Should French Be Mandatory Through School ?
When learning French is brought up during a conversation, it is quickly shut down. Although French is used in over twenty countries. It has been proven that knowing French opens you up to so much more, but people still do not seem to want to learn to speak it. The question is why? Why would you want to deny yourself of the knowledge of one of the most known languages in the world? For us as Canadians French should be mandatory to learn from first grade through twelfth grade. French being the second language in Canada, it is important for our people not only be literate in English, but to also be literate in French. Be bilingual opens Canadians to greater experiences, and better jobs.
Knowing how to fluently speak French sets students up for further success in the working
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the answer is simple; young Canadians should be required to be fluent in both our languages. We live in a bilingual country, so why do we take the opportunity for further success after high school, the knowledge that is beneficial and the sense of continuing the culture from these young Canadians? French should be taught through grade school and high school to give our young students the chance to succeed in our second language, benefiting them down the road. There is no excuse of why people who go to an English speaking school don’t learn how to fluently speak French. In our French schools students learn English from grades one through twelve, which allows French people become fluent in our first language English. So if it’s mandatory for them why isn’t it mandatory for us anglophones? It is our second language people! and it shouldn’t be taken away from our students. Our country should be fully bilingual and we need to start by making it mandatory for students to take French throughout
Being an English speaker myself it is very encouraging and helpful that I am perfectly bilingual, being bilingual has helped me in the work force, in my studies and in my social life. These are some factors that have English speaking Quebecers speak more French and really made an impact among English and French speakers of Quebec. In Bernard Landry’s video he talks about speaking to his cousins that live in British Columbia and displays how they have lost their French Background it is in the Parti Quebecoise best interest to prevent this from happening. As we have seen, la survivance was the notion that fuelled traditional Quebec nationalism. The Quiet Revolution gave rise to a new type of nationalism in Quebec which had a different vision of the state and its ability, through its institutions, to help the French survive (L7, S49). The French-English divide was further aggravated when the Quebec government decided to use its institutions to implement legislation to ensure the survival of the French language in Quebec. This caused a great deal of controversy in English .In an attempt to counter such nationalist language tactics and appease the French, the federal government also used its institutions to enact legislation related to language. There is no doubt that the
Task: Describe the variations in the levels of literacy in Old Regime France and trace these variations over time. Analyze the factors that promoted or discouraged the spread of literacy.
The percentage in other provinces is not that great, however, it shows that Quebec's laws are working. By making French education more widespread, the laws have protected the French language by developing it further outside of the small francophone community. In addition, anglophones who graduate from bilingual postsecondary programs have a higher understanding of the French language than the actual ability to speak or write it (Mougeon). This proves that the French language is inadequately taught in other provinces as these programs do not properly teach the ability to speak the French language in a way the will be useful in everyday life. Quebec’s language laws-which makes the French language be taught in all school subjects from a young age-establish at least one province that teaches the
Among the other five regions of Canada, Quebec is the only one whose majority is francophone. Quebec society features a culture conflict that is the basis and evident of one of Bone’s faultlines. That faultline in the Quebec region is the French/English fautline. This fautline is currently active; today many people living in Quebec speak both French and English. The fact that one fifth of the population does not speak French is still significant because things would need to be communicated verbally/non-verbally (written) in both French and English so that everyone understands. According to Statistics Canada (Census 2016), in Quebec, the number of people that spoke French most often at their home was 79%. Again, is still a decrease from the 80% recorded in 2011.
