Not that long ago, I wrote about my attempts to pass the exam for the DELF B2 French certificate of bilingualism. I had spent months studying and preparing (and listening to French radio all the livelong day) and I just got the results on Thursday and…
I passed. Woot!
Which is all well and good, because it meant I was able to enroll in an online course in teaching French as a Second Language. Which is good (but hard work), because having an FSL qualification is great in the teaching profession. French teachers are always in demand.
Which puts me in mind of a chat I had with a friend over a bottle of Malbec (which, if you haven’t tried it yet, is red wine and delicious). We were talking about school and our kids and learning a second language and French Immersion and then she said, “I don’t agree that kids should be forced to take French. When they grow up they will have no need for it.” To which I countered that there is solid research to show that learning a second language is good for a lot of reasons: it improves the student’s creative thinking and problem-solving skills, and even helps children perform better in their first language. She didn’t disagree, but she feels that people should be able to learn any second language, not just French, in school.
Which I don’t necessarily have a problem with either, except that I do really think that learning French (per se) is very valuable. It’s one of Canada’s official languages, and also the second most commonly spoken language in Canada. Heck, even out here in Alberta more people speak French than any other minority language. Also, it’s one of only six official languages at the United Nations. It’s spoken by over 100 million people worldwide. Along with English (as our first language) it will open a lot of doors for those who study it, outside of all the benefits accruing to learning a second language.
And that’s not to say that learning Spanish (a very popular choice here in Calgary) or Urdu or Mandarin Chinese won’t also open doors. It will. But not more so than learning French will, especially here in Canada. And the French language and culture are, really, an important part of our Canadian culture (for good or ill, depending on your personal political perspective).
So I’m a bit puzzled about her perspective, and I thought I’d bring it to the peeps…what do YOU think? Should French as a Second Language be dropped from the curriculum? Or should we have a menu of second language programs and let each family decide which suits them best? Or maybe we should take all second language learning out of the schools altogether?
You know my opinion, so what’s yours?
first off: long live malbec!
Secondly, as a kid i never wanted to learn french, but oh man do I wish i had now.. I’m toying with the idea of learning it from pretty much scratch at the moment. So i say keep the french!! and definitely other language courses, you never know when they’ll come in handy. Even though my high school french is atrocious, it certainly helped me on a recent trip to france (as did a lifetime of accidentally reading the french label on any food product here in Canada).
When I say Core French isn’t working for the majority, I’m speaking of Ontario, and I mean being able to converse in French. Most kids who take only the minimum (which is usually all of elementary school and one high school) are not able to string a few sentences together. As I said earlier, I am not placing blame on the teachers, I’m not sure what the issue is, maybe it’s lack of motivation for the most part and also, not valuing French).
Speaking French does improve job prospects here, whether it’s government work or not. In Northern Ontario, where we live, there is a very large Franco Ontarian population and many jobs require French because more than half the population is French.
I realize there are problems with French Immersion, I hadn’t heard of the writing issues though.
Wow! Great discussion! Clearly it’s an issue that strikes a chord in us Canadians. Thanks for all the great comments.
I am also a Core French teacher – in Vancouver – where French has been greatly devalued over the years and enrolment has declined. I understand – there is a much greater pull culturally and linguistically towards all things Asian. I grew up having a great passion for French and France and pursued my dreams of learning French and living in France. Today, my children go to the excellent local English school and will only be obligated to study French up to grade 8 after which it is no longer mandated in BC (it becomes an elective). I will support their choice in whatever language they choose to study after that. In all honesty, other than enriching their lives culturally, I cannot see many work opportunities here where French is necessary. I have to disagree that Core French is not working – according to what criteria? I believe it is working and have seen first hand multiple problems with French immersion (writing errors which become engrained due to early emphasis on oral/aural production, difficulty in hiring and maintaining qualified teachers, difficulty in finding appropriate resources….the list goes on).
