On the few occasions that I have ventured into Montreal,
I have never had any problem with speaking French. In the sixth form at my grammar school, I
took conversational French with
Mademoiselle Rose from Paris (for
whatever reason, this was easily the most popular language option), and later
on I actually lived and studied for a short time in Paris. The result of these
misadventures is that although I still do not speak French very well, I speak
it with a Parisian accent, which is anathema in Montreal. A few years ago a
distinguished visiting professor from Paris was asked by his audience (in
Montreal!) to please speak in English because they could not understand his
'Parisian French'. My experience has been similar; whenever I have ventured to
speak French to anyone in Montreal, they have always politely asked me to
please switch to English, because 'you 'ave an 'orrible Parisian accent'. The
aquisition of this accent is therefore of inestimable value to anyone planning
to move to Montreal, as they will never have to speak French except very
briefly. In any case, the best place to go in Montreal is Charlie Biddle's Jazz
Club, where English is the Language of Heaven.
The ability to speak French, or any other language,
usually has nothing to do with what school you go to anyway. The late Jack Layton learned French from his
hockey pals and not at school. My daughter is completely fluent, despite going
through the English-language school system here with never a hint of immersion.
She is also fluent in several other languages that she picked up from her
friends. Meanwhile, people who have
known her for years, including her husband, cannot pronounce her Welsh name
properly.
On a recent visit back to 'the Old Country', one of my
cousins told me 'you do have an interesting accent - half Welsh, half
Canadian'. That is what happens when you
have been away for a long time, you do not really belong anywhere, except in
your family, et dans les recoins de l'imaginaire.
Keith Jones, Manitoba
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