The only French-speaking province in Canada, Quebec welcomes tens of thousands of migrants each year, often non-French speakers. To preserve its language, the province has set up an extensive francization program for newcomers. Immersion in a Montreal classroom, on the occasion of the International Day of the French Language.
From our correspondent in Montreal,
Camille Théocharidès-Auger, with a crooked smile and curly hair, leaves the teachers’ room at the Yves Thériault francization center at full speed. She gives a lesson from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. After a degree in literature, the young woman converted to teaching immigrants. In the corridors lined with lockers, the young professor of Frenchstill in training, greets one in two students.
“ The center welcomes approximately 2,000 students per year. We are in the largest francization center in Quebec, therefore in Canada… therefore in North America? “, assumes Camille on the stairs. At the last count, students at the center came from 92 countries and spoke 57 different languages. To enter the immense and austere building with the brown facade is therefore to plunge into a maelstrom of languages, cultures and stories brought together for months in this school for adults with one objective: to learn to speak French.
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Quebec’s francization policy is one of the keystones of the government’s immigration policy. Faced with the current labor shortage in the province, recourse to immigration is more than vital, but the provincial government wants immigrants to speak as much French as possible. The francization budget has therefore doubled over the past five years, going from 94.2 million Canadian dollars to 186.6 million.
Various levels
Arrived in Camille’s classroom, the smells of Asian cuisine mingle with the fragrances of Mexican dishes. The teacher apologizes: With the Covid, we had to extend the refectory in my classroom, but it’s temporary, at least it smells good before my class! » The guests leave the room and the students take their places drop by drop. Here, a young woman aged 17, there a man in his fifties. ” The size of the groups varies greatly, from fifteen to thirty students, with ages ranging from 17 to 80! I’m still trying to figure out how to perfectly reconcile the age gap, but it’s not working so badly says Camille enthusiastically.
The beginning of the lesson opens with a charade. On the program for the day: conjugation, grammar and vocabulary. In less than a year, a large number of students have already reached level 6 out of 8. The language is therefore well mastered, level 4 being the equivalent of French B2. ” No one learns at the same speed and not everyone has the same goals. Some aim to enter university, others are illiterate in their own native language and simply want to get by: they have a specialized program “, specifies Caroline Boucher, the director of the center Yves Thériault.
The students meet in small groups and Camille circulates among them. She speaks distinctly, supporting her words with her hands. A woman in her thirties and her younger friend practice transforming sentences from the present to the past. The first directly finds the right use of the imperfect and bursts out laughing. ” It’s really very satisfying this light that lights up when the student clicks and expresses itself more and more easily “, confides the professor with a big smile.
Intensity and determination
Joëlle Dumaresq has worked in francization centers for 16 years, and was permanently assigned to the Yves Thériault center four years ago. Today, she is in charge of evaluating Camille. Sitting at the back of the class, she helps Ricardo Mendoza Montiel, 21, to conjugate sentences with the imperfect and the past tense : “ It is sometimes more difficult for Latin Americans than for a completely opposite language, such as Chinese : some do not realize that they no longer speak in French, but in Spanish. A remark confirmed by Ricardo : “ Sometimes it gets mixed up in my head! But the advantage is that when I don’t know, I can try the word in Spanish, it’s often very close “.
Joëlle has known the young Mexican since his arrival in Quebec last year. Stories, she has collected many, and it is not always easy to take a step back. ” We have psychologists, social workers, so we always try to keep this role of orientation towards the right people, even if necessarily, we remain attentive “explains the professor.
In order to obtain the government grant of approximately $1,000 per month, which allows them to follow francization courses full time, students must study Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ricardo started last May and already speaks French well enough to describe his schedule. “ On Thursday and Friday after class, I go to work in a restaurant, and I also work there on Saturday and Sunday. “, he explains, before adding : “ That’s life ! “. Later, he would like to be a veterinarian. In Mexico, he once worked in a zoo, and he still remembers the eagles that darted from his arm. Alessandro Olivo Valdivia, his 19-year-old friend from Peru, hopes to resume his studies as a psychologist. “ I’m not sure they accept my equivalency. It takes a very long time to become a psychologist, and I’m not sure I have the money to do it. “says the young man.
Place of socialization
More than a way to learn French, francization centers are also a place to reconnect with society. Ricardo was deeply marked by his arrival in Quebec. “ When you arrive in a country where you don’t know the language, it’s horrible. We want to talk to people, to chat, but you stay in your apartment. I understand that some look to their communities who speak their language “, he explains. He and Alessandro help each other during lessons: when one understands the meaning of a word in French, he gives the other the equivalent in Spanish. “ Here, people are quite young, much more than in other centers, you can make a lot of friends », Details Alessandro.
The two companions open up to many other cultures, and discover realities they did not know. “ I learned a few words in Ukrainian, it’s fascinating how different cultures and languages are says Alessandro. It is not Ricardo who will contradict him: he is in a relationship with a Ukrainian, met in the center. In a few months, Ricardo and Alessandro will probably stop coming to the center to study at university or work. Their language level is already high enough to attempt the Canadian citizenship exam.
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