classroom.
Thirty pairs of eyes stare at them. Gaétan can feel himself blush all the way to the roots of his hair. Louise drags him to the back row. The speaker seems not to have noticed and continues his speech. He has a loud voice and makes sweeping gestures, completely absorbed in his subject. The man sitting next to him, undoubtedly the professor, nods a welcome to Louise.
Gaétan tries to make himself as small as possible. Being once again behind a desk in a classroom seems strange. He doesnât have such fond memories of school, yet he wasnât a bad student. He did well enough, in fact. But deep down, he had always known that school wasnât for him. So why listen?
However, he finds himself riveted to the man gesticulating in front of him. Behind his horn-rimmed glasses, his gaze is bright and persuasive. To his great surprise, not only is the speech easy to understand, but he is also expressing ideas that seem just and fair.
When Louise spoke about poetry and literature, Gaétan hadnât been so enthralled. But now he feels like this man is expressing something essential. He focuses all of his energy on the words.
âItâs true that there is a language problem here in Québec. But itâs not the problem that you think. The problem is not in terms of French. The problem is English!
âThe problem is that our language is being assimilated by English.
âThe language of the French Canadian people is French. It is spoken in variations, sometimes it borrows from English vocabulary, but it is essentially French.
Cheval
or
joual
, itâs still French.
âBut too often, especially with the elites, our language is a language of translation. And as long as one needs to know English to earn a healthy living, the problem will not be resolved.
âTake, for example, a
pharmacie à prix réduits
. It seems like French, there isnât a word of English, but itâs just a calque. Itâs what I call âtranslated from.â The structure is English. This language is even more dangerous than the one that simply borrows English words.
âTo say
pharmacie à prix réduits
is far worse than saying
passe-moi le
wrench.
âThere is no more meaning to the language. I could walk into this pharmacy and ask the pharmacist, âAre you looking to sell your store? I am interested.â What the pharmacist means is that his drugs
sont à vendre à prix réduits
, that theyâre on sale.
âFrench appears to remain in this expression. That is alienation. It means you are becoming a stranger to yourself.
âAs long as a language evolves on its own, itâs fantastic; when it evolves in relation to another, it becomes a passive language. It becomes simply the imitation of the other.
âIn Québec, we live in stereo. We always have the translation:
pont
-bridge, pull-
tirer
, welcome-
bienvenue
. We are unilingual bilinguals.
âThe French Canadian people speak French. They use English words, of course, but the structure of the language is French.
âOur elites, on the other hand, speak French using an English syntax. I hear it every day. Listen carefully to the ministers and politicians. It seems like French because there isnât a word of English, yet still itâs English. We have one language on top of another. By seeing ourselves as others, we become the others. Our language is a dependent language. It evolves in line with the other. The other is embedded in our language.
âUnless you decide to change that.
âSo, to restore the French in our speech, we must tear the English out of our mouths.
âOur language must be sovereign.
âSo we can return to our roots.
âWe can recover.
âWe can repossess.â
There is a moment of silence. The class is frozen, stunned by the speech. Then, thunderous applause.
Gaétan has tears in his eyes.
He thinks of Mme Maheu.
He finds that being able to put
Thirty pairs of eyes stare at them. Gaétan can feel himself blush all the way to the roots of his hair. Louise drags him to the back row. The speaker seems not to have noticed and continues his speech. He has a loud voice and makes sweeping gestures, completely absorbed in his subject. The man sitting next to him, undoubtedly the professor, nods a welcome to Louise.
Gaétan tries to make himself as small as possible. Being once again behind a desk in a classroom seems strange. He doesnât have such fond memories of school, yet he wasnât a bad student. He did well enough, in fact. But deep down, he had always known that school wasnât for him. So why listen?
However, he finds himself riveted to the man gesticulating in front of him. Behind his horn-rimmed glasses, his gaze is bright and persuasive. To his great surprise, not only is the speech easy to understand, but he is also expressing ideas that seem just and fair.
When Louise spoke about poetry and literature, Gaétan hadnât been so enthralled. But now he feels like this man is expressing something essential. He focuses all of his energy on the words.
âItâs true that there is a language problem here in Québec. But itâs not the problem that you think. The problem is not in terms of French. The problem is English!
âThe problem is that our language is being assimilated by English.
âThe language of the French Canadian people is French. It is spoken in variations, sometimes it borrows from English vocabulary, but it is essentially French.
Cheval
or
joual
, itâs still French.
âBut too often, especially with the elites, our language is a language of translation. And as long as one needs to know English to earn a healthy living, the problem will not be resolved.
âTake, for example, a
pharmacie à prix réduits
. It seems like French, there isnât a word of English, but itâs just a calque. Itâs what I call âtranslated from.â The structure is English. This language is even more dangerous than the one that simply borrows English words.
âTo say
pharmacie à prix réduits
is far worse than saying
passe-moi le
wrench.
âThere is no more meaning to the language. I could walk into this pharmacy and ask the pharmacist, âAre you looking to sell your store? I am interested.â What the pharmacist means is that his drugs
sont à vendre à prix réduits
, that theyâre on sale.
âFrench appears to remain in this expression. That is alienation. It means you are becoming a stranger to yourself.
âAs long as a language evolves on its own, itâs fantastic; when it evolves in relation to another, it becomes a passive language. It becomes simply the imitation of the other.
âIn Québec, we live in stereo. We always have the translation:
pont
-bridge, pull-
tirer
, welcome-
bienvenue
. We are unilingual bilinguals.
âThe French Canadian people speak French. They use English words, of course, but the structure of the language is French.
âOur elites, on the other hand, speak French using an English syntax. I hear it every day. Listen carefully to the ministers and politicians. It seems like French because there isnât a word of English, yet still itâs English. We have one language on top of another. By seeing ourselves as others, we become the others. Our language is a dependent language. It evolves in line with the other. The other is embedded in our language.
âUnless you decide to change that.
âSo, to restore the French in our speech, we must tear the English out of our mouths.
âOur language must be sovereign.
âSo we can return to our roots.
âWe can recover.
âWe can repossess.â
There is a moment of silence. The class is frozen, stunned by the speech. Then, thunderous applause.
Gaétan has tears in his eyes.
He thinks of Mme Maheu.
He finds that being able to put
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