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Which isn't to say all master the language or have occasion to practice their skills, as is the case for Anglos in other parts of the country who must learn French. As such, there is a decent proportion of Francophones one would consider unilingual, despite the fact that the language is taught. But a majority have some knowledge of English.
Which isn't to say all master the language or have occasion to practice their skills, as is the case for Anglos in other parts of the country who must learn French. As such, there is a decent proportion of Francophones one would consider unilingual, despite the fact that the language is taught. But a majority have some knowledge of English.
Off-topic but in general, "required subject in school for X" does not imply "X is good at it", for any topic. See: reading, math, geography, history...
I never got the impression that the English taught in a French school here in Quebec was a serious effort to teach a French student how to be familiar with the English language.
However in most public English schools the Teaching of French is taken much more seriously than their French counterparts with an end result of most English kids at the end of their schooling are fully functional in French if not totally bilingual.
Also any new immigrants to Quebec are going to be sending their kids to French school,its the law.
The quality of English instruction in French schools in Quebec is highly variable. In some places the kids actually come out of there pretty bilingual. But this is probably the minority, and in most schools it is likely not very good I admit. In this way, it is similar to second-language instruction in many parts of the world.
I agree 100% with both of you. I went to high school at one of the top private schools in the Quebec City area. In secondary 5 (i.e. final year of high school in the Quebec system), every week our English teacher required us to turn in a 1-page handwritten summary of a TV program we had watched during that week (could be a hockey game, sitcom, the nightly news, etc.).
..the only problem: the summary had to be written in English, but you could watch the TV program in any language! Most of the guys picked a hockey game they had watched in French, most of the girls picked a sitcom they had watched in French. Way to go, teacher.
I never got the impression that the English taught in a French school here in Quebec was a serious effort to teach a French student how to be familiar with the English language.
However in most public English schools the Teaching of French is taken much more seriously than their French counterparts with an end result of most English kids at the end of their schooling are fully functional in French if not totally bilingual.
Also any new immigrants to Quebec are going to be sending their kids to French school,its the law.
Having gone through that system, I wish that were the case. My formal French education was woefully inadequate. The reason English kids from Quebec are so good at French is that we have to use it out in the real world at jobs or on the street. Unfortunately, the actual school instruction can be almost as insufficient, but maybe not quite as bad. I admittedly wasn't in an enriched French program, just a regular French immersion at a West Island public school.
^It doesn't help that at the CEGEP and university level you don't have to take a single french course either. The real world is the true french course!
Having gone through that system, I wish that were the case. My formal French education was woefully inadequate. The reason English kids from Quebec are so good at French is that we have to use it out in the real world at jobs or on the street. Unfortunately, the actual school instruction can be almost as insufficient, but maybe not quite as bad. I admittedly wasn't in an enriched French program, just a regular French immersion at a West Island public school.
My kids went to school in Lasalle and although they attended English schools it was 80% French till grade 4 where it backed down to 60% and then stayed at 50% French all through high school, needless to say they are fluent in the French language, Friends tell me that back in the 60's English schools were giving an hour of French class 3 times a week, needless to say not many students became bilingual in that environment.
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