Is the quality of French important to you, in your professional life as well as in your personal life? In just a few clicks, the Language Showcase answers all your questions about spelling, grammar, syntax, borrowings, terminology related to specialized fields, epicene writing and more. Overview of this new tool offered by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF).
Recently put online by the OQLF, the Language Showcase is equipped with a search engine allowing simultaneous consultation of the Linguistic troubleshooting bank (BDL) and the Large terminology dictionary (GDT). This platform designed in Quebec greatly simplifies the lives of writing and communications specialists, business people and the general public, including the student community, who find a wealth of additional information in one place. As one of the linguists we consulted to test the Linguistic Showcase remarked: “It’s a huge step forward, and the benefits are considerable, for anyone who consults it. Everything is there, the amount of information is impressive – you could say that the Language Showcase is to French what the Louvre is to art! »
A user-friendly interface
The Linguistic Showcase offers all the content and referential ecosystems of the BDL and the GDT as well as a range of new functionalities. Among these, note effective search filters to refine the results, as well as a search history retracing previous consultations, in short, everything that helps to simplify our task.
To search for information, nothing could be simpler: you enter one or more keywords in the search field, and thanks to the semi-automatic completion, suggestions appear as soon as at least three characters are entered. All that remains is to select the most relevant related query. To search for a specific expression, we recommend enclosing the query in quotation marks, as is done in other search engines. It is also possible to consult quick links to access information from the OQLF on popular subjects or frequently searched for.
Encouraging work teams to use the Language Showcase helps promote the French language not only within an organization, but also in society.
The search engine gives access to the combined information of the BDL and the GDT; to refine your query, however, you can exclude one of these tools by unchecking the corresponding box, which will reduce the number of results. Quit checking it again if necessary! Remember that you can query the BDL for questions concerning grammar, spelling, syntax, vocabulary, borrowings, punctuation, pronunciation, typography, proper names, abbreviations and symbols, or even writing and communication. As for the GDT, it is consulted mainly to obtain information on the terminology of specialized fields, on the French equivalences of English terms (or certain other languages), as well as on the definition and acceptability of words. The terms are presented on terminology sheets in French and English, and some are even multilingual.
In addition, resources are made available to teachers, such as educational workshops, contests and infographic checklists. In addition, people who consulted French at the office can find all of its content on the site, including updated models of written communications (emails and letters). Finally, the platform offers exceptional tools for people learning French.
In short, the Language Showcase is a complete and unfailingly reliable source of information that can be consulted both in a business context and in a personal capacity.
Essential tools and resources for organizations
Encouraging work teams to use the Language Showcase helps promote the French language not only within your company, but also in society. And quality communications are good for the brand image! In this regard, the Language Showcase is a destination of choice for consulting or downloading practical content, which is particularly useful in a professional context.
These include lexicons and vocabularies classified by theme covering fields as diverse as health, the environment, law, management, transport and sports, as well as emerging sectors such as e-commerce, artificial intelligence and video game professions. By providing access to French terms, these lexicons and vocabularies are useful to organizations that must francize their workplace.
The Language Showcase also offers a series of capsules intended for organizations on subjects such as the names of companies or services and the use of quality French in communications and social networks. Also to be discovered: relevant reminders such as Writing in social networks: best practices at a glance And Epicene writing, within everyone’s reach… and everyone!.
Finally, the platform offers around sixty models of written communications, ranging from the acknowledgment of receipt to the termination of the contract, including the call for tenders, the letter of resignation, the collection letter, the formal notice and responding to a complaint.
For more information, visit vitrelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca.
Issues ? Answers!
The Office québécois de la langue française ensures compliance with the Charter of the French language. It oversees the implementation of corporate francization measures and public administration compliance programs so that French is the language of work, communications, commerce and business. It also promotes the use and quality of the French language and reports on the evolution of the linguistic situation in Quebec.
This content was produced by Le Devoir’s special publications team in collaboration with the advertiser. Le Devoir’s editorial team had no role in the production of this content.
To find out more about the Language Showcase