I have always talked with my father, particularly about his love of French and Quebec culture. I could listen to it for hours and I particularly like when it evokes certain memories. Like that of March 9, 1969, this important day which would change the course of his life. Dad arrived from France for the first time in Canada.
To his great surprise, the Quebec he discovered was very English-speaking. Whether in business or in everyday life. Dad remembers that in department stores like Morgan or Simpson, the salespeople were mostly monolingual and spoke to him in English.
“If they spoke French, they didn’t make much effort to show it! »
Have things changed in more than 50 years? Statistics and studies say that the heart of Montreal no longer beats in French and that there is a major decline in the French language in Quebec, particularly among younger generations.
I could turn this column into a political pamphlet, but that is not my point. It is true that not a week goes by without us returning to the French-English debate. You only need to live in Montreal to see how the two solitudes still exist, depending on the neighborhoods in which you live.
Fortunately, it sometimes happens that the two solitudes meet and something bright happens…
When I was very little, I was passed on a love of the French language and beyond the visceral bond that unites us, I love beautiful stories that bring a breath of hope.
The guest
Since the fall, my 17-year-old son has been in love. After a few weeks of more serious dating, son agreed to invite his sweetheart to dinner at home in order to introduce us, in due form, to the one who makes him so happy.
Raised in Montreal in a completely English-speaking environment, his girlfriend doesn’t speak French well, but understands it, a little.
At the end of the meal, I told my son how surprised I was and above all touched that this pleasant moment took place almost entirely in French.
It would have been so easy for all of us to switch in English. This is almost always the case in such situations.
“Mom, I am proud of my French language and A. wants to learn it more. »
Since then, A. has been using the application assiduously Duolingo and as she comes to the house regularly, I see the immense progress she is making. Everything is more fluid and the reaction time between a question and its answer is significantly reduced. She obviously fell in love!
His motivation to discover my son’s culture is such that, on 1er January, she even insisted on watching the resumption of Bye with family, a television tradition that she did not know.
English is imposed across the planet, it is contemporary Esperanto. We can deplore it, but it is clear that it is a steamroller that is difficult to counter. We feel it more in Quebec, since unlike certain countries whose language is not threatened, ours is.
This “universal code” spoken at all latitudes is today indispensable and essential for the economy, business, communications, etc. As the use of English is for many utilitarian, it is a language that does not always correspond to the values, traditions and culture of the people who speak it. And yet, what is more important than values, traditions and culture? Faced with standardization, it is essential to react and encourage the development of cultural and linguistic exceptions before it is too late.
To make people love the French language and want to learn its subtleties, we must be proud of it, not devalue it or reduce it to a complicated and useless thought. French is certainly difficult, but it is one of the most beautiful languages in the world. It allows work on the mind and imposes enriching intellectual gymnastics.
Whether we use it in its simplicity or in its complexity, it brings, in all areas, multiple nuances and opens up to us such a rich cultural world.
Let’s ensure that young people find the spark in love with the French language and the positive horizons that its knowledge will bring them. Let’s not let French become a dead language like Greek or Latin, but let’s keep it alive collectively.
Between my father, his grandson and me, there are a lot of points in common and these few poetic sentences from Yves Duteil sum up well what we love:
It’s a beautiful language to those who know how to defend it
It offers the treasures of infinite riches
The words we lacked to be able to understand each other
And the strength it takes to live in harmony
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue
reference: www.lapresse.ca