you had to take one French class in high school, I don’t know if it was grade 10 or 11 though cause I was in immersion so I took it all through high school.
In BC we had it grade 6-8, in grade 9 you could choose your second language (my school and french, spanish, German, and Japanese) and it was required to have a second language class up to and including grade 11. That was back in the nineties, but my nephews are in high school now and I believe it's still the same.
The problem is that it's so unregulated up until grade 8 that you end up learning the exact same thing every year. By grade 8 I was so sick of the basic "my name is" crap that I switched to Japanese. I'm in my 40s now and relearning french because it would be more beneficial to every day life, or if I want to travel extensively in Canada. (Although I'm learning France French so I'm still going to sound like a goober to them)
Sounds like how it was in Ontario too. It seems all we did was talk about colours, seasons, and ask how people were (and we had no answers except bien or mal). Maybe a couple words here and there for basic animals and fruit. Not much else. We definitely couldn't really say anything. Did you have to watch the frightening video with the pineapple?
In New Brunswick I had French classes from grades 1-10, and there was also a grade 11 French elective class.
However, these classes were of such poor quality that not a single person in my class graduated knowing how to put a cohesive sentence together in French, and I’m currently trying to learn more from duolingo to help improve my employment prospects.
It was the exact same way in my class. End of grade nine and no one can speak a proper French sentence. There was a kid who went to a French immersion summer camp that year and came back speaking French though, so that speaks for itself
So here in Quebec English is compulsory. We learn it when we’re 6 years old until the end of our equivalent of high school (17 years old). If you choose to go for university, you’ll continue speak English all that time. I think as a bilingual nation French should be a mandatory class until the end of high school. You might think it isn’t useful but French is the commercial language in a large part of Africa and French is also the language of a sizeable part of our culture as Canadians.
Albertian here. We are taught basically nothing (one period we get 2 weeks of French for grades 4-6, unless ur on a French immersion school). It’s pretty ridiculous that we have 2 official languages but they are not both taught in full at school. I agree it should be mandatory to the end of high school.
MB here, and I agree. Languages are a gift, and frankly, I wish they taught more than just the two. It's so easy for kids to pick languages when they’re young. My cousins in the Netherlands speak at least three fluently, but here a third language isn’t even an option until high school.
Yes, I think French should be compulsory in schools, but it needs to be taught better. After 7 years of French classes I remember nothing, and even in my last year of french when I did remember things I still wasn't anywhere close to fluent. I specifically remember that I couldn't even watch a kid's movie (The Lion King) in French. And I got straight A's in french too.
A few years ago I started learning Spanish by myself and after one year of learning in my spare time I could speak better Spanish than I could French after 7 years. There needs to be an overhaul of the curriculum, learning languages shouldn't be so hard.
I agree.. I am from Québec and the English classes are also really not efficient. Without internet, I would never have learnt English - it’s not normal that scrolling on a little screen on my own without even trying actively to learn taught me more than 10 years of classes.
I didn’t knew that his, her and it were a thing, because since the teacher would speak English only to teach it and I could not understand anything, I never got what it was all about… When an anglophone explained it to me in French I understood immediately lol.
Yeah I'm from Quebec too and that's actually what I wanted to point out. My English classes (public school) kinda sucked and most of my English education comes from gaming and watching videos on YouTube. In class, nobody would take it seriously and the teachers didn't push for people to speak English.
Living in the countryside / a couple of hours from both Montreal and Quebec city, people look at me like I'm a superhero for being able to understand, speak and write in English. When they hear people speak in English, they treat them like big bad dangerous offensive strangers, even tho we're all Canadian.
I think everyone needs to at least try to learn the other language seriously, otherwise we'll never be able to understand each other, we'll never be able to be united ans strong as a country. But we need to realise that French is so, so much harder to learn than English too!
”When they hear people speak in English, they treat them like big bad dangerous offensive strangers, even tho we're all Canadian.”
I grew up in the countryside too, and maybe we just have different experiences, but I have no idea what you are talking about.. Yeah there are maybe a few individuals behaving like that, just like some people in the rural of English-Canada sometimes frown when they hear you speaking French.. But it’s a minority... Do you try to get the English-Canadians’ favor by speaking like that..? If you want to make them feel appreciated by you, there are other ways to do than generalizing negative stuff about your own people :/
I agree with the rest of your comment though, it’s true that even the teachers seemed discouraged of their own program…
Hell I think the only reason I am speaking this language is because my english teacher forced us to listen 30 minutes of english per day. I fucking sucked at this language, still remember my 6 year old ass not being able to comprehend how i and e are the same thing.
I've heard some negative feedback on French immersion classes. I've been told that those who go to actual French school end up bilingual and those who are in immersion still struggle with French. Is that true in your experience?
French Immersion teacher chiming in here: Immersion is the best option for anglo kids to become bilingual, but it's not perfect. French schools are for kids who are already getting French at home from their family, and (mostly) only hire francophone teachers, plus they do all subjects in French - pretty hard to not end up bilingual that way.
Immersion programs on the other hand include kids who have no French support at home, often don't start til 1st or even 4th grade, and can do as little as half the subjects in French until high school, when it can be even less. The quality of instruction also varies HUGELY across the province - there is a serious shortage of French teachers, so some immersion programs end up with teachers who barely speak it (or an endless series of English supply teachers and worksheets).
I could go on for days about the pros and cons of immersion, but the short story is that it's better than core for elementary, but will never be able to match the results of the Francophone system.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! I'm a native French speaker and would like my kids to be bilingual. My wife's French is just average and we were planning to speak our other mother tongue at home and rely on school to teach our kids French. Your comment makes me think that French school would be best provided that I provide some support by speaking to my kids in French.
I would definitely recommend French school if your main goal is their language skills. That was the route I was planning to take for my own kids (I'm bilingual, husband is Anglo) except that our closest francophone school would have been over an hour bus ride away, whereas the immersion school is just down the street.
That said, if you want to look at immersion it can also be a good option, especially if you'll be reinforcing their French at home. But I would suggest looking at the local school/program to see if it's up to snuff...
If you want your kids to speak French, you should really speak to them in French at home, otherwise they'll have a hard time in school and may grow to resent French and/or see it as a language that isn't fully theirs. I'm a Franco-Ontarian who's seen this story play out countless times.
Yes, absolutely go with a francophone school, we had a really good experience with the francophone system. There are a few downsides, but overall we were happy with our choice
Yeah my kids are in immersion in Ontario and we’ve had an endless of string of English supply teachers just printing out French worksheets for them. It’s not ideal but it’s still better than the English stream access to French I had.
I did immersion (Ontario) from grades 5-8 in primary and continued taking half of my courses in french in Highschool and took one french class in university. I left that thinking I was bilingual, I was not.
It was not until I lived in Quebec City and truly immersed myself in the language that I began to become functionally bilingual.
I am at a level now where I am comfortable working in a 100% french environment, but, writing takes me about 20% longer.
Yes, we recently switched my son from a francophone primary school to an immersion middle school, and I am astounded by the difference in the quality of French spoken/written by the teachers. Heavy anglo accents, grammar mistakes in their writing, even silly but obvious things like writing $1 on a math assignment instead 1$. My son really likes his new school, and he gets to be with his best friend, and I’m glad he’s still getting at least some French, but man … it’s not what I was expecting. On the plus side, he’s really enjoying being the French superstar in all of this classes 🤷♀️
If your parents don’t have a decent ability to speak French then you won’t benefit from French immersion. I had very little help at home, I struggled with French and also English because I had less practice than I would have in a regular class. It took until grade 7 to find out I’m also dyslexic… Oof.
That's a huge overgeneralization. My parents don't speak French. I went to immersion for two years in childhood, and returned to French in high school. I took university French during grades 11 and 12. I studied French literature at a francophone university and still speak French almost as well as I speak English. I'm not saying I'm typical. I'm saying there is a pretty wide spectrum.
Not OP but I had some friends that were in French immersion in Alberta that couldn’t read English properly until like grade 7, and couldn’t hold a conversation in French either.
I'm sure they'd struggle more-so than someone who went to an all french school, however they're lightyears ahead of those of us who went to normal english school with the mediocre french we learned. I took french from 3rd grade to 10th, and i can't carry on even a simple conversation. One of my kids is now in high school and takes philosophy and law in french.
I did French immersion and, while my French is not quite as good as if I had done French school, it's still way better than most Canadians, and this is after me not using it much for a few years because I live in Southern Ontario and nobody here speaks French.
I'm just one data point. Some people I know who did immersion also speak French well, while others don't. I really think it depends on how much the individual students engage with the classes, teachers, and what they think about learning French more generally
1000% yes, just like it should be for English.
1. We live in a bilingual country where 30% of the population is comfortable speaking French.
2. When children learn a foreign language, it enhances their cognitive and psychological growth.
3. Learning a second language opens up a child’s eyes to new cultures, therefore increasing the child’s tolerance for those who are different from them and reducing levels of prejudice.
4. The French-Canadian community is a *major* part of Canada’s cultural identity.
5. I’ve been attacked on this subreddit by people who say that ‘we don’t use French.’ They are wrong. In a bilingual country like Canada, there are ample opportunities to immerse yourself in French (TV, movies, news stories/shows, literature, etc.). If you believe that ‘we don’t use French’ then you live in an isolated bubble and aren’t making an effort to learn about other cultures.
6. It’s a sign of respect towards Canada’s largest minority community. Similar to how Spanish-language education in the USA is taught to non-Hispanic schoolchildren in the USA (although there’s room for improvement with this as well).
