Far from the political clamor of language debates, thousands of immigrants tackle the task of learning French every day in Quebec. The duty was invited to a French class throughout the session. Today, fifth and final foray: students are nervous before exams.
“I talk a lot, a lot now,” says Mahdu Chhanda, waving his hands between smiles. The young woman from Kolkata, India, arrived early for this last course and she does not hide her stress about the exams the following week, which must conclude the first French course.
“I love it” is probably his favorite verb. She has visibly become more comfortable, even if the language still fits her a bit like clothes that are too small. This is because he would still need a lot of vocabulary to follow his rapid, cheerful and laughing rhythm of words. No matter, like many Indians, she is already multilingual and will not stop there.
Quebec is her “present and future” project, she says. Students learn how to conjugate past and future tenses in lesson 2, but to do this she will need to pass her exams the following week.
It is “generally” a majority of students who move on to the next class, says teacher Michel Usereau. The mindset should not be to get the best grade possible or to move to the next level at all costs: “The goal is to improve language skills. Some will even ask to repeat the beginner’s course,” he relates.
But when faced with the news of failure, “some take it badly, some cry,” continues Michel, as all the students call him. There will perhaps be three or four students who will have to go through the same concepts in the coming weeks, he admits. A student also gave up along the way, called to return to China. She had confided to Duty, during our third visit, that the professional integration was not at all up to his expectations.
A certain closeness and complicity developed with their teacher through gesticulating in French as he knows how to do so well. They will say “see you next time” on the Monday following our visit during a lunch composed collectively, in the plural of their origins. “I’m bringing a Queen Elizabeth cake,” says the teacher, the mere mention of which makes one salivate.
Cohorts are generally maintained from one session to the next, but a rotation of teachers is often preferred. They will thus be exposed to another way of speaking and other teaching methods.
Tenacity
Eleven weeks is short, and long at the same time, when we consider their lives accelerated by settling in a new country. Even if they study French for 7 hours a day, most have a second full-time occupation, whether it be studies or work.
So a lot of things happen outside the walls of UQAM, where they take their courses. Zeinab passed her big doctoral exam. Merhnosh moves to the South Shore. “My apartment is close to the river, and there is a large park,” she says, entirely in French. Shane is considering leaving Montreal if he doesn’t find the job he’s looking for. Twana wants a promotion.
As for Shahryar Eghbal, from Iran, and Yash Patel, who also comes from India, their ability to speak French was unlocked in a few weeks. More discreet during the first weeks, they caught up with the others in fifth gear. “I like that the apartment is located at 16e floor, because I love the sun. It’s furnished. Parking service too, for visitors, is rare in the city center. I don’t have a car, but sometimes my friends come to visit me,” Yash says in one breath, during an exercise in describing his apartment.
“It makes me proud,” Michel told him. He does not miss the opportunity to recall this learning of emotions: “You remember, we recently learned this formulation, which is not always easy. »
The goal is to improve language skills. Some will even ask to repeat the beginner course.
Gaïssa, originally from Syria, put the family apartment up for sale, while taking care of her four children. She once pronounces “electro-manèges” for “household appliances”, but her efforts are constant, and her perseverance is welcome. Her eldest daughter in the same French class surpassed her in her learning. Young people assimilate the language more quickly, “everyone knows that,” says Gaïssa.
After the break, it is time to use the formulation “I feel” or “he feels”. We watch a sketch from the Quebec comedy show Like me. Students must then describe what the characters want or do not want to do. And even if they don’t grasp all the nuances of this new humor for them, most of them smile. Zeinab even uses the very local formulation, “he’s stupid”.
Finally, in turn to conclude this course, they will talk about the hard-won confidence in this sometimes stubborn language. “What’s the important thing you learned in the course?” » asks the professor. “I practice French all the time. My confidence is increasing because I have been talking a lot for three months,” replies Shahryar, who says he practices with his wife at home. “Before, I hated learning languages. For me it was difficult. But now, I can say that I love French,” Zeinab also says.
“Thank you for giving me the motivation to be a student,” Gaïssa will say to thank the teacher at the end of the course. It is then his turn to have his eyes almost moist. “Thanks for making the language easy,” Yash also retorts. And Mahdu, clapping his hands: “Thank you for the patience. »