I am happy to learn that French teachers have proposed a reform of past participles to Bernard Drainville, the Minister of Education.
These professors want to simplify the rules and abolish the exceptions, which I remember can be very confusing and complicated to integrate.
Maybe not everyone has had an experience similar to mine, but I remember very well the confusion I felt in high school in my French classes when it came time to practice our past participles.
Even though I was generally fluent in this subject, I remember not understanding why certain past participles were subject to exceptions, which I and most of my classmates thought didn’t make sense. This had the effect of demoralizing us to integrate the material.
Isn’t it time learning the French language was less daunting?
Changes are needed
As mentioned in The Press and taken up in an article by 24 hours published this week, the reform would simplify certain aspects of the notions of past participles.
“- Past participles without auxiliary agree like an adjective with the noun or pronoun.
– Past participles with the auxiliary be agree with the subject.
– The past participles with the auxiliary avoir are invariable.
It’s a feeling I’ve had for a long time: the endless exceptions in the French language spoil the pleasure of learning.
We are no longer at 17e century. In 2023, perfect mastery of the French language is no longer reserved for an elite.
This is why, without distorting the poetic and rigorous nature of this language, it is necessary to make it more accessible in order to encourage as many people as possible to honor it and not fear it.
People who learn French deserve to have their lives simplified, at least a little.