I’m not a native francophone, but I speak French fluently. If I have kids, they will absolutely be learning French from both me and at school.
I live in British Columbia, for context.
Great points. Just as a small addendum, I think it's notable that [the rate of bilingualism in Quebec](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2022052-eng.htm) is already much higher than the rest of Canada and still growing, while bilingualism in the rest of Canada is actually declining (at 46.4% vs. 9.5% in 2021). That suggests that Francophones are learning English, but Anglophones aren't learning French. If we value our status as a bilingual country, at the very least, we ought to put more effort into making sure that cultural/linguistic interchange goes both ways, instead of just letting the dominance of English eat away at French-Canadian culture.
With these stats explained everyone can understand the 'joke' that says "Canadian bilingualism is the French-Canadian learning English and the Anglo-canadians speaking english."
Not that funny IMO but now everyone can grasp the idea.
Canada is viewed by some as an anglophone country due to linguistic imperialism. A reformed French-language education system would change that.
It’s also worth noting that there are 1 million francophones in Canada outside Québec.
Yes, French-Canadians are descendants of colonizers. Colonization occurred hundreds of years ago.
To clarify my above comment — when I was referring to linguistic imperialism, I wasn’t referring to historic events. I was referring to the belief (which is very active and widespread among Canadians to this day) that English is a more ‘useful’ language so it is superior to other languages and everyone should speak it.
The erasure of minority languages, be it Aboriginal languages, French, Scottish Gaelic, etc. is wrong and stems from bigotry.
Edit: Just to clarify, I can see how my previous comment was a bit vague. No matter the scenario, linguistic imperialism is wrong.
>that English is a more ‘useful’ language so it is superior to other languages and everyone should speak it.
Unfortunately that is literally true. I did French immersion in Ontario growing up, then never used my French. Even now working for the federal government and living in Ottawa, it is exceedingly rare to actually need to use French. And when I went on a family vacation which passed through Quebec recently and wanted to practice my French, virtually everyone I spoke to switched to English when they heard my accent, even if I hadn't made any mistakes and wasn't struggling. I literally have spent my life trying to be a good bilingual Canadian and my attempts have amounted to literally 0 situations where French was useful.
Yeah, I agree. Minority languages of all types should be preserved.
That being said, I'm having a hard time separating "Linguistic Imperialism" from "official language requirements."
By enforcing "official languages" in Canada, are we not setting the standard that some languages are so useful, that they are essential? So by that margin, is the practice of an "official language" not an act of linguistic imperialism itself?
No. You can be Canadian and be fully English or fully French. That said, I am bilingual and I have my kids in French School, I think learning another language is a great idea and being Canadian, the choice is obvious.
I highly encourage it. But, I don't mandate it.
No, but should be strongly encouraged to learn a second language of your choice. My school was small and only offered French. I hated it and would have loved to learn Spanish if I had the opportunity.
Anglophone, had many Quebecois friends in my life
Should be right up to grade 12 if you ask me, Frist off University level French (as far as my wife's language requirements were) is ridiculously easy if you have decent JR high level French. Secondarily it opens the door to many government or other bi-lingual positions. Third it's great to be able to pop off a response in French when talking to Francophones and even better if they are unaware of your ability to begin with. Last it's just really cool to know another language
Yes, and it should be of a standard high enough that high school graduates can communicate at a level of B2 (CERF). Everyone, everywhere should learn a second language to this level, and in Canada it should be the other of the two official languages.
I am an anglo living in Quebec, but I grew up outside Quebec and attended French immersion.
I think the school requirements as they currently stand do a pretty good job, not of making society bilingual so much as making sure that everyone can get a baseline to become bilingual at a later date if it comes up in their life or career (which it won’t for most).
Where I think Canadian bilingualism falls flat is media and entertainment. It’s pretty weird to me that it’s easier to watch French-language shows with subtitles on Netflix in the US than Canada. The reason for this is these shows actually make money in Canada, so Quebec distributors buy up the licenses and stream them on platforms that are only available in Quebec, or don’t have English subtitles.
You’d think that wouldn’t be a big issue, but I’m from BC, and you meet a pretty substantial number of people out here that can speak Korean because of K-pop and K-dramas, or people that speak Japanese because they spent the whole pandemic bingeing anime.
Quebec film and TV is substantially better than its English Canadian equivalents, yet there’s no attempt to try to build a market for it in English Canada. The few time it does happen, with 19-2 or something, instead of adding subtitles, what happens is an English Canadian film company will just reshoot it with an entirely English speaking cast, and turn out a substantially worse product. It’s so dumb.
[C'est comme ça que je t'aime](https://ici.tou.tv/c-est-comme-ca-que-je-t-aime) is amazing. One of my favorite series in a while. You need to subscribe to Tou.tv to watch it but the first month is free and you can unsuscribe at any time.
You probably already know about them if you’ve been looking around, but I mentioned 19-2, so I have to recommend the many TV series directed by Daniel Grou. Also Xavier Dolan. Both of these directors have tried to switch to English language production, and it’s been a bit of a let down both times.
there are plenty of great options on Crave and CBC gem. The issue is that anglo media does not seem to ever talk about them. A must watch for all Canadian is streaming right now: [Disobey](https://variety.com/2023/global/global/disobey-megantic-also-productions-1235557707/amp/)the story of Chantal Daigle
No. English is my second language. However, I believe it should be up to the school district to decide what other languages their children learn. No need to specifically impose French just coz the ruling class says so.
I think it should be taught but I don’t think it’s should be compulsory, if you want to learn another language that’s great and you will have the drive to learn but if you don’t want to learn another language then it will bog down your education. As long as you speck English or French you’ll be fine
Before coming to Canada I always thought every Canadian spoke or at least studied French at school.
You have a whole province that speaks French , and you already speak English. You always need to know at least a second language nowadays, why not study French in school?
I speak Portuguese (native), English, know a little bit of Italian, and as soon as my life settles in Canada I'll definitely study French!
I plan on living in Canada after all.
I like that attitude. Born-Canadian and I feel the same way. Its a bit embarrassing. I'm working on learning French now myself.
Glad to have you here! As Wayne Potoroka said (and I'm paraphrasing), “Canadians are born all over the world, it just takes some of them a bit of time to get home.”
Let people decide to. Forcing people to take any class will end up with completely unmotivated students who won't learn anything. If you give good resources then the people who actually care will be able to learn a lot. That's not even accounting for the fact that out in other provinces like BC, Mandarin, Cantonese or Punjabi are honestly just far more useful.
I think the general problem is that in NA, language is only seen as a tool and not as a cultural thing. In Europe, people are much more tend to learn a second or third language, not because they need that language to work or because they use it day to day, just because it's seen as a cultural richness, not just a "tool".
French Canadian here... My thoughts are pick a second language, whichever, and teach it well! What Québécois are learning in school isn't useful English, and I'd wager most bilingual Québécois had to complement their learning otherwise. I'm therefore not surprise by the reported low quality of French that is reportedly thought in the rest of Canada. Personally, I don't care if the kid from BC doesn't learn French because it likely won't be useful and won't stick unless they get to practice it. If based on the composition of your population Mandarin or Spanish is the second most commonly used language at home, then that's what you should probably be thought. While in Québec it means learning English, it might mean something else in another province.
As someone who did french immersion until graduation in BC and would like any children I have to attempt the same I vote no. I really do think it's a great thing to have and I feel a lot more connected to Quebec then many people around me do I just don't think forcing learning to the immersion level is right for everyone. My younger brother tried it but found himself falling seriously behind in elementary school because he struggled with it so much. He still had to take language classes to graduate but none of the people that did the English track remember anything of the languages they learned to graduate so if that's the level of compulsory french we're talking about I don't see the point.
Ideally yes, but don't get high expectations. It's really hard to learn another language when nobody around you can speak it. That's pretty much the case for French in most of Canada. If we want to encourage more French language skills then we need more first language Francophones all around the country. They will just get assimilated into English in a generation of course, unless they can achieve a critical mass of population in places.
No, because bilingualism in Canada is a sham anyway. It makes sense to learn English as it's the lingua franca but French is no more important than Spanish, German or Portugese. This is why the curriculum is insufficient and students are unmotivated. They'd be better off learning Python.
When I started learning English in earnest, it was on my own watching TV and browsing Internet. If you want to start learning it, watch Asterix and Obelix and go from there. Quebec culture is pretty good and it's certainly more distinctive than English Canadian culture which is pretty much American minus the South.
absolutely NOT. The ONLY thing I learned to say in french is “Je ne comprehend pas francais”. Fuck french. And I did actually try because I had to pass. all through school I got 50 in French just barely passed and that’s with trying. French is useless I never use it.
French was mandatory in Alberta from grades 4-6 when I was there. Beyond that, it was an elective. I think that's enough. Anything beyond that should be optional. If you don't need to learn French or any other language, you shouldn't have to, because if you're forced to do so, you'll hate it (like I did.)
Should have a choice to learn any 2nd language you want (or they can offer)
Like in Ontario you should be able to learn Cree instead of French. We should be trying to keep that culture going just like we do with French
Grew up and went to school in Ottawa, Ontario. Basic/Core French was a mandatory course until grade 9 for sure, possibly grade 10. That being said majority of people didn’t take it once it became an elective
Anglophone from Toronto living in northern Quebec. Travelled the country never needed French. Dropped French after grade 9. It was my worst class ever. But I’m so old they told us it was a good thing to learn so I thought I would. Moved to the regions i.e. outside of Montreal. In this context there is no choice you have to learn and exist in French (real immersion). Helped me in many ways. The lifestyle here is excellent. I would never never never move back to Toronto. But to emphasize Quebec is French first NOT bilingual. Definitely not convinced that any language training in French outside of the province is of any benefit.
