Oink

I hate the way the French dip those stale cakes into coffee. Disgusting.

Steve_P

I thought that was the Italians?

But then what would I know.

dbd33

Oh no, it's them French, it sets them to churning out volumes.

Novocastrian

Actually, I think it's the British.

But then, what would I know?

<another one for the oinki?>

Steve_P

In new speak, my bad.

I was thinking of biscotti as the stale cakes. Oops.

dbd33

Ah, I took this to be a suggestion that the francophone cradles might want to leave their country:

"Why would the attention seeker leave the party especially when someone else is buying the drinks?"

I assumed you to be an immigrant. A gatecrasher or friend of an invitee, to continue your analogy, one who seeks to give host the heave-ho.

Novocastrian

My bad too.

I thought he was talking about ginger snaps, not madelaines.

jimf

Not at all. It's not a suggestion to separate but a rational explanation why separation has not occured despite the member of the club taking about it a lot and claiming they don't get enough recognition of their specialness.

I wouldn't particularly wish the attention seeker to leave as they do add a bit of interest to the party which can otherwise be a little bland but on the other hand there is a limit to how many drinks the other members are prepared to pay for.

Novocastrian

I think I finally understand the thread title! It's a typo isn't it?

It should be French emergence.

Souvy

On what basis do you make that argument?

As of this morning, the Federal Government website shows 44 job listings in BC. Of those, 26 appear to have a requirement for bilingualism. On closer inspection, they are general ads covering openings across Canada. Where BC is mentioned specifically in the job specification, the need for bilingualism disappears.

I can only find one job in that list that is BC-specific and requires bilingualism. It looks tourism-related, so that would not be unreasonable. The level of proficiency it calls for, in both languages, is so low that I would be surprised if anyone meeting the criteria would be able to read the advert.

I didn't read through all the DND postings. A number of them would likely require bilingualism regardless of location, for operational reasons.

Try going into a Federal Government office in Vancouver, say Industry Canada, and asking how many of the staff are bilingual. Or go into a Canada Post outlet and asked to be served in French. It's your right.

Oakvillian

damn... once again, I come late to a good debate.

My position is somewhat similar to Iaink's, I think. My eldest started this year in Ontario's FI at grade 1. Both his mother and I speak some French - mine limited, rusty, and Parisian, hers not far from fluent and learnt in English school in Montreal.

The local school board's FI system has half-day split English/French tuition, with half a day in each language. Subjects taught in French include science, social sciences, and phys ed; mathematics and arts (music, etc) are taught in English. Language arts are obviously taught in their respective languages.

So far, he seems to be thriving.

As to whether there is a cachet or snobbery about the FI program - I don't believe there is, but there is certainly a sort of semi-officially acknowledged academic streaming at work. The school board's own published criteria for parents considering whether to put their kids in FI at grade 1 include this:

To that extent, in the words of his SK teacher (I paraphrase): "the more academically-inclined tend to gravitate towards the FI program as it certainly is more of a stretch academically. Those who will prosper when challenged do well at it; those who find school work challenging enough in their own language, I would encourage into the English stream."

His school is FI-only, the board here has, as far as possible, physically separated the FI from the English track. I have heard that this was primarily in response to criticism that the English-track and FI-track kids did not get on in the playground in schools where there were parallel tracks running.

greentea3

Hi everyone,

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works here, actually I think regarding 'french immersion' it should really be called 'Quebecois immersion'.

iaink

Didnt we do this already

purple80

<grabs chair and popcorn>

G77

Technically you are correct in the fact they learn Canadian French like they learn Canadian English - neither of which are directly the same as the native versions.....

We recently enrolled our son to JK - we decided to go with a Catholic English school, despite the best school in the area being FI and closer (literally at the top of our road). We did this because we feel he is slightly behind for his age with regard to English - we will see how he progresses and may change our mind when he gets to start Grade 1.