We have to know that experts don't come here because Bill 101 states that these children must go to French school. Since this law, only children who have an English parent can have the right for English education. The Beauce Deputy, Maxime Bernier, said that everyone in Quebec should be able to speak a minimum of French but we shouldn't try to reach this goal by restricting people's rights and freedom of choice. This law gives us less diversity and affect our occasions to interact with other countries even if it is for an investment or a job. We can't forget that English is the most important international language all over the world. Mastering it is a major
According to professor Brian Mcneill, people started using two languages when Sir John Alexander Macdonald became the first prime minister of Canada. More specifically, it was believed people used to think that people who spoke English could not make any good relationships between them and people who spoke French, however, Mr. Macdonald proved that people who were from English-speaking countries could get along well with people who were from French-speaking countries by showing citizens the actual great connections between Mr. Macdonald and his friend from France. This is the reason why Canadian citizens agreed with the idea that British colony Canada be together with French-speaking territory Quebec as one nation, and then Canada became English-French-mixed country. From this story, this is very clear to understand how important the Canadian Confederation is on the Canadian
Canada was set up to be a bi-lingual country for both English and French to be equally represented in the government. However, the number of French speakers began to disappear in the country. “In Quebec, 7.7% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 78.1% reported French only, and 12.3% reported only a non-official language, in 2011. In comparison, the national percentages were 56.9% for English only, 21.3% for French only and 19.8% for non-official languages only” (Canada). While the providence is not officially bilingual, it is apparent that francophones are dominant in Quebec and Anglophones are more common in the rest of Canada. Before traveling, one should be sure to make note of the prominent language within that city to be
According to research conducted after the 1995 referendum, a large number of Quebecers, who speak French, believe that there is a real threat to the language. This is due to the fact that in the early 90s, francophones were the majority of people in Quebec, but that in the late 90s, they started to become the minority, which obviously scared a lot of people. By looking into more research as
The Canadian Constitution ensures duality of French and English in language. The Constitution (1867) states that both French and English "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," (Section V). However, the French language is a definite minority throughout most of Canada, with Quebec as an exception. In 1977, Bill 101 was passed through legislature, which defined French as the official
The current collective vision of national identity in Canadian society is that Canada is a pluralistic society, where their is many members from all different types of ethnic groups and where Canada accepts all immigrants from around the world. Canada is also known as one of the most multicultural nation states, which allows individuals to practice and maintain their culture and traditions without fear of their rights being restricted. Canada is welcoming and open to the many different cultures and ethnicities from around the world, everyone is also equal under the law. Through Canadian history many members were excluded from our current collective vision. Some members of the current collective vision feel excluded, because of how with a
One reason why Spanish should be a necessity in schools, is that many schools require students to take a language already. Saying this, throughout the entire country, budgets are being cut in the language departments in schools. Many schools do not even have a German, or a French program accessible to children as an option. “Most high schools offer several years of foreign language– most are typically Spanish, Sometimes Spanish classes are mandatory, other times they are electives–but you should take advantage of these courses” (Fernandez.) Furthermore, requirement is so incredibly vital to college applications these days “Many colleges require a certain number of years of a foreign language before you can be admitted–or if you lack that, you’ll be required to take several foreign language courses once you attend their
Experts claim the goal of the law was to Quebec used to be a French Colony. The majority of bilingual people live in Quebec. In fact immigrants to Quebec have increased that number (Lepage and Corbeil). Dion (4) supports this view. While some people claim that French which is second language is not necessary to teach.
The third key point is understanding the language. At the end of the article, the author was skeptical of ever learning French. When fall arrived, while in class the author was called out by the teacher and scolded. It was at that time when the author realized that he was able to understand what was being spoken in French. He then states, "understanding doesn't mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It's a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive." This key point supports my claim because it shows that learning a new language is not an
Knowing another language puts a person in an advantage of carrier selection. In our extreme and fast moving environment, people who know more than one language have more employment opportunities. Many professional firms require knowledge of second language. And people who know a second language have a huge advantage over those who do not.
Students with foreign language skills can find jobs more easily than students without. Many employers look for applicants with basic foreign language skills. Language skills are also important for positions with international companies. Job security and higher pay for employees who know a foreign language are other possible benefits. Since only twenty percent of students in the United States take a foreign language, the ones who do have an advantage. Also,