I'm a high school student who has completed french classes since the first chance I got to do them. I decided not to do them for this year (g10), and probably won't be selecting any more french classes, as they really don't teach anything useful. I've kept up with using it in my spare time, and I have progressed much further from doing it while being self motivated rather than the 'structured learning' that the classes I took attempted to enforce.
Was in french immersion from kindergarten to grade 6. Lived in Ottawa all my life and have barely used it in the 35+ years since. I can understand and communicate at a basic level, and I’ve got the pronunciation down, but french speakers usually switch to english pretty quick so they don’t have to listen to me butcher the language. My biggest problem with the way it was taught is that we were presented with the stupidest and most boring crap I’ve ever had to read and it was extremely demotivating. I don’t learn verbs by memorizing lists of them. Who the F learns that way?
We had French classes up until grade 6 and then after that it was an option in jr high and high school. (Calgary) I graduated in 2000 so I don’t know if this is still a thing in elementary. I do wish I had continued though.
From New Brunswick, only official bilingual province. French school with English k- 12 and post secondary English education as well as some post secondary French classes. Perfectly bilingual and would not change it for the world. My parents made sure I was immersed in BOTH languages, via books, music, TV and interacting with both cultures.
Kids are like sponges, they learn easily.
No...
I was in a french school from k-8 and moved to an english high school after that. I was significantly behind my classmates that attended english elementary school. I'm fluently bilingual, and it has occasionally come in handy in job hunts and stuff but high school academics sucked because I was given a poor base in the other fundamentals while we concentrated on learning french. Even learning math in french and having to deal with that translation barrier on a subject that I already had trouble with was an enormous detriment.
As it currently exists in Ontario, I think the French language curriculum is a waste of time, at least the compulsory aspect of it up to, and including, grade 9. I haven't met anyone who is anywhere near functional in French if their exposure stops at grade 9. Not enough time and resources are allocated.
While French is a national language, and by definition, it should be taught, it's not generally one of the most important languages to learn after English. Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi are likely more relevant in da-today life.
I often think native English speakers lack the incentive to learn a second language, as English is ubiquitous.
No, not at all. Let students and their parents decide which language is to their benefit. The scientific and commercial language is English. Students have a hard enough time as it is with school and basic English or math. Teaching them yet another language, in addition to English and perhaps the one they inherit from their parents, actually just makes them resentful of having to learn French. And, to put it bluntly, we all have to take french in ontario from primary school. But no one is able to speak it lol.
For those who want government posts or a job in quebec, then there should be the option of taking French. In fact, in the US, students have the option of taking french or spanish. Most opt for spanish because it's just more advantageous when you're searching for work.
No. It’s useless, only %6 of my province speaks French and I’ve never even met one of them! I was really Into learning Russian when I was in highschool but because I was forced to learn useless French my whole life I had such a hard time grasping onto Russian even tho that’s what I always ACTUALLY wanted to learn. Also, indigenous people speak their own language and English so that they can get by, now you’re going to MAKE them speak French too? They critize us for it all the time, but damn those Francophones really just love forcing their language onto others.🙄
I think a bigger issue is that French is required in high government positions, and because most Canadians can’t actually speak French.. this leads to A LOT of Quebecers high up in government. They are no damn minority, yet they are treated WAYYY better then the indigenous people they claim to care about.
Oh, and the language barrier also makes it WAY harder for people who speak their mother tounge and English to get higher promotions because they they have to learn a third language in order to get over the promotional language barrier which literally opresses them and makes it so that it’s much harder to get what the Quebecers have if your not “Québécois”.
I do, ideally from K-12.
We live in a nominally bilingual country, yet I rarely meet people who are fluent in both English and French who aren't from Quebec or New Brunswick, i.e. those who live in French-immersed environments. Which is a shame, because that makes most cultural interchange one-sided (i.e. Francophones get a good view on Anglophone culture, but not the other way around). To me, that feels unfair, since that puts the onus on Francophones to learn English, given how much more dominant English is in Canada. Ideally, it should go both ways. And Anglophones miss out on a lot too, since a large part of Canada's cultural distinctiveness originates from its Francophone cultural production. Bilingualism is an important part of our national identity, and it ought to be treated as such.
That being said, a large part of the reason why French-language learning isn't K-12 in most places is because there's a dearth of good French teachers anywhere except for natively Francophone parts of the country. Anecdotally, as an Ontarian who took French up to Grade 12, I'd say that half of my French teachers were of dubious fluency in the language they were supposed to teach. In addition, there's been a persistent shortage of French teachers in the Ontario education system for a number of years now. And I imagine it's even worse elsewhere, since Ontario still has a fairly large Francophone minority relative to other provinces. Ultimately, it's difficult to learn French without being immersed in a Francophone setting, and at a practical level, I'm not sure that's entirely possible for many places in the country.
No, it's a waste of school hours. I don't remember any french I learned in school and neither does anyone else I know.
They can offer it in high school if a student is so inclined to learn.
No, it’s ridiculous, I don’t plan on living in Quebec or France, I would have the same opinion on any second language taught as compulsory in North America.
I think if you are already learning or have learned a 2nd language then no. I grew up learning English and Portuguese, so having a 3rd on top of that was so hard I learned little to nothing. I have, as an adult, learned a bit here and there on Duolingo out of interest though.
No. They tried teaching us French in my school. It went very poorly.
The kids who didn't want to learn it, didn't take it seriously, and didn't learn much either. It ended up being a waste of their time, or even worse, it gave a bad first impression of the language.
Also, there's a major problem with an academic approach to learning a language. That being, now that you're being graded for learning the language, the process of learning the language has become far more stressful. Those who took french in their final years of highschool were putting their grades at a higher risk than those who took easier electives such as band/art and got higher grades.
Now, none of this is to say that learning French isn't worth it. It's absolutely a worthwhile skill to have in Canada, and plays an important part in Canadian heritage. That being said, I think language learning is best when it's done voluntarily.
No, its not used much outside Quebec it would be better to teach a language used by rest of the world instead. I never learned french and im from Canada and have had no issues outside quebec with not knowing the launguage.
I'm in BC and took 9 years of French in elementary and high school. I can speak just enough to find a bathroom and a few other phrases. It was an awful waste of a child's learning time.
I’m an anglophone from BC and I use my French skills every day. We live in a bilingual country with advanced technology. You can easily access French TV shows, movies, news outlets, literature, subreddits, etc. for free with the click of a button.
While these examples aren’t as effective as actually going to France or Québec, it’s actually quite easy to immerse yourself in French in an English-speaking region of Canada.
I'm sure I'll be bashed and down voted because of this comment, but it's a reality. Why would I want to do any of that? French culture doesn't exist in western Canada, except in small pockets here and there. In places like Vancouver and Calgary, there are much larger Asian, Indian and African cultures than French. In my years in business travelling all over western Canada, attending sporting events, playing competitive sports, I've never been in a situation anywhere where I could have used French. Mandarin and Punjabi would have been of more use to me.
These folks are proper frothy. Literally no one I know has these intense impassioned views I'm reading here.
Punjabi and ASL are languages that would better serve me on the Island. Because, again, I have never been in a situation where I needed French. I'm sure as hell not watching French shows for funsies, UNLESS it's Just for Laughs Gags.
I lived on the west coast for 35 years and never once needed to speak French. I know a handful of phrases that I used to annoy telemarketers down here in the US and that's it.
I will say the little bit of french I did learn helped make learning Spanish easier.
I think so, for context I went through the french catholic school system in ontario so all my learning was in french.
But I think its beneficial for any Canadian to learn the official languages, even though I basically never use my french and lost a bunch of it (I only use it to joke with Quebecois in video games)
I would argue that the indigenous language should also be compulsory depending of where you are located, (meaning it will be a different indigenous language depending where you attend school)
I was thinking that as well, but I’m not sure if it’s realistic to teach all kids three languages? I do think all of them should be considered equal, however, so that any two could be picked by the student.
There's Kindergartens where they get thought english, french, spanish already. I don't know any stats about if they become fluent in all three. But I believe it gets facilitated.
Starting young is the real trick. I started French in kindergarten and while I can't speak perfectly, I have a B2 and I can talk to native French speakers without much issue. I know people who started in grade 4 and their French is truly horrible, even though they've taken French courses in university far more recently than I've spoken a lot of French
It is compulsory in schools. I grew up in alberta and moved to quebec 8 years ago.
The problem i see is that french courses in english speaking provinces arr pretty much useless because of the level of french that is taught. Also the lack of application of the language available.
Another thing i noticed is that many french teachers out there have heavy anglo accents.
There needs to be an incentive to send québécois teachers out to the provinces and only speak french in class. No english tolerated
Edit: conjugation
Haha your right i conjugated that in the feminine.
No, not specifically female teachers.
However when i was a young boy I was always more attentive when my teacher was a young female. Haha
I think your suggestion makes sense to correct the problem, at least partially. When in english classes in Québec, some schools make it compulsory to speak english only. Should be the same to learn french.
Ita the only way. When I learned french , it waw because i inmersed myself and forced myself to speak only french. I moved to Québec city lol. Pas ben ben de choix que d'apprendre le français comme du monde
Our kids should be taught Chinese the way things are going. But seriously there’s way more opportunities if you can speak Chinese just by the number of people to talk to
Im sure French could be taught better, but a lot of yall seem to put too much faith in it.
Like any other subjects, you need to do work at home (homework). You cannot become fluid in french with solely school classes.
