Many Ukrainians will not have access to French lessons until September, for lack of teachers to give them, learned The duty. Eager to begin to integrate, some have even begun to Frenchify themselves thanks to volunteers who give lessons online or in person.
An English as a second language teacher, Natalia Terefelska had initially fled kyiv thinking of settling in an English-speaking city in Canada, but a family from Cowansville convinced her to settle here. “I notice that Quebec is more beautiful and more European than the rest of Canada, we are happy to have come”, says this mother who lives alone with her two children, while the father is still in Ukraine. “We quickly understood that we need French if we want to plan our future here. »
Arrived last April, Natalia Terefelska would have liked to quickly start learning the language, but she could not. When she registered for francization at the SERY organization in Granby (Solidarity Ethnic Regional of Yamaska), she was told that classes, full-time and even part-time, were off in the summer. “I was told that everyone was on vacation and that it was starting in September,” she says.
Same story in Quebec City, where Nadyne Tremblay, with the help of friends and extended family, is hosting three women and two children who arrived from Ukraine two weeks ago. “They are just waiting for that to be able to speak French in order to be able to work,” explains Ms.me Tremblay. She had heard of a two-week “express course” which began last Monday in an adult education center in Quebec, but it quickly sold out.
“There is another course that starts in a week near here and which is given by volunteers. We don’t know if he’ll have room,” she says, adding that she’s not surprised that once again the community is competing in ingenuity and generosity to help Ukrainians. “From the beginning, the government left us to ourselves. We have to manage. »
Break in the summer?
Carlos Carmona, of the Regroupement des organizations en francisation du Québec, recognizes that the summer is quieter. But part-time courses should in principle continue for all registered immigrants. The next session is due to start on July 11. “Community organizations in Montreal are instructed to prioritize Ukrainians over other people for part-time courses that start in July,” he said.
At the Immigrant Community Support Center, nearly 50 part-time francization groups are awaiting approval. “For now, we should be able to open all our groups,” said director Anait Aleksanian. Many immigrants have started to travel again in the summer, but this is compensated by the Ukrainians who arrive, she adds.
However, some part-time courses may not open, particularly in the regions, due to a lack of manpower. These courses are given by non-permanent employees in a more precarious situation, who can however choose not to teach in the summer. “There are plenty of teachers who have been teaching for 20 years and who have no tenure. They end up having had enough and tell themselves that they won’t do something that doesn’t tempt them,” explains Jean Vallières, president of the Union of State Teachers of Quebec, who does not hide being in full negotiation with the ministry.
As for full-time courses, they do not start before the end of the summer, because many of the 70 permanent teachers — out of a total of 550 — who hold them take vacations. Mr. Vallières would like the offer of full-time courses not to be interrupted in the summer, but to do so, the working conditions, in particular salaries, would have to be more attractive.
Asked about its offer of francization courses for the summer, the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) did not answer the questions of the To have to.
Frenchify yourself
Just a month ago, Yuriy Yatsiv, a Ukrainian who works in the IT field, landed with his wife and son in the Capitale-Nationale. “I’ve always wanted to study French and I already know English,” he told the To have to. “It motivates us to learn a new language. »
Since registering for francization on May 20, he has had no news from the MIFI. In its Declaration of Customer Service, the latter undertakes, however, to allow an immigrant to begin their full-time French course ” […] within a maximum period of 50 days after receipt of [la] application for admission “.
“We understood that there are a lot of requests and that nothing will start before September,” says Sébastien Dessureault, who hosts the Ukrainian family and accompanies them in their efforts. “Yuriy said to himself that if it was not possible to learn French in the classes of Quebec, he was going to arrange something by himself. »
A few weeks before arriving, Yuriy Yatsiv had started an online language school in particular to give free English lessons to his compatriots wherever they are in the world. When he arrived in Quebec, he wanted to offer – and follow – online French lessons, which is now possible thanks to volunteers, including Lucie, a Quebecer who has just started teaching the language of Vigneault on Zoom. “We have to help each other. We don’t have time to sit and wait for a miracle,” the father said.
Francization courses are also given by school service centres. It was to them that Lise Vincent, a teacher from Terrebonne, turned, seeing that the Ukrainian family she welcomed in April could not begin francization before the fall. “If we want them [les membres de la famille] integrate, I found that September was a long way to start learning French. She is delighted with the proactivity of the Center de services scolaire des Affluents, which took her request into account and called back people who had shown interest in opening a course. “Now they’ve been in class for four weeks. They are already making small sentences. I am proud of them. »