Interesting topic of discussion. My perspective on language is biased by my own love of languages. I learned French as my third language (immigrant family). I attempted to learn German in highschool (3 years), but I only learned to appreciate it; I could barely put together a few simple sentences. I think that we are so fortunate to have a second official language and that we have the opportunity to really live in French, should we so choose. And let us not forget that intertwined within language are culture and history, so not only are we (children) learning to express themselves in a new language, they are also learning about how French became part of the Canadian fabric. I would personally love to see some aboriginal languages introduced into the curriculum; imagine how enriching that would be to our country!
Kath,
As you know from one of my posts I’ve been pondering French Immersion. I know from my own experience, and my step-daughters, and teaching in elementary school, that Core French is not working. I’m not going to analyze why here, nor place blame on the Core French teachers, but it doesn’t work for the majority of kids.
That is why I chose French Immersion. It’s the best opportunity for my kids to become bilingual. I wish I had gone to Immersion and I know I would have had so many more opportunities had I become bilingual in French & English.
I completely agree that learning a 2nd language benefits everyone. I’m leaning towards letting people choose the 2nd language they feel will benefit them the most though.
Growing up in Southern Manitoba, and in a german community, our schools forced German on the students. In Southern Manitoba, low german, a dialect of mennonites would probably have gotten me further along in communication with elder folks and other kids who spoke the language on a daily basis at home.
Having spent almost 4 years in China, and now back in Canada, I can see the merits of learning mandarin. Next to English, Mandarin is the most used language worldwide, thanks to the huge chinese population everywhere. I took Mandarin for 6 months, and it was a godsend even though it turned out to be “survival chinese” at best. But what I learned has served me well back in Canada in my job working with immigrants who are job searching and have a long ways to go with their English skills.
French may be the official 2nd language of Canada, yet in today’s world with so many options open to students and adults, any 2nd language can open doors. It just depends on where you want to go, what you want do, and how the language will work for you.
Here here to language teachers..no matter what language they teach!
I think the process of learning a second language is invaluable, and for the reasons you mentioned, Kath, French makes the most sense in Canada. With the cutbacks we are facing in education, it is not feasible to offer a menu of choices in every school. There are a number of specialty schools within our local board of education, so if you want to find a Spanish immersion program, for example, you can, even to the high school level. It is available if you are willing to make the effort. I chose late French Immersion for my children for a different reason – the poor reputation of our designated English junior high school at the time, and it has been a fantastic experience. My eldest has chosen to attend his first year of University in French – smaller class sizes, better residence options, and the opportunity to take his second year in Quebec. So I am all for teaching French as a second language in our schools – it opens up more opportunities and at least gives students the option to use it or not as they become adults.
I really believe that it is wonderful that Canada has two official languages, & as long as that is the case, children should learn both. Once they get to high school, the possibility for taking other languages is out there (I think I took two years of German…a lot of good that did me, I think I can ask where the bathroom is & maybe order a beer…okay wait, I guess I did okay!!). But at elementary levels, French should absolutely be THE second language taught. In the US we don’t have an official national language, & the debate is always raging amongst the different factions about what should/shouldn’t be taught. Or if parents are concerned about their child learning a particular language, I’m sure there are many resources out there for that.
Love Lientje’s perspective as a French teacher, it has been so beneficial to her career in Canada, that I can’t understand how a parent can argue that a different public-school-provided language would be better.
I’m a French teacher too – so un grand oui pour le français!!! I teach middle immersion, so the parents’ expectation is that their kid will be bilingual which may or may not happen, so there is a bit of disillusionment there.
However, every job I’ve held has had a french language component, even outside of teaching and has given me opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise had. In teaching, it is my golden ticket, I have a job (!), and it’s close to home at a fantastic school. Without the French, I would likely be supplying or forced to take an assignment far from home.
As for dropping it from the curriculum – no way. If the students are not learning or liking learning French, there is more likely a problem with the way the program is delivered. Language learning should be fun and engaging.
As for the menu, that kind of exists already in Toronto. At TCDSB, there are schools that teach heritage languages as well as French. So where the numbers warrant – there are Italian, portuguese classes, not sure what else. The problem is finding qualified teachers to teach those classes. It’s hard enough finding French teachers!