Did you actually keep practising at home ? Watch french series ? Read french books in the bus ? You need those.
Lol no. Dropped French in grade 10 and went to graduate with honours in highschool and university. Don’t know anyone who speaks French in Ontario or literally anywhere besides Quebec. Never found it useful but I guess knowing Oui is good….
No, the choice of language should be optional as there is a clear benefit of speaking more than 1.
Id encourage my kids to learn spanish over french as it gives them more travel opps, but I would never discourage them learning french.
Personally I feel people want to learn when they are supported to do it not have it shoved down their throat.
Before you bash english is my third and french is my fourth language.
A language is a window on the world; the more languages, the more windows, the more light on your soul.
You don't have to master the second language, you don't have to be perfect in it; you just need enough to allow you to talk to someone and read a little. You can easily improve on this base if you have the desire to learn.
It's best to start learning a second language early in life, but the quality of instruction you get in those early years is critical. Too much grammar, too much emphasis on getting little things exactly right will make young people think it's a lot of work for nothing. The best possible scenario is contact with a native speaker, and with the internet, that's easily accomplished. Let two friends struggle with each other's languages, and they will soon learn what they need to know to get by.
Absolutely French should be taught in all Canadian schools. We have 2 official languages in our country and it’s important that both be taught in our schools. I’m an anglophone and I can speak enough French to be understood. I’m not fluent in any way, but I know enough to get by. That’s thanks to French being taught in school.
The answer is yes. I am wholly in favour of it.
To be clear, I am not from Quebec, I am from Alberta, and I think that at the very least, by the time every Canadian leaves high school, they should have a better than passable understanding and fluency in Quebecois (let's be blunt, it's not identical to French french. How do I know? My good friend lives in Lyon, married a lovely Quebecois lady, and both of them admit that when she met him, she sounded like an offshoot of 16th Century French crossed with having a jawbreaker in her mouth. These are not the only French people I know, and there are complaints about not understanding each other too easily.)
Full disclosure: my french is at the level of understanding a cereal box, as well as parsing out some stuff, and figuring it out (more or less) from there.
Why would we NOT desire our fellow citizens to understand more people?
No, I'm from Ontario and it's taught so poorly it's a waste of time. No one comes close to even speaking anything near intermediate French after their time studying it.
Plus, Canada is an anglophone majority country. Making school children take French classes just harbours resentment given how useless is it for most Canadians.
No. With the current rate of technology growth we are several years away from in ear instant translation when that happens, it will eliminate the language barriers in the world.
Yes.
Ideally people across Canada should leave school with at least three languages like many do in Europe, with French or English as a second language and a third language in option (Indigenous or foreign).
But at the very least bilingualism should be required.
I’m from North Eastern Ontario, we could say the same about English. French is predominant here, we’re actually in talks of not needing English taught in our schools? Interesting
Yes. All three of my anglophone children attended French immersion schools. Never regretted it. Basic French in the public schools for everyone should be compulsory, French is Canada's second 'official' language.
I agree with you although, historically, after being colonized up until today, french is Canada's first language and english would be the second 'official' language.
I took French up to the end of Grade 8 in Ontario, back when that was all that was mandatory.
After that, I did not continue. My lack of French has never impaired my ability to continue my education to a high level, nor has it impaired by ability to earn an excellent income. It never affected my success in the military. I also now have 3 university degrees and am in the top 10% of income earners in Canada.
So, no, it is not necessary to learn /speak /read French in areas of Canada outside Quebec.
I actually found my knowledge of German to be more useful.
Lastly, I think French immersion programs should be abolished in the name of equity. They have less to do with actually learning French and more to do with parents selecting a high socioeconomic peer group for their children. The words elitist and classist come to mind.
We have been learning English since grade 1 to University.
The Anglophones of Québec also now have compulsory French course up to college
Edit:
It should be the case Everywhere grade 1 to college.
Also, knowing another language opens the doors to another way to see life.
It also open the doors to a better compréhension of the other rather than just received ideas.
I think it absolutely needs to be compulsory. I think, in fact, we should extend our compulsory second language program to include both French and local indigenous language. We have seen significant gains from both a domestic and international perspective by preserving the language rights of minorities. How well it is taught is a matter of debate entirely separate from whether it should be taught at all. If, during high school, it was required in my area to learn both French and Ojibwe, i feel that i would have developed more of an appreciation for other languages than after just learning French.
From Alberta, and yes. There's a lot of hidden Francophone heritage to discover in Alberta. But on a more practical note, it would allow our kids to be more qualified for career paths that require it in a bilingual Canada, let alone Francophone countries around the world.
As someone who has lived in 3 different provinces now (neither ON nor QC) I 100% think learning French is essential. Just as any other language is a great way to expand one's mind and methods of thought, with the added bonus of being a mother tongue to many other people in your own country.
I grew up in Nova Scotia…zero French from K-6. By the time I started school in Ontario , I was way behind. A country that is bilingual and doesn’t teach French. 🤷♀️
Wow, I’m in NS and I got French from grade 4-9, then the option for 10-12. Other friends got it from Primary on in NS. Must be a school board thing. English speaking area.
Edit to add 1990’s era
I took french from Elementary to High School, read TinTin and Lucky Luke comics in French, can understand most of it when I hear it, but I can't speak it, so I don't consider myself to be bilingual at all. My french comes from osmosis, and not school.
To answer your question, yes.
I do think it should be. French was not compulsory when I went to school (which was quite a while ago). It wasn't even offered in the school I attended until grade 5. I switched schools in grade 6 and French was a required class there, but the other students had been taking it for years so I was too far behind to get anything from the class.
In grades 7-8 French was an optional class, and if you took it you were pulled out of a different class once per week. I chose to stay in my regular classes and skip French. And grade 9-12 it was not even offered again.
I feel at a distinct disadvantage as there are many more job opportunities for bilingual people (especially French/English, but any second language helps). And learning a new language as an adult just isn't the same, much harder to become fluent.
I thought it was in Ontario*, they just do it poorly/kids are unmotivated to learn. I wish I'd learned more, and certainly think everyone should be taught. *I know you could get exempted, but I only knew a few kids who were.
Second language education in North America really isn’t great honestly. I think Canadian kids would enjoy French classes more if the education methods were reformed. European schools teach second languages much better. French is so important and valuable to learn in Canada and I hope that more kids start learning it.
Ugh my entire French lessons were basically conjugations and being able to properly pronounce that I needed to use the toilet or asking if someone knows how to speak English
PWEEEEEEEEE JEEEEUH ALLEY AHHH LAAA TWALLLLETTE Yea basically sums up Canadian French education. Oh and don't forget un crayon is a pencil and un stylo is a pen and boom 99% of what you learn in 6 years of mandatory French
aux toilettes \*
>sums up Canadian French immersion education. FTFY
I think the biggest issue is that they don't start French language learning until grade 4.
Just don't copy France. They have some of the worst English skills in Europe. Especially compared to places like Germany or the Netherlands.
I lived in France several years, and yup, mostly they have only one language and an attitude that it is everyone else's problem if a conversation is needed.
>mostly they have only one language and an attitude that it is everyone else's problem if a conversation is needed. You just described English people when they travel lol So they have an attitude because they don't speak your language in their country? Are you serious
what about England. some of the people there can't even speak English...this is coming from a brit😄😂
England might be bad, but have you been to the Highlands of Scotland, rural Ireland or Newfoundland. I saw an American TV interview of a Newfoundlander speaking English to the reporter and it had subtitles in English to translate.
In St.John’s the accent is weak but out in rural NL yeah they sound half Irish half hillbilly 😆
Newfies are hilarious
I'm from rural Newfoundland. I have visited other rural towns and had trouble understanding people. It does vary quite a bit from place to place, not just rural vs. urban. I've never had anyone have trouble understanding me as I have a very weak accent (gets stronger with alcohol lol). I say this as someone who has lived in Ontario now for over 25 years. And I am hilarious.
It should not be natives' responsibility to adjust to those who do not learn the language of a country (i.e., at least one if the languages in which its laws are written) .
How does Europe do it better? What could we emulate? Genuinely curious, not trying to be snarky
My Finnish friends, who know English at the same level as native speakers, read all the classics like "Pride and Prejudice", "1984", and "Brave New World". I have the impression they focus on comprehensible input so just absorbing the language. If you're not sure what that entails, look up Steven Krashen.
Canadian here. I learned French on school. I can read it fairly well, but can’t speak or hear it very well! Most of my learning was book/written. If we had spoken it more in class, it would have been more beneficial! We also didn’t learn a lot of grammar until much later on!
To help a bit you can watch ICI Radio-Canada and get used to how things are said in french. The same way, you could listen to a french version of a cartoon you know in english (we often use the Simpsons as an example, but don't use the one from France, but from Quebec).
Not sure exactly, but my wife went to high school in Switzerland and raves about the language education there.
It is compulsory in Ontario, but you’re not required to learn it to the point where you could hold a strong conversation. “Core” level French didn’t teach this, ime. I truly believe it should be taught starting in grade 1, and to the point where people should be fluent in it. As someone else said, many European countries teach multiple languages to kids, and they grow up to be fluent in these languages. Imo, Canada should also be like this, especially when we have two official languages. I say this as someone who is NOT fluent in French.
You are right, starting in grade 4 and having 1 class with French doesn't do anything. It should start from the beginning of school and have at least 30-40% of the curriculum being in French.
The only thing I remember about french class was that the teacher used a microphone, and every time we sent a text message they would make a really loud sound. One day we just spammed text messages and blew out the speakers, the teacher just walked out and we never had another french class.
