I was a boy in Montreal, the largest city in the French-speaking province of Canada. However, it was the time of two solitudes in which the English did their thing and the French did theirs. Living in English was very easy, and young AC and everyone he knew were unilingual. Too bad, but that it the way the it was.
There were three English elementary schools fairly close to where I lived, and in 1960, they built a new English high school for me and all of the baby boomers as we began to enter that phase of our lives. A year later, they built another English high school for my friends who lived on the other side of the imaginary school border. That is where my closest friends went.
Even though we took French in school from grade 3 onward, it was just a subject, and I didn't become very adept. In fact, when I transferred to school in Ontario at the age of 15, I found they were ahead of me in some ways, certainly in reading. This was the case, even though, at that time, they didn't start French until grade 9 or maybe senior elementary.
Of course, that late start in Ontario hasn't been the case for a long time, and most schools and boards also have a form of French immersion from first grade and onward for those who desire it. My grandkids continue to take some subjects en francias, even in senior high school.
I also hasten to add that by the time I started teaching, 10 yeas after I left Montreal, English kids who moved to Southwestern Ontario from Montreal could speak French very well.
I have been sorry to not have learned Canada's other official language better. I did have the notion to makes amends in retirement. I remember signing into Duolingo, but the problem was that my hearing was compromised enough by then that I could not pick up the nuances of pronunciation. I soon threw in the towel, right after throwing my hands up in despair.
Even though I moved away more than sixty years ago, my favourite hockey team is still the Montreal Canadiens. I almost bleed the bleu, bland et rouge (their colours). In fact, the Canadiens (or Habs, as in habitants) are now my only sports interest at all in all sports. I guess tennis is an exception, but it isn't a team sport, and I cannot follow it in the same way.
There is very decent coverage of the Canadiens in English. I can watch the games and read many articles. But the French press (not the coffee-making kind) is very active, and I cannot read those pieces. Oh, if I struggle, I might be able to get the gist of a short social media snippet, but long articles elude me. Could I have improved my French reading comprehension skills despite my hearing difficulties? Possibly, but I can't see that it would be worth the struggle if I can't speak the language. Besides, I don't really have anyone to speak it with, other than my grandkids, who both do English much better than French although they do have basic French competency.
Back to hockey: I really wrote all of the above to get around to explaining how useful the internet is in keeping tabs on my team. Google provides me with an instant and automatic translation. The app is built right into my Chrome browser. It's set up, so that if I click a French sports page, and I guess any French page, the English translation is instantly there for me. I do not even have to make a separate click to tell it to translate for me.
Here is a sample paragraph in both languages.
Sur le second, il a pratiquement traversé la patinoire d’un bout à l’autre avec la rondelle sur son bâton, battant de vitesse deux rivaux et profitant de l’espace entre les deux défenseurs pour orchestrer un jeu de passe qui allait mener au 10e but de la saison de Josh Anderson.
On the second, he practically crossed the ice from one end to the other with the puck on his stick, beating two rivals and taking advantage of the space between the two defenders to orchestrate a passing play that would lead to Josh Anderson's 10th goal of the season.
Oddly, sometimes if I click a sentence, I will be asked if it was an accurate translation. The answer in my head is always the same: "How would I know?"
Being able to read these pieces helps to occupy my time when I get up cold and achy at 2:30 in the morning, as happened today. It is now almost 6 o'clock, and I will add this piece to my ever-expanding queue to publish . . . whenevah.
Same with me and Welsh. Regret not being interested enough to learn it as a child in school.
ReplyDeleteLiving in California, I was never given the chance to learn a second language. I did learn quite a bit of Spanish, though. I love the look and sound of French.
ReplyDeleteI had one year of high school French and boy, do I ever wish I had taken more. I did do an adult ed class in conversational French before I went a few years ago (quite a few years -- yikes!) and then they discontinued those. I think we're sorely lacking in the US, not focusing more on other languages as part of basic education.
ReplyDeleteI had a high school French tea here who only spoke French in class. I learned a great deal from her and my comprehension was quite good. Was is the operative term. Speaking French was another matter. Our grandkids in French immersion are doing well with the language, like yours.
ReplyDeleteI studied French starting in 4th grade. Stopped when I graduated high school. I can't speak it but reading it I can get a sense of it most of the time. Now Dan is studying French. He started with Duo Lingo but has moved on to teachers online. This morning he said he spent an hour and a half on it. He makes it into a job. This is his third language to study after Spanish and a refresher of German for our trip to Switzerland last summer. His Spanish came in handy for two trips to Spain. Now hoping the French helps us when we vacation in Quebec City and the Gaspe Peninsula this summer.
ReplyDeleteHe must have a facility that most lack. Of course, his dedication and perseverance helps a lot.
DeleteI remember Monsiuer Jeudi, and rudimentary French in kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteThe brain doesn't seem to retain things I learned when younger. I can't understand anyone speaking other than English, and sometimes not even that in British TV shows. Australian English is a close second to that, and why I use subtitles frequently. Wait, there are also many young people speaking some form of English very rapidly, and I just haven't a clue. Spanish and French knowledge? I can enunciate some Spanish, but no French (which I only studied in 7th and 8th grade). I once was considered bi-lingual. Now I'm just so limited...and starting to wonder about my hearing too!
