French for Life

The launch of French for Life - Say oui to opportunity - was on Wednesday afternoon at the Collegte Universitaire St. Boniface.

For me, I grew up in a home where both parents spoke English and neither parent ever spoke more than the rare word of French.

I did not have the advantage of a French Immersion education, but by continually working and using every opportunity I managed to pick up sufficient French to be able to hold conversations, give speeches, participate in meetings and to do media interviews in French. It has been a life-long endeavor, and it has opened doors for me at various points in my life - doors that probably would not have been opened for me otherwise.

Learning to speak French is also about learning about French and French-Canadian culture. It has also been important to me in sensitizing me to other languages and other cultures. Indeed, I see an important role of the French language in Canada has been, not only to allow those who speak French to feel at home in all parts of Canada, but to enable a wonderful flowering of varied languages of cultures across Canada - and giving rise to exciting cultural events like Folkorama in Winnipeg.

Thus, it was that Naomi and I chose with our children to enroll them in French Immersion programs. Each had a slghtly different course. Charles was in French Immersion from Kindergarten to Grade 11. Pauline started in English and moved to a French Immersion programming for grades 7-12. Tom started in French Immersion and then took a break for several years, returning again for Grades 7-9. All have been able to make use of their ability to speak French. Pauline has used her French in Laos, and her ability to learn French has made it easier to learn the Loatian language. Charles has used his French on numerous occasions to make friends and in his snowboarding teaching. Tom has often used his French, most recently in a visit to Senegal one of the french speaking countries in Africa.

I was honoured to be able to speak during the launch of French for Life - and so I had an opportunity to share my experiences in offering continued supports for the efforts of Canadian Parents for French - Manitoba, the Manitoba Association of Teachers of French and L'Association manitobaine des directeurs et directrices d'immersion francaise to open doors for young Canadians.