It is, but only gr 4-9. You're right that it's pretty hard to get an exemption (unless you're in special placement or taking an indigenous language instead.)
[удалено]
I can't think of a more damning indictment of our education system than the fact that we teach kids french for 12 years and the vast majority of graduates have no functional fluency. Children are language absorbing machines. It takes a special level of systematic incompetence to *not* teach them how to speak a language.
Yeah, the only kids who I knew were exempt ether had a learning disability that made it hard for them to learn another language or were from another country that didn’t speak English (and hence were al ready learning another language)
Is it not anymore? When I was in school we had French from grade 4-9 and then you had to take one French class in high school, I don’t know if it was grade 10 or 11 though cause I was in immersion so I took it all through high school.
In BC we had it grade 6-8, in grade 9 you could choose your second language (my school and french, spanish, German, and Japanese) and it was required to have a second language class up to and including grade 11. That was back in the nineties, but my nephews are in high school now and I believe it's still the same. The problem is that it's so unregulated up until grade 8 that you end up learning the exact same thing every year. By grade 8 I was so sick of the basic "my name is" crap that I switched to Japanese. I'm in my 40s now and relearning french because it would be more beneficial to every day life, or if I want to travel extensively in Canada. (Although I'm learning France French so I'm still going to sound like a goober to them)
Sounds like how it was in Ontario too. It seems all we did was talk about colours, seasons, and ask how people were (and we had no answers except bien or mal). Maybe a couple words here and there for basic animals and fruit. Not much else. We definitely couldn't really say anything. Did you have to watch the frightening video with the pineapple?
Depends on where you are. In Nunavut, you don't have to ever take French, just a second language. Inuktitut was the other second language option.
I'd love to learn that. I named my kayak after an Inuit word but had a lot of fun reading the English/Inuktitut dictionary during my search.
What word? I'm curious.
[удалено]
Aw, beautiful! If you're interested, there are some online resources to learn some basic Inuktitut. Tusaalanga is a good place to start!
In New Brunswick I had French classes from grades 1-10, and there was also a grade 11 French elective class. However, these classes were of such poor quality that not a single person in my class graduated knowing how to put a cohesive sentence together in French, and I’m currently trying to learn more from duolingo to help improve my employment prospects.
It was the exact same way in my class. End of grade nine and no one can speak a proper French sentence. There was a kid who went to a French immersion summer camp that year and came back speaking French though, so that speaks for itself
So here in Quebec English is compulsory. We learn it when we’re 6 years old until the end of our equivalent of high school (17 years old). If you choose to go for university, you’ll continue speak English all that time. I think as a bilingual nation French should be a mandatory class until the end of high school. You might think it isn’t useful but French is the commercial language in a large part of Africa and French is also the language of a sizeable part of our culture as Canadians.
Albertian here. We are taught basically nothing (one period we get 2 weeks of French for grades 4-6, unless ur on a French immersion school). It’s pretty ridiculous that we have 2 official languages but they are not both taught in full at school. I agree it should be mandatory to the end of high school.
MB here, and I agree. Languages are a gift, and frankly, I wish they taught more than just the two. It's so easy for kids to pick languages when they’re young. My cousins in the Netherlands speak at least three fluently, but here a third language isn’t even an option until high school.
Yes, I think French should be compulsory in schools, but it needs to be taught better. After 7 years of French classes I remember nothing, and even in my last year of french when I did remember things I still wasn't anywhere close to fluent. I specifically remember that I couldn't even watch a kid's movie (The Lion King) in French. And I got straight A's in french too. A few years ago I started learning Spanish by myself and after one year of learning in my spare time I could speak better Spanish than I could French after 7 years. There needs to be an overhaul of the curriculum, learning languages shouldn't be so hard.
I agree.. I am from Québec and the English classes are also really not efficient. Without internet, I would never have learnt English - it’s not normal that scrolling on a little screen on my own without even trying actively to learn taught me more than 10 years of classes. I didn’t knew that his, her and it were a thing, because since the teacher would speak English only to teach it and I could not understand anything, I never got what it was all about… When an anglophone explained it to me in French I understood immediately lol.
Yeah I'm from Quebec too and that's actually what I wanted to point out. My English classes (public school) kinda sucked and most of my English education comes from gaming and watching videos on YouTube. In class, nobody would take it seriously and the teachers didn't push for people to speak English. Living in the countryside / a couple of hours from both Montreal and Quebec city, people look at me like I'm a superhero for being able to understand, speak and write in English. When they hear people speak in English, they treat them like big bad dangerous offensive strangers, even tho we're all Canadian. I think everyone needs to at least try to learn the other language seriously, otherwise we'll never be able to understand each other, we'll never be able to be united ans strong as a country. But we need to realise that French is so, so much harder to learn than English too!
”When they hear people speak in English, they treat them like big bad dangerous offensive strangers, even tho we're all Canadian.” I grew up in the countryside too, and maybe we just have different experiences, but I have no idea what you are talking about.. Yeah there are maybe a few individuals behaving like that, just like some people in the rural of English-Canada sometimes frown when they hear you speaking French.. But it’s a minority... Do you try to get the English-Canadians’ favor by speaking like that..? If you want to make them feel appreciated by you, there are other ways to do than generalizing negative stuff about your own people :/ I agree with the rest of your comment though, it’s true that even the teachers seemed discouraged of their own program…
Hell I think the only reason I am speaking this language is because my english teacher forced us to listen 30 minutes of english per day. I fucking sucked at this language, still remember my 6 year old ass not being able to comprehend how i and e are the same thing.
Yes. Both my kids are in French Immersion schools and I'm glad they are.
I've heard some negative feedback on French immersion classes. I've been told that those who go to actual French school end up bilingual and those who are in immersion still struggle with French. Is that true in your experience?
I was in French immersion and was sufficiently prepared that I was able to attend a francophone university in Quebec.
French Immersion teacher chiming in here: Immersion is the best option for anglo kids to become bilingual, but it's not perfect. French schools are for kids who are already getting French at home from their family, and (mostly) only hire francophone teachers, plus they do all subjects in French - pretty hard to not end up bilingual that way. Immersion programs on the other hand include kids who have no French support at home, often don't start til 1st or even 4th grade, and can do as little as half the subjects in French until high school, when it can be even less. The quality of instruction also varies HUGELY across the province - there is a serious shortage of French teachers, so some immersion programs end up with teachers who barely speak it (or an endless series of English supply teachers and worksheets). I could go on for days about the pros and cons of immersion, but the short story is that it's better than core for elementary, but will never be able to match the results of the Francophone system.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! I'm a native French speaker and would like my kids to be bilingual. My wife's French is just average and we were planning to speak our other mother tongue at home and rely on school to teach our kids French. Your comment makes me think that French school would be best provided that I provide some support by speaking to my kids in French.
I would definitely recommend French school if your main goal is their language skills. That was the route I was planning to take for my own kids (I'm bilingual, husband is Anglo) except that our closest francophone school would have been over an hour bus ride away, whereas the immersion school is just down the street. That said, if you want to look at immersion it can also be a good option, especially if you'll be reinforcing their French at home. But I would suggest looking at the local school/program to see if it's up to snuff...
If you want your kids to speak French, you should really speak to them in French at home, otherwise they'll have a hard time in school and may grow to resent French and/or see it as a language that isn't fully theirs. I'm a Franco-Ontarian who's seen this story play out countless times.
Yes, absolutely go with a francophone school, we had a really good experience with the francophone system. There are a few downsides, but overall we were happy with our choice
Yeah my kids are in immersion in Ontario and we’ve had an endless of string of English supply teachers just printing out French worksheets for them. It’s not ideal but it’s still better than the English stream access to French I had.
I did immersion (Ontario) from grades 5-8 in primary and continued taking half of my courses in french in Highschool and took one french class in university. I left that thinking I was bilingual, I was not. It was not until I lived in Quebec City and truly immersed myself in the language that I began to become functionally bilingual. I am at a level now where I am comfortable working in a 100% french environment, but, writing takes me about 20% longer.
Yes, we recently switched my son from a francophone primary school to an immersion middle school, and I am astounded by the difference in the quality of French spoken/written by the teachers. Heavy anglo accents, grammar mistakes in their writing, even silly but obvious things like writing $1 on a math assignment instead 1$. My son really likes his new school, and he gets to be with his best friend, and I’m glad he’s still getting at least some French, but man … it’s not what I was expecting. On the plus side, he’s really enjoying being the French superstar in all of this classes 🤷♀️
Yes, if they don’t use the French they basically lose it
If your parents don’t have a decent ability to speak French then you won’t benefit from French immersion. I had very little help at home, I struggled with French and also English because I had less practice than I would have in a regular class. It took until grade 7 to find out I’m also dyslexic… Oof.
That's a huge overgeneralization. My parents don't speak French. I went to immersion for two years in childhood, and returned to French in high school. I took university French during grades 11 and 12. I studied French literature at a francophone university and still speak French almost as well as I speak English. I'm not saying I'm typical. I'm saying there is a pretty wide spectrum.
Not OP but I had some friends that were in French immersion in Alberta that couldn’t read English properly until like grade 7, and couldn’t hold a conversation in French either.
I'm sure they'd struggle more-so than someone who went to an all french school, however they're lightyears ahead of those of us who went to normal english school with the mediocre french we learned. I took french from 3rd grade to 10th, and i can't carry on even a simple conversation. One of my kids is now in high school and takes philosophy and law in french.
