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I was talking to someone who recently moved to Quebec from the U.S.
Her husband is originally from Quebec but she is not and is trying to learn French.
However, she said she is having trouble communicating with her 4-yr-old's pre-school teacher. She doesn't even understand what is being told to her about how her child is doing --- and he is having problems adjusting.
Wouldn't most teachers in Quebec be bilingual so that at least the teacher could talk to the mother in English?
Welcome to Quebec where Francophone teachers and Anglophone teachers arent required to be bilingual, She'll have to get used to it as at this point her lack of French comprehension is going to be a never ending source of frustration until she can fully integrate into the French milieu of Quebec.As her hubby is from Montreal i'll assume he speaks French, to help your friend in her French i'd suggest the Hubby speak as much French as possible around the house and she should shift her focus from being English to total immersion in French at least until the fluency of French is accomplished.
I was talking to someone who recently moved to Quebec from the U.S.
Her husband is originally from Quebec but she is not and is trying to learn French.
However, she said she is having trouble communicating with her 4-yr-old's pre-school teacher. She doesn't even understand what is being told to her about how her child is doing --- and he is having problems adjusting.
Wouldn't most teachers in Quebec be bilingual so that at least the teacher could talk to the mother in English?
I think Jambo's advice is pretty good.
It is not part of the job requirement for Quebec teachers who teach in French to be bilingual in order to be able to speak in English to the odd parent that is not able to understand French.
And it would be ridiculous to expect this of every single teacher.
It is not part of the job requirement for Quebec teachers who teach in French to be bilingual in order to be able to speak in English to the odd parent that is not able to understand French.
And it would be ridiculous to expect this of every single teacher.
I don't think it would be ridiculous. I think it should be required of educators, probably more than any other profession in Quebec except air traffic controllers. I might not expect a quebec waitress to speak English, but someone who has a B.A. in education and knows they are going to be dealing with some anglo parents and students, you would think they would take a couple of courses in speaking English. They still live in Canada. They still live in North America. Why be so isolationist? I mean, Canada is officially bilingual isn't it?
I would view a teacher in Quebec who spoke only French as ignorant and uneducated, just the same as I would a teacher in Ontario who spoke only English and did not know even basic French, or the same as teacher in Miami who didn't bother to learn even a bit of Spanish.
Oh, but I guess that would mean putting the needs of the students and parents before preserving one's French culture.
Even in the U.S. which isn't even officially bilingual, when I applied for teaching jobs in Southern California, it stated that preference would be given to applicants who were bilingual in English / Spanish.
Even in the U.S. which isn't even officially bilingual, when I applied for teaching jobs in Southern California, it stated that preference would be given to applicants who were bilingual in English / Spanish.
Why doesn't she put the child in an English language pre-school? They don't learn English because the fact is the average pre-school teacher usually doesn't deal with very many Anglo parents, and if they do unilingual Anglophones in Quebec are fairly rare, few are recent emigres. I agree that it would be good, but it isn't a common situation, just as the majority of pre-school teachers in Ontario definitely do not speak French. There's probably quite a few pre-school teachers who do speak English given the rate of bilingualism, but it's not surprising that there's some who don't.
Why doesn't she put the child in an English language pre-school? They don't learn English because the fact is the average pre-school teacher usually doesn't deal with very many Anglo parents, and if they do unilingual Anglophones in Quebec are fairly rare, few are recent emigres. I agree that it would be good, but it isn't a common situation, just as the majority of pre-school teachers in Ontario definitely do not speak French. There's probably quite a few pre-school teachers who do speak English given the rate of bilingualism, but it's not surprising that there's some who don't.
I don't know if they have that option. Her husband is french-canadian, and went to school in Quebec, and then moved to the U.S. Apparently because he had his grade school education in french, that determines where their child goes. ?
The fact that pretty much everyone i've met from france can speak english, it is pretty bewildering that an educator living in quebec in canada in north america cannot communicate in the english language.
I don't know if they have that option. Her husband is french-canadian, and went to school in Quebec, and then moved to the U.S. Apparently because he had his grade school education in french, that determines where their child goes. ?
Bill 101 does not apply to preschools. The PQ recently suggested it and the idea was so profoundly unpopular they dropped it almost immediately.
With the ever decreasing English population in Quebec the results are fewer and fewer opportunities for Francophones to speak English as a result more and more Francophones over time become unilingual..
People who move to Quebec and expect their Anglo lives to go on as usual are deluding themselves,Some may have an easier time of it but basically expect most everything outside the home to happen in French.If that concept isnt appealing move to another part of Canada.
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