ReplyDeleteBarbara: my own grandkids are driving me crazy. They talk so fast that I can’t understand them.
DeleteI had four years of highs cool French. I was conversational. I could read fairly well but writing was another story. I learned I don't speak or read it anymore, use it or lose it is true.
ReplyDeleteFrench wouldn't do me much good but learning Spanish certainly would come in handy. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school but then moved up north for a couple decades where it was useless and by the time I moved back nearer to home where there are a lot of Hispanics, I had forgotten too much. I have wished that language immersion was a thing when my brain was younger and more pliable.
ReplyDeleteMy 2 years of HS french is long forgotten, I'm afraid. I wish I had kept up with it!
ReplyDeleteI love French although when I was in Montreal, the French sounded a lot different from the language that I learned. I could make myself completely understood but my own comprehension was sometimes lacking. The accent reminded me a bit of the Provencal one in Nice where I studied for a summer. Flat nasals. I could understand the hockey piece in both languages but I still don't understand hockey very well! I can never follow the puck, too fast for me.
ReplyDeleteFrench is such a beautiful language. But after quite a few years of Spanish, I had so much trouble with the pronunciation when I took a semester of French in college.
ReplyDeleteIt’s fascinating how language shaped not just your education but also your broader cultural experience.
ReplyDeleteI have five years of high school French and can usually read, with a dictionary for sure, political, sports, that vocab. I have a good vocab for food etc. My accent, I am reliably told, is terrible ... "épouvantable". Interesting that you grew up all English. When we lived in Montreal, where we lived was mixed language and the children playing spoke both together. But if an English parent showed up, they all switched to English or French if the parent spoke to them in French. My son in law grew up in such an neighbourhood and although he went to English schools, he has a rough and useable French vocab. But, he says, he feels embarrassed to speak to teachers or the like.
ReplyDeleteAll of my playmates were English, so you did have a small advantage there. Plus, you did better anyway because you're smarter. 😊
DeleteThis is very interesting. Thank you for sharing it. I took Spanish junior & senior year in high school and 2 years in college. I learned the basics and did well enough to pass the classes. NOW, I can only say “Good Morning and Thank you” in Spanish . . . LOLL
ReplyDeleteI wish you well, my friend. Have a wonderful Week!
I think many people feel the way you do. They missed a time and opportunity to learn French. I spent two years in Quebec and thought I would greatly improve my French. There was little improvement. Their English was better than my French.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is fluent in French. Me, not.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to take French in high school. Unfortunately the economic downturn in our region meant the laying off of our French teacher and the end of that program. So, instead I studied German for four years in high school and two at the University. It was and has been helpful with regard to my scientific career. But, I still regret the lack of my knowledge/understanding of French.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
Ugh how I love the French language. My sister, Kay, 15 months my elder, as a precocious and brilliant grade-school child in Florida, became enamored of the French language and began taking it in school at her first opportunity, which I believe was seventh grade. Fast forward to her first year in Bible college, after which she decamped to Belgium on a missions trip, met a bona fide Frenchman, romanced and married him, and they have been married nearly 48 years. What's interesting is that my sister speaks French like someone who was born and raised there, whereas my brother-in-law, who has been married to an American for 48 years and whose seven children are all (of course) fluent in English as their first language, speaks English only slightly. His charming accent is so heavy that even after all of these years, one has to strain to get about fifty percent of what he is saying. They lived in Europe for many years and then moved to Quebec, where he was a pastor for many more years, but in retirement they live in the upstate of South Carolina. At our Audrey's wedding, which was heavily French-themed, Pierre-Philippe gave a lovely speech for his niece, which we asked him to read first in French and then in English. It was a smash hit! Such a beautiful, intriguing language. Love it. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI gave a father-of-the-bride speech partly en francais, but it was well scripted and rehearsed.
DeleteAccents are an odd thing. I met two sisters of a similar age. They came from England. One spoke Canadian, the other British English. When I asked them about it, they both had made a determined effort -- one to change, the other not to change.
Our grandie, Aster, used to correct my French pronunciation. I hear you.
ReplyDeleteJoe went to French school in Hull, and he should have failed. He, too, is hearing impaired. I don't know why his employer sent him!
More common ground. My French is probably not as good as yours, but the Habs are still my favourite hockey team. Used to sit in the basement with my dad and watch 'Hockey Night in Canada' way back when there were only six teams. He cheered for the Leafs, so of course I cheered for the Habs. I remember the years when the Habs won five Stanley Cups in a row!
ReplyDeleteWell, that is another connection that we have. I remember the end of that five year reign and walking to school and not understanding what had gone wrong with the world.
DeleteI have always been sorry that I didn't continue practicing the French I learned in 3 years of high school classes. I could speak it pretty well, read and write it too, although I am sure a real French speaker would have laughed at me. 4th year required going to France,and didn't even ask my parents because that would have been an instant no. So I switched to Spanish for a year and found it quite easy to learn because it was similar to French in many ways.
ReplyDeleteToday I can understand bits and pieces of French if spoken slowly--when we watched the series A French Village I could catch quite a few words and sentences. And aren't we all becoming a little familiar with Spanish? Although I can never understand it when spoken by a native speaker!
While I had courses in both Spanish and French during high school, they were not comprehensive enough for me to recall much of either language, sadly.
ReplyDeleteMy French has become rough from lack of use.
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