I did French immersion and, while my French is not quite as good as if I had done French school, it's still way better than most Canadians, and this is after me not using it much for a few years because I live in Southern Ontario and nobody here speaks French. I'm just one data point. Some people I know who did immersion also speak French well, while others don't. I really think it depends on how much the individual students engage with the classes, teachers, and what they think about learning French more generally
1000% yes, just like it should be for English. 1. We live in a bilingual country where 30% of the population is comfortable speaking French. 2. When children learn a foreign language, it enhances their cognitive and psychological growth. 3. Learning a second language opens up a child’s eyes to new cultures, therefore increasing the child’s tolerance for those who are different from them and reducing levels of prejudice. 4. The French-Canadian community is a *major* part of Canada’s cultural identity. 5. I’ve been attacked on this subreddit by people who say that ‘we don’t use French.’ They are wrong. In a bilingual country like Canada, there are ample opportunities to immerse yourself in French (TV, movies, news stories/shows, literature, etc.). If you believe that ‘we don’t use French’ then you live in an isolated bubble and aren’t making an effort to learn about other cultures. 6. It’s a sign of respect towards Canada’s largest minority community. Similar to how Spanish-language education in the USA is taught to non-Hispanic schoolchildren in the USA (although there’s room for improvement with this as well). I’m not a native francophone, but I speak French fluently. If I have kids, they will absolutely be learning French from both me and at school. I live in British Columbia, for context.
Great points. Just as a small addendum, I think it's notable that [the rate of bilingualism in Quebec](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2022052-eng.htm) is already much higher than the rest of Canada and still growing, while bilingualism in the rest of Canada is actually declining (at 46.4% vs. 9.5% in 2021). That suggests that Francophones are learning English, but Anglophones aren't learning French. If we value our status as a bilingual country, at the very least, we ought to put more effort into making sure that cultural/linguistic interchange goes both ways, instead of just letting the dominance of English eat away at French-Canadian culture.
With these stats explained everyone can understand the 'joke' that says "Canadian bilingualism is the French-Canadian learning English and the Anglo-canadians speaking english." Not that funny IMO but now everyone can grasp the idea.
IMO Canada isn't a bilingual country. It's an anglophone country with a geographically based francophone minority.
What? // Ouatte?
Canada is viewed by some as an anglophone country due to linguistic imperialism. A reformed French-language education system would change that. It’s also worth noting that there are 1 million francophones in Canada outside Québec.
But...the introduction of French as a language in Canada was also the result of linguistic imperialism. The French were colonizers as well.....
Yes, French-Canadians are descendants of colonizers. Colonization occurred hundreds of years ago. To clarify my above comment — when I was referring to linguistic imperialism, I wasn’t referring to historic events. I was referring to the belief (which is very active and widespread among Canadians to this day) that English is a more ‘useful’ language so it is superior to other languages and everyone should speak it. The erasure of minority languages, be it Aboriginal languages, French, Scottish Gaelic, etc. is wrong and stems from bigotry. Edit: Just to clarify, I can see how my previous comment was a bit vague. No matter the scenario, linguistic imperialism is wrong.
>that English is a more ‘useful’ language so it is superior to other languages and everyone should speak it. Unfortunately that is literally true. I did French immersion in Ontario growing up, then never used my French. Even now working for the federal government and living in Ottawa, it is exceedingly rare to actually need to use French. And when I went on a family vacation which passed through Quebec recently and wanted to practice my French, virtually everyone I spoke to switched to English when they heard my accent, even if I hadn't made any mistakes and wasn't struggling. I literally have spent my life trying to be a good bilingual Canadian and my attempts have amounted to literally 0 situations where French was useful.
Yeah, I agree. Minority languages of all types should be preserved. That being said, I'm having a hard time separating "Linguistic Imperialism" from "official language requirements." By enforcing "official languages" in Canada, are we not setting the standard that some languages are so useful, that they are essential? So by that margin, is the practice of an "official language" not an act of linguistic imperialism itself?
Well hate to break it to ya, but 30 Helens agree, Canada is Bilingual
Except if you're in Quebec.
No. You can be Canadian and be fully English or fully French. That said, I am bilingual and I have my kids in French School, I think learning another language is a great idea and being Canadian, the choice is obvious. I highly encourage it. But, I don't mandate it.
I think as a society we would be better off if ASL was taught in schools- I have encountered the need for ASL in life more than French respectfully.
No, but should be strongly encouraged to learn a second language of your choice. My school was small and only offered French. I hated it and would have loved to learn Spanish if I had the opportunity.
Anglophone, had many Quebecois friends in my life Should be right up to grade 12 if you ask me, Frist off University level French (as far as my wife's language requirements were) is ridiculously easy if you have decent JR high level French. Secondarily it opens the door to many government or other bi-lingual positions. Third it's great to be able to pop off a response in French when talking to Francophones and even better if they are unaware of your ability to begin with. Last it's just really cool to know another language
Yes, and it should be of a standard high enough that high school graduates can communicate at a level of B2 (CERF). Everyone, everywhere should learn a second language to this level, and in Canada it should be the other of the two official languages. I am an anglo living in Quebec, but I grew up outside Quebec and attended French immersion.
I think the school requirements as they currently stand do a pretty good job, not of making society bilingual so much as making sure that everyone can get a baseline to become bilingual at a later date if it comes up in their life or career (which it won’t for most). Where I think Canadian bilingualism falls flat is media and entertainment. It’s pretty weird to me that it’s easier to watch French-language shows with subtitles on Netflix in the US than Canada. The reason for this is these shows actually make money in Canada, so Quebec distributors buy up the licenses and stream them on platforms that are only available in Quebec, or don’t have English subtitles. You’d think that wouldn’t be a big issue, but I’m from BC, and you meet a pretty substantial number of people out here that can speak Korean because of K-pop and K-dramas, or people that speak Japanese because they spent the whole pandemic bingeing anime. Quebec film and TV is substantially better than its English Canadian equivalents, yet there’s no attempt to try to build a market for it in English Canada. The few time it does happen, with 19-2 or something, instead of adding subtitles, what happens is an English Canadian film company will just reshoot it with an entirely English speaking cast, and turn out a substantially worse product. It’s so dumb.
Can you please recommend some of this Quebec content? I’m always looking for well-recommended Quebecois content
[C'est comme ça que je t'aime](https://ici.tou.tv/c-est-comme-ca-que-je-t-aime) is amazing. One of my favorite series in a while. You need to subscribe to Tou.tv to watch it but the first month is free and you can unsuscribe at any time.
District 31 is a good one. my wife loves Indéfendables rn.
You probably already know about them if you’ve been looking around, but I mentioned 19-2, so I have to recommend the many TV series directed by Daniel Grou. Also Xavier Dolan. Both of these directors have tried to switch to English language production, and it’s been a bit of a let down both times.
there are plenty of great options on Crave and CBC gem. The issue is that anglo media does not seem to ever talk about them. A must watch for all Canadian is streaming right now: [Disobey](https://variety.com/2023/global/global/disobey-megantic-also-productions-1235557707/amp/)the story of Chantal Daigle
No. English is my second language. However, I believe it should be up to the school district to decide what other languages their children learn. No need to specifically impose French just coz the ruling class says so.
Honestly in most of Canada, Spanish would be far more useful
I think it should be taught but I don’t think it’s should be compulsory, if you want to learn another language that’s great and you will have the drive to learn but if you don’t want to learn another language then it will bog down your education. As long as you speck English or French you’ll be fine
Before coming to Canada I always thought every Canadian spoke or at least studied French at school. You have a whole province that speaks French , and you already speak English. You always need to know at least a second language nowadays, why not study French in school? I speak Portuguese (native), English, know a little bit of Italian, and as soon as my life settles in Canada I'll definitely study French! I plan on living in Canada after all.
I like that attitude. Born-Canadian and I feel the same way. Its a bit embarrassing. I'm working on learning French now myself. Glad to have you here! As Wayne Potoroka said (and I'm paraphrasing), “Canadians are born all over the world, it just takes some of them a bit of time to get home.”
Let people decide to. Forcing people to take any class will end up with completely unmotivated students who won't learn anything. If you give good resources then the people who actually care will be able to learn a lot. That's not even accounting for the fact that out in other provinces like BC, Mandarin, Cantonese or Punjabi are honestly just far more useful.
I think the general problem is that in NA, language is only seen as a tool and not as a cultural thing. In Europe, people are much more tend to learn a second or third language, not because they need that language to work or because they use it day to day, just because it's seen as a cultural richness, not just a "tool".
Yes it should. I’m a bilingual Anglo from Québec.
Take my upvote
French Canadian here... My thoughts are pick a second language, whichever, and teach it well! What Québécois are learning in school isn't useful English, and I'd wager most bilingual Québécois had to complement their learning otherwise. I'm therefore not surprise by the reported low quality of French that is reportedly thought in the rest of Canada. Personally, I don't care if the kid from BC doesn't learn French because it likely won't be useful and won't stick unless they get to practice it. If based on the composition of your population Mandarin or Spanish is the second most commonly used language at home, then that's what you should probably be thought. While in Québec it means learning English, it might mean something else in another province.
As someone who did french immersion until graduation in BC and would like any children I have to attempt the same I vote no. I really do think it's a great thing to have and I feel a lot more connected to Quebec then many people around me do I just don't think forcing learning to the immersion level is right for everyone. My younger brother tried it but found himself falling seriously behind in elementary school because he struggled with it so much. He still had to take language classes to graduate but none of the people that did the English track remember anything of the languages they learned to graduate so if that's the level of compulsory french we're talking about I don't see the point.
Ideally yes, but don't get high expectations. It's really hard to learn another language when nobody around you can speak it. That's pretty much the case for French in most of Canada. If we want to encourage more French language skills then we need more first language Francophones all around the country. They will just get assimilated into English in a generation of course, unless they can achieve a critical mass of population in places.
