Posted at 4:00 p.m.
Primary and secondary rather than CEGEP
I am an English speaking former student. I don’t understand why we insist on French at CEGEP, we need to give more French lessons to English-speaking elementary and secondary students. When I arrived at Cégep, my level was the equivalent of a third year of writing French. So you can imagine the difficulty of finding a job in a French-speaking company.
Natacha Michaud
The common language of Quebec
The solution is too soft. It is imperative for all Quebecers to express themselves in French, since it is the common language of Quebec, rich in its culture and its history. Let French courses be imposed on English-speaking CEGEP students, so be it! It was high time. We must also stop funding a system that anglicizes us. We do hara-kiri. It is abnormal that Dawson has only 44% English-speaking students. This is nonsense. The remaining 56% are either Francophones or Allophones who should study in a Francophone CEGEP.
Francois Garceau, Two Mountains
Useless arguments
My husband and I come from families that speak three languages. The richness that these have brought us is indescribable and that is why it is difficult for us to identify with the disputes that fuel our society today. There are several problems at the present time with regard to the teaching of the French language in Quebec. The government and the political parties have lost sight of the real problems and are unable to come up with constructive solutions. We have experts who know the basic problems and possible solutions. Where are these experts? Do we listen to them? Let us bring constructive ideas to this debate. It is imperative to stop these useless disputes.
Flavia Fagnani
French enriched as a second language
Your journalist Louise Leduc published an article about an “enriched English as a second language program » which could be offered (optionally) in 6and primary year. Why aren’t we considering, at the same time, the possibility of also offering on an optional basis (we have to be fair) an “enriched French program as a second language » for 6-year-old English-speaking studentsand primary year. Would the attraction for English-speaking parents be less great for this program? We’re talking, there!
Richard Genest, Laval
A regional indigenous language
Hello-Hi,
Why should allophones and anglophones in the Montreal region need to learn French to shine? The president of Air Canada, the board of directors of CN, the players of the Canadian, the young francophones who want to go to Dawson to succeed… We listen to American TV, Netflix, Spotify… I lived in Montreal for 50 years, in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, I was never approached in French in the street. French in Montreal is not a reflex.
Bilingualism is knowing how to speak English, which is why after almost 45 years of Bill 101, the majority of allophones and Anglophones in Montreal perceive French as a regional indigenous language that is useful if you ever go to Quebec for an end of week. Law 101 must be applied at CEGEP, the sandcastle is crumbling, the tide is rising. I am Canadian…
Sylvain Garneau, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures
Extend Bill 101 to CEGEPs
The government was a good player in agreeing to amend Bill 96 to allow rights holders the choice of taking three French courses to replace the original suggestion of the Liberals, who later changed their minds. The fact that young Anglophones speak much less French than their elders is very worrying and this measure will surely help. But we should have extended Law 101 to CEGEPs, which is a consensus in the population.
Lawrence Tremblay
Poor impoverished Quebec!
In the 1970s, Quebec lost vital forces – doctors, lawyers, artists and others – convinced that they were not wanted. New linguistic impositions (rather than constructive consultation) repeat the same dramatic mistake. Poor impoverished Quebec!
David Bensoussan
These Quebecers who do not know their own language well
Even though my mother tongue is French, I attended English-speaking primary and secondary schools because I am a “rights holder”. After high school, I chose to attend a French-speaking CEGEP. This change allowed me to discover Quebec and French literature that I fell in love with! I think it’s a good idea to impose French courses on all CEGEP students in Quebec. Allow them to discover Quebec literature and culture. But let’s not forget the real problem, which is the deplorable quality of the French of young people coming out of French-language secondary schools. It seems to me that there is a lot of concern about the flight to English-speaking CEGEPs, and this is undoubtedly an issue in Montreal, but the real problem in my opinion, throughout Quebec, is Quebecers who do not know write well in their own language.
Jessie Greene, Quebec
Back before the Quiet Revolution
If the government wants to make anglophone colleges less attractive to francophones and allophones, it should improve the quality of instruction in English in francophone colleges. Why not respond to the new requirements by inviting students from English-speaking colleges to take courses in French colleges and vice versa? The government’s fear of people being exposed to English is insular and backward. It looks like the CAQ wants to take us back to a time before the Quiet Revolution, with government replacing the Church. Young Quebecers want to be citizens of the world. The CAQ wants to pretend that the world outside Quebec does not exist. Bill 96 is worse for young francophones than for young anglophones. Increasingly, young Quebecers in the Montreal region want nothing to do with the Quebec nation, which they perceive as an ideological prison.
Simon Fanning
A wealth that makes a society grow
In Europe, many people speak more than two languages. Knowing how to express yourself in more than one language means being open to others. It is a wealth that makes a society grow. We should be proud to be able to speak and read more than one language.
John Rousseau
particularly well inspired
I thought that the public Anglophone network did a good job of immersing its students in learning and mastering French. Obviously, the PLQ believed it too. Instead of correcting the situation and better equipping children, we prefer to exempt CEGEP students from this requirement to take three courses in French. The Anglophone School Board and the PLQ miss the boat and come out weakened. The Anglophone community sees this failure and does not demand better results. Misery ! On the other hand, the parliamentarians’ solution of requiring three courses in French or three courses in French is particularly well thought out!
Ginette Lamontagne, Outremont
An additional charge for CEGEP students
The goal of helping people learn French is laudable. Bilingualism is an asset for everyone. But that should happen before CEGEP. The workload of CEGEP students is already heavy. Taking language classes in addition to regular classes will hurt them. Otherwise, replacing courses in the programs with language courses will diminish their competence in their field of study. It should also not be forgotten that indigenous students already bear the brunt of having to learn in a colonial language while working to preserve their own languages.
Jacky Vallée, CEGEP teacher, Montreal
Allophone scapegoats
I am disgusted by this law. Allophones are still the scapegoats for the decline of the French language while Quebec has one of the worst high school dropout rates in North America. Who masters French better, Francophone dropouts or Allophones pursuing post-secondary studies? As an allophone, I am tired of being told by the government that I am not “Quebecois” enough; that allophones do not speak French well enough. We speak and write it as well as our French-speaking compatriots, often even better.
The decline of French, both written and spoken, is also occurring in Francophone communities. What will the government do? This law won’t solve anything if we don’t tackle school dropouts, but as always, it’s easier to blame allophones.
An allophone knows the value of languages and recognizes their beauty, can we say the same of a unilingual Francophone who can neither speak nor write French according to the standards that the government imposes on allophones?
An allophone (perfectly quadrilingual) and enraged.
Sophia Koutsoyannis
Major factor of anglicization
This is a very small step in the right direction, but clearly insufficient. The workplace where I worked until last year in a multinational in downtown Montreal is further evidence that many young Concordia and McGill graduates are unable to work in French, and therefore in the presence of he one or two young English-speakers means all the speakers automatically switch to English. It is a major factor in the anglicization of the greater Montreal region. This major decline in the French language brings us back to the workplaces of the 1950s and 1960s.
Christian Groulx, Nuns’ Island (Quebec)