Before arriving in Quebec five years ago, Abduli Al Qarchi, originally from Yemen and Ethiopia, did not speak a word of French. This year, however, he participated in the creation of a piece inspired by Dear Chekhovby Michel Tremblay, with other immigrants — like Erika Sepulveda, who arrived here from Venezuela two years ago.
Both took part in workshops organized by the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM) in collaboration with the host organization CARI St-Laurent and the Yves-Thériault francization centre.
Mme Sepulveda and Mr. Al Qarchi say they live mainly in French in Montreal. “I even lost my English when I arrived,” says the man. I studied French at school, […] and outside, I wanted to practice. »
Language, history, culture
Beyond theatre, this project by the TNM’s cultural mediation team is intended as an introduction to the language, history and culture of Quebec. Because between learning French at school and speaking it in the street, there is a world. And who better than Michel Tremblay to accompany newcomers on this journey?
Lê Thoa Phuong, who is originally from Vietnam, but who has lived in Quebec for 43 years, notes how the Quebec language sometimes swallows syllables when speaking. We go from “I’m here” to “I’m here”, from “I don’t want to” to “I don’t want to”, even to “I don’t really want to”. ” I love that ! ” she says.
“Sometimes we add syllables, and sometimes we take them away. There are no rules, and it’s difficult to navigate,” remarks Morad Ait Abdellah, who arrived from Morocco four years ago.
When she arrived in Quebec 50 years ago, Jacqueline Romano-Toramanian, originally from Egypt, said she understood nothing of Quebec French even though she had attended the French high school in Cairo. “Sometimes I spoke to people in English because I was afraid of not understanding [leur réponse]. »
First steps
Through this workshop, the TNM also hopes to bring immigrant audiences closer to Montreal stages. Many newcomers had never attended a Quebec theater before seeing the play. Dear Chekhov.
For Claudia Bilodeau, head of cultural mediation at the TNM, the goal of this type of workshop is to place theater at the service of people, “at the service of learning French and culture”.
“Because through the workshops, we learn who Michel Tremblay and Réjean Ducharme are, for example,” she says. We learn the historical context. We spoke, for example, of sisters-in-law, in 1968, of why it had these repercussions. It is necessary to locate the works well. So, through them, we learn about the history of Quebec. And we learn to speak that language. Personally, I think it takes practice. I find it super important to put it in the body. So it’s really using the theater to learn French. »
The group led by Mme Bilodeau has recently arrived immigrants, but also others who have been here for a long time. “Sometimes, it’s quite colorful texts,” she says, with “pas pantoute” pronounced with accents everywhere. »
But getting in touch with these men and women to bring them to the stage is not easy: Nafila Karatas, social integration counselor at CARI St-Laurent, often has to directly suggest that people get involved.
But by writing a text and saying it out loud, participants quickly gain confidence and quickly find pleasure in it. “We see that there are people who do it and who are at the same level as us,” says Morad Ait Abdellah.
The project is the subject of a documentary video entitled Chat with Tremblayaccessible on the TNM website