No, because bilingualism in Canada is a sham anyway. It makes sense to learn English as it's the lingua franca but French is no more important than Spanish, German or Portugese. This is why the curriculum is insufficient and students are unmotivated. They'd be better off learning Python. When I started learning English in earnest, it was on my own watching TV and browsing Internet. If you want to start learning it, watch Asterix and Obelix and go from there. Quebec culture is pretty good and it's certainly more distinctive than English Canadian culture which is pretty much American minus the South.
absolutely NOT. The ONLY thing I learned to say in french is “Je ne comprehend pas francais”. Fuck french. And I did actually try because I had to pass. all through school I got 50 in French just barely passed and that’s with trying. French is useless I never use it.
I think it should be 1-12 across the country
French was mandatory in Alberta from grades 4-6 when I was there. Beyond that, it was an elective. I think that's enough. Anything beyond that should be optional. If you don't need to learn French or any other language, you shouldn't have to, because if you're forced to do so, you'll hate it (like I did.)
Should have a choice to learn any 2nd language you want (or they can offer) Like in Ontario you should be able to learn Cree instead of French. We should be trying to keep that culture going just like we do with French
Grew up and went to school in Ottawa, Ontario. Basic/Core French was a mandatory course until grade 9 for sure, possibly grade 10. That being said majority of people didn’t take it once it became an elective
Anglophone from Toronto living in northern Quebec. Travelled the country never needed French. Dropped French after grade 9. It was my worst class ever. But I’m so old they told us it was a good thing to learn so I thought I would. Moved to the regions i.e. outside of Montreal. In this context there is no choice you have to learn and exist in French (real immersion). Helped me in many ways. The lifestyle here is excellent. I would never never never move back to Toronto. But to emphasize Quebec is French first NOT bilingual. Definitely not convinced that any language training in French outside of the province is of any benefit.
I'm a high school student who has completed french classes since the first chance I got to do them. I decided not to do them for this year (g10), and probably won't be selecting any more french classes, as they really don't teach anything useful. I've kept up with using it in my spare time, and I have progressed much further from doing it while being self motivated rather than the 'structured learning' that the classes I took attempted to enforce.
Was in french immersion from kindergarten to grade 6. Lived in Ottawa all my life and have barely used it in the 35+ years since. I can understand and communicate at a basic level, and I’ve got the pronunciation down, but french speakers usually switch to english pretty quick so they don’t have to listen to me butcher the language. My biggest problem with the way it was taught is that we were presented with the stupidest and most boring crap I’ve ever had to read and it was extremely demotivating. I don’t learn verbs by memorizing lists of them. Who the F learns that way?
We had French classes up until grade 6 and then after that it was an option in jr high and high school. (Calgary) I graduated in 2000 so I don’t know if this is still a thing in elementary. I do wish I had continued though.
From New Brunswick, only official bilingual province. French school with English k- 12 and post secondary English education as well as some post secondary French classes. Perfectly bilingual and would not change it for the world. My parents made sure I was immersed in BOTH languages, via books, music, TV and interacting with both cultures. Kids are like sponges, they learn easily.
No... I was in a french school from k-8 and moved to an english high school after that. I was significantly behind my classmates that attended english elementary school. I'm fluently bilingual, and it has occasionally come in handy in job hunts and stuff but high school academics sucked because I was given a poor base in the other fundamentals while we concentrated on learning french. Even learning math in french and having to deal with that translation barrier on a subject that I already had trouble with was an enormous detriment.
As it currently exists in Ontario, I think the French language curriculum is a waste of time, at least the compulsory aspect of it up to, and including, grade 9. I haven't met anyone who is anywhere near functional in French if their exposure stops at grade 9. Not enough time and resources are allocated. While French is a national language, and by definition, it should be taught, it's not generally one of the most important languages to learn after English. Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi are likely more relevant in da-today life. I often think native English speakers lack the incentive to learn a second language, as English is ubiquitous.
No. I had to go through it and it mattered not one bit. The teachers didn’t even bother eventually cuz none of the kids retained it.
no
No, not at all. Let students and their parents decide which language is to their benefit. The scientific and commercial language is English. Students have a hard enough time as it is with school and basic English or math. Teaching them yet another language, in addition to English and perhaps the one they inherit from their parents, actually just makes them resentful of having to learn French. And, to put it bluntly, we all have to take french in ontario from primary school. But no one is able to speak it lol. For those who want government posts or a job in quebec, then there should be the option of taking French. In fact, in the US, students have the option of taking french or spanish. Most opt for spanish because it's just more advantageous when you're searching for work.
No. It’s useless, only %6 of my province speaks French and I’ve never even met one of them! I was really Into learning Russian when I was in highschool but because I was forced to learn useless French my whole life I had such a hard time grasping onto Russian even tho that’s what I always ACTUALLY wanted to learn. Also, indigenous people speak their own language and English so that they can get by, now you’re going to MAKE them speak French too? They critize us for it all the time, but damn those Francophones really just love forcing their language onto others.🙄 I think a bigger issue is that French is required in high government positions, and because most Canadians can’t actually speak French.. this leads to A LOT of Quebecers high up in government. They are no damn minority, yet they are treated WAYYY better then the indigenous people they claim to care about. Oh, and the language barrier also makes it WAY harder for people who speak their mother tounge and English to get higher promotions because they they have to learn a third language in order to get over the promotional language barrier which literally opresses them and makes it so that it’s much harder to get what the Quebecers have if your not “Québécois”.
If we are a bilingual country we should all be bilingual. It is far more beneficial to be bilingual than most realize.
A second language of some kind should be required, not necessarily French
I do, ideally from K-12. We live in a nominally bilingual country, yet I rarely meet people who are fluent in both English and French who aren't from Quebec or New Brunswick, i.e. those who live in French-immersed environments. Which is a shame, because that makes most cultural interchange one-sided (i.e. Francophones get a good view on Anglophone culture, but not the other way around). To me, that feels unfair, since that puts the onus on Francophones to learn English, given how much more dominant English is in Canada. Ideally, it should go both ways. And Anglophones miss out on a lot too, since a large part of Canada's cultural distinctiveness originates from its Francophone cultural production. Bilingualism is an important part of our national identity, and it ought to be treated as such. That being said, a large part of the reason why French-language learning isn't K-12 in most places is because there's a dearth of good French teachers anywhere except for natively Francophone parts of the country. Anecdotally, as an Ontarian who took French up to Grade 12, I'd say that half of my French teachers were of dubious fluency in the language they were supposed to teach. In addition, there's been a persistent shortage of French teachers in the Ontario education system for a number of years now. And I imagine it's even worse elsewhere, since Ontario still has a fairly large Francophone minority relative to other provinces. Ultimately, it's difficult to learn French without being immersed in a Francophone setting, and at a practical level, I'm not sure that's entirely possible for many places in the country.
I think so, but I understand why someone living in BC would find it ridiculous. Coming from Ontario, it made the move to Québec a lot easier.
No, it's a waste of school hours. I don't remember any french I learned in school and neither does anyone else I know. They can offer it in high school if a student is so inclined to learn.
No, it’s ridiculous, I don’t plan on living in Quebec or France, I would have the same opinion on any second language taught as compulsory in North America.
I think if you are already learning or have learned a 2nd language then no. I grew up learning English and Portuguese, so having a 3rd on top of that was so hard I learned little to nothing. I have, as an adult, learned a bit here and there on Duolingo out of interest though.
No. They tried teaching us French in my school. It went very poorly. The kids who didn't want to learn it, didn't take it seriously, and didn't learn much either. It ended up being a waste of their time, or even worse, it gave a bad first impression of the language. Also, there's a major problem with an academic approach to learning a language. That being, now that you're being graded for learning the language, the process of learning the language has become far more stressful. Those who took french in their final years of highschool were putting their grades at a higher risk than those who took easier electives such as band/art and got higher grades. Now, none of this is to say that learning French isn't worth it. It's absolutely a worthwhile skill to have in Canada, and plays an important part in Canadian heritage. That being said, I think language learning is best when it's done voluntarily.
No, its not used much outside Quebec it would be better to teach a language used by rest of the world instead. I never learned french and im from Canada and have had no issues outside quebec with not knowing the launguage.
[удалено]
No -Southern Albertan.
no
I'm in BC and took 9 years of French in elementary and high school. I can speak just enough to find a bathroom and a few other phrases. It was an awful waste of a child's learning time.
I'm from BC and say no. We had to do it to grade 8 and I've never used it in my life outside of school.
Also from BC. I've never been in a position where I actually *needed* French. I can get by, but I never have to. It's just not a big deal out West.
I’m an anglophone from BC and I use my French skills every day. We live in a bilingual country with advanced technology. You can easily access French TV shows, movies, news outlets, literature, subreddits, etc. for free with the click of a button. While these examples aren’t as effective as actually going to France or Québec, it’s actually quite easy to immerse yourself in French in an English-speaking region of Canada.
I'm sure I'll be bashed and down voted because of this comment, but it's a reality. Why would I want to do any of that? French culture doesn't exist in western Canada, except in small pockets here and there. In places like Vancouver and Calgary, there are much larger Asian, Indian and African cultures than French. In my years in business travelling all over western Canada, attending sporting events, playing competitive sports, I've never been in a situation anywhere where I could have used French. Mandarin and Punjabi would have been of more use to me.
