Les Canadiens de Montréal
Ran into this article about how several current members of the Habs will try and learn French this season, while they are playing in one of the largest French-speaking cities in the world.
Regret to say that I originally found this article on Facebook, and the reactions were....well, mixed at best. Several people gave the "laughing" reaction, as if the idea of these players trying to improve themselves and learn another language was somehow funny. And in the comments sections - yes, I should have known better than to bother looking at these - were rather predictable, derogatory comments about the French language and Quebec more specifically. One guy mentioned how he took offense to how English was being killed off in Quebec province, but he made so many grammatical mistakes that someone responded - I swear it wasn't me! - that he was doing a good job of killing the English language himself.
In any case, I personally not only saw nothing wrong with this story, but was in act encouraged by it. Why not try and take advantage of living in a bilingual city and learn the other language? It certainly does no harm that I can see, in any case.
Well, below is the link to the article, which is from a few weeks back.
Enjoy!
Between 8 and 10 Habs players will be learning French this season by Lorraine Carpenter January 11, 2023:
The players are reportedly meeting with a teacher today and will be scheduling their lessons around hockey.
https://cultmtl.com/2023/01/between-8-and-10-montreal-canadiens-habs-players-will-be-learning-french-this-season/?fbclid=IwAR0T46OOsaV3v39xkC-WsC2El9N3CPjXDpsb8v2Fq7I99ywmW2abvgxdvuM
I wish I could say that I found those reactions to be even remotely surprising, but I don't. Considering that kids are like sponges, meaning that they process new information and commit it to memory far more easily than grown-ups, the vast majority of us could be completely fluent in several languages before high school even starts. The reason that isn't the case has nothing to do with logistics or funding, and everything to do with hopelessly misguided and insular mentalities. Far too many people simply don't see any value in learning other languages. And although I'm painting with broad strokes here, too many native English speakers can't for the life of them see why they should make an effort to speak the local language when abroad.
ReplyDeleteNor was I surprised. But it was a depressing reminder. And yes, I agree with you, that it's mostly people's mindset that prevents learning other languages from being a truly widespread phenomenon, and from this world generally being a better overall place.
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