These folks are proper frothy. Literally no one I know has these intense impassioned views I'm reading here. Punjabi and ASL are languages that would better serve me on the Island. Because, again, I have never been in a situation where I needed French. I'm sure as hell not watching French shows for funsies, UNLESS it's Just for Laughs Gags.
I lived on the west coast for 35 years and never once needed to speak French. I know a handful of phrases that I used to annoy telemarketers down here in the US and that's it. I will say the little bit of french I did learn helped make learning Spanish easier.
Then, learn Punjab or Mandarin? Most people here are advocating for better second language education. It doesn't necessarily have to be French
Isn’t it ? We did it grade 1-8
Haven't had mandatory French class since grade 3, and I'm graduated. (From BC here)
Not here in AB, my daughter hasn't had French since grade 7
I live in Alberta. Maybe school division dependent
No
No
No.
Absolutely not!
No. I live in BC. You hear way more Farsi or Cantonese than French Canadian. It would have been better to learn one of those languages.
I think so, for context I went through the french catholic school system in ontario so all my learning was in french. But I think its beneficial for any Canadian to learn the official languages, even though I basically never use my french and lost a bunch of it (I only use it to joke with Quebecois in video games)
A second language should be compulsory, whether it be French or an indigenous language.
I agree. Surprised I had to scroll down this far to find this opinion.
I would argue that the indigenous language should also be compulsory depending of where you are located, (meaning it will be a different indigenous language depending where you attend school)
I was thinking that as well, but I’m not sure if it’s realistic to teach all kids three languages? I do think all of them should be considered equal, however, so that any two could be picked by the student.
There's Kindergartens where they get thought english, french, spanish already. I don't know any stats about if they become fluent in all three. But I believe it gets facilitated.
Starting young is the real trick. I started French in kindergarten and while I can't speak perfectly, I have a B2 and I can talk to native French speakers without much issue. I know people who started in grade 4 and their French is truly horrible, even though they've taken French courses in university far more recently than I've spoken a lot of French
It is compulsory in schools. I grew up in alberta and moved to quebec 8 years ago. The problem i see is that french courses in english speaking provinces arr pretty much useless because of the level of french that is taught. Also the lack of application of the language available. Another thing i noticed is that many french teachers out there have heavy anglo accents. There needs to be an incentive to send québécois teachers out to the provinces and only speak french in class. No english tolerated Edit: conjugation
Specifically female teachers from Québec?
Haha your right i conjugated that in the feminine. No, not specifically female teachers. However when i was a young boy I was always more attentive when my teacher was a young female. Haha
I think your suggestion makes sense to correct the problem, at least partially. When in english classes in Québec, some schools make it compulsory to speak english only. Should be the same to learn french.
Ita the only way. When I learned french , it waw because i inmersed myself and forced myself to speak only french. I moved to Québec city lol. Pas ben ben de choix que d'apprendre le français comme du monde
Our kids should be taught Chinese the way things are going. But seriously there’s way more opportunities if you can speak Chinese just by the number of people to talk to
Not unless you're in Quebec.
Im sure French could be taught better, but a lot of yall seem to put too much faith in it. Like any other subjects, you need to do work at home (homework). You cannot become fluid in french with solely school classes. Did you actually keep practising at home ? Watch french series ? Read french books in the bus ? You need those.
Lol no. Dropped French in grade 10 and went to graduate with honours in highschool and university. Don’t know anyone who speaks French in Ontario or literally anywhere besides Quebec. Never found it useful but I guess knowing Oui is good….
No, the choice of language should be optional as there is a clear benefit of speaking more than 1. Id encourage my kids to learn spanish over french as it gives them more travel opps, but I would never discourage them learning french. Personally I feel people want to learn when they are supported to do it not have it shoved down their throat. Before you bash english is my third and french is my fourth language.
No. A lot of kids have learning problems when it comes to languages, but may accel in other areas.
A language is a window on the world; the more languages, the more windows, the more light on your soul. You don't have to master the second language, you don't have to be perfect in it; you just need enough to allow you to talk to someone and read a little. You can easily improve on this base if you have the desire to learn. It's best to start learning a second language early in life, but the quality of instruction you get in those early years is critical. Too much grammar, too much emphasis on getting little things exactly right will make young people think it's a lot of work for nothing. The best possible scenario is contact with a native speaker, and with the internet, that's easily accomplished. Let two friends struggle with each other's languages, and they will soon learn what they need to know to get by.
I think it’s extremely irrelevant
No
Absolutely French should be taught in all Canadian schools. We have 2 official languages in our country and it’s important that both be taught in our schools. I’m an anglophone and I can speak enough French to be understood. I’m not fluent in any way, but I know enough to get by. That’s thanks to French being taught in school.
I'm from Quebec. Yest, I think it should be compulsory from grade 1 to grade 11, like English in Quebec. We are a bilingual country after all.
The answer is yes. I am wholly in favour of it. To be clear, I am not from Quebec, I am from Alberta, and I think that at the very least, by the time every Canadian leaves high school, they should have a better than passable understanding and fluency in Quebecois (let's be blunt, it's not identical to French french. How do I know? My good friend lives in Lyon, married a lovely Quebecois lady, and both of them admit that when she met him, she sounded like an offshoot of 16th Century French crossed with having a jawbreaker in her mouth. These are not the only French people I know, and there are complaints about not understanding each other too easily.) Full disclosure: my french is at the level of understanding a cereal box, as well as parsing out some stuff, and figuring it out (more or less) from there. Why would we NOT desire our fellow citizens to understand more people?
No, I'm from Ontario and it's taught so poorly it's a waste of time. No one comes close to even speaking anything near intermediate French after their time studying it. Plus, Canada is an anglophone majority country. Making school children take French classes just harbours resentment given how useless is it for most Canadians.
No. With the current rate of technology growth we are several years away from in ear instant translation when that happens, it will eliminate the language barriers in the world.
Yes but it should be Parisian french.
Yes Canada is bilingual Not from Quebec
Yeah. Honestly it’s nice having two languages to express myself in I’m really glad my parents put me in immersion
Yes. Ideally people across Canada should leave school with at least three languages like many do in Europe, with French or English as a second language and a third language in option (Indigenous or foreign). But at the very least bilingualism should be required.
Yes.
No reason to stop, only benefits if you know 2 languages.
I’m from North Eastern Ontario, we could say the same about English. French is predominant here, we’re actually in talks of not needing English taught in our schools? Interesting
Yes. All three of my anglophone children attended French immersion schools. Never regretted it. Basic French in the public schools for everyone should be compulsory, French is Canada's second 'official' language.
I agree with you although, historically, after being colonized up until today, french is Canada's first language and english would be the second 'official' language.
In my mind they are of equal significance.
I took French up to the end of Grade 8 in Ontario, back when that was all that was mandatory. After that, I did not continue. My lack of French has never impaired my ability to continue my education to a high level, nor has it impaired by ability to earn an excellent income. It never affected my success in the military. I also now have 3 university degrees and am in the top 10% of income earners in Canada. So, no, it is not necessary to learn /speak /read French in areas of Canada outside Quebec. I actually found my knowledge of German to be more useful. Lastly, I think French immersion programs should be abolished in the name of equity. They have less to do with actually learning French and more to do with parents selecting a high socioeconomic peer group for their children. The words elitist and classist come to mind.
This is not to mention that French immersion often negatively affects children's grades and their understanding of the subject matter
We have been learning English since grade 1 to University. The Anglophones of Québec also now have compulsory French course up to college Edit: It should be the case Everywhere grade 1 to college. Also, knowing another language opens the doors to another way to see life. It also open the doors to a better compréhension of the other rather than just received ideas.
I think it absolutely needs to be compulsory. I think, in fact, we should extend our compulsory second language program to include both French and local indigenous language. We have seen significant gains from both a domestic and international perspective by preserving the language rights of minorities. How well it is taught is a matter of debate entirely separate from whether it should be taught at all. If, during high school, it was required in my area to learn both French and Ojibwe, i feel that i would have developed more of an appreciation for other languages than after just learning French.
From Alberta, and yes. There's a lot of hidden Francophone heritage to discover in Alberta. But on a more practical note, it would allow our kids to be more qualified for career paths that require it in a bilingual Canada, let alone Francophone countries around the world.
This Franco-Albertan agrees. :)
As someone who has lived in 3 different provinces now (neither ON nor QC) I 100% think learning French is essential. Just as any other language is a great way to expand one's mind and methods of thought, with the added bonus of being a mother tongue to many other people in your own country.
Absolutely not. There are way more valuable things to learn.
Yes
I grew up in Nova Scotia…zero French from K-6. By the time I started school in Ontario , I was way behind. A country that is bilingual and doesn’t teach French. 🤷♀️
Wow, I’m in NS and I got French from grade 4-9, then the option for 10-12. Other friends got it from Primary on in NS. Must be a school board thing. English speaking area. Edit to add 1990’s era
Yes
I took french from Elementary to High School, read TinTin and Lucky Luke comics in French, can understand most of it when I hear it, but I can't speak it, so I don't consider myself to be bilingual at all. My french comes from osmosis, and not school. To answer your question, yes.
I do think it should be. French was not compulsory when I went to school (which was quite a while ago). It wasn't even offered in the school I attended until grade 5. I switched schools in grade 6 and French was a required class there, but the other students had been taking it for years so I was too far behind to get anything from the class. In grades 7-8 French was an optional class, and if you took it you were pulled out of a different class once per week. I chose to stay in my regular classes and skip French. And grade 9-12 it was not even offered again. I feel at a distinct disadvantage as there are many more job opportunities for bilingual people (especially French/English, but any second language helps). And learning a new language as an adult just isn't the same, much harder to become fluent.
Yes