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I'd say one of the greatest gifts a parent can give their kids in Quebec is the ability/resources for them to successfully learn and become proficient in both languages.
One thing the PQ has tried to address is a loophole that allows some people to get around the rules for public schools. Basically, in one part of the rules it says that if a child has been to school in English in Canada for "most of his or her schooling", the kid can go to public schools in English in Quebec.
So what some parents have done is start their kids in English private school (paying the $$$) for one year only. Then they say that this is most of the kid's schooling (if they have just started school), and then claim the right to English public school for the rest of their education.
But this loophole has I believe been addressed and you can no longer really do this.
It was pretty ridiculous at one point. Many West Islanders would send their kids to school in Hawkesbury, Ontario for a year and bring them back to Quebec in an English school.
It was pretty ridiculous at one point. Many West Islanders would send their kids to school in Hawkesbury, Ontario for a year and bring them back to Quebec in an English school.
But wouldn't most West Islanders actually be native anglos of Quebec and therefore eligible to send their kids to English school anyway?
I would also be surprised if Ontario public schools in Hawkesbury would accept students from Quebec given that their parents don't pay the Ontario provincial taxes that support the schools.
But wouldn't most West Islanders actually be native anglos of Quebec and therefore eligible to send their kids to English school anyway?
I would also be surprised if Ontario public schools in Hawkesbury would accept students from Quebec given that their parents don't pay the Ontario provincial taxes that support the schools.
Not necessarily. Some parents may have gone to French school despite being Anglo. Or Francophones who moved to the West Island but wanted their kids in an English school since there's a need to know English. Beaconsfield to Hawkesbury is only about 40-45 minutes. Back in the 80s, many parents sent their kids to school in Ontario. The loophole still existed then, so they brought their kids back with a year of English schooling and they were set for English schooling in Quebec for the rest of their time in the school system.
I have two kids in a francophone Quebec elementary school. Note that in spite of the fact that we are on the Ontario border, kids at our school do not speak English between themselves in the school yard here. So any local influence there is comes mostly from parents who already know English themselves and can help with homework, etc. This is not so present in most other parts of Quebec I realize.
We do not really speak English at home so most of what my kids pick up is from school. Maybe a bit from popular music as well.
The eldest can have basic conversations at this point. Understands in my estimation about 95% or more of English conversations.
The youngest is more shy and speaks only a little bit when there is no other choice. Understands probably 80% of conversations in English though.
As far as their friends it is all over the map. Obviously there are a few kids who have an anglo parent and so they are fluent. Overall my kids are among the better ones in their English class, and they do have classmates who sit in on the same lessons as them and who seemingly know almost no English at all.
You cant possibly think its fair that the Quebec government allows my Anglo kids to go to a regular English school in Quebec and come out perfectly bilingual while Francophone kids have to go to French school and come out only marginally bilingual. I dont understand the governments logic on this educational imbalance.
It's a lot easier for anglo kids here to come out bilingual, they are surrounded by French all the time. A lot of francophone children have never been outside the province. There is a lot more at play here than just what the government decides that they learn, the actual process of language acquisition (no matter what the language) has a huge role in it.
The Quebec government could at the stroke of a pen make it much easier for the Francophone student to go to regular public English school if a parent wishes to choose that option. I;m sure theres many a Francophone parent that can see the benefits of a fully functional bilingual Francophone child at the end of his education but if your only recourse to achieve that goal is to shell out $7000 per year for private school its a daunting figure that many cant afford.I dont see why the Government makes the decision as to what school a child attends,shouldnt that be the sole decision of the parent?
You cant possibly think its fair that the Quebec government allows my Anglo kids to go to a regular English school in Quebec and come out perfectly bilingual while Francophone kids have to go to French school and come out only marginally bilingual. I dont understand the governments logic on this educational imbalance.
Perfectly bilingual is a bit of a stretch. I am not particularly impressed with the written French skills of anglos who went to English school in Quebec. Which is the basic job skill you need for anything above the drive-thru at Tim Hortons.
Sure your English-educated kid from Montreal can shoot the ***** about the Habs en français no problem, but when he's 25 after two years at Dawson and four, five or six at McGill, will he be able to write an email in decent French at work? My experience suggests that most cannot.
Living and working where I am you get a lot of people from all across Canada. My observation has always been that even the most unilingual francophones who end up in jobs that need English are up and running writing English surprisingly quickly, while anglos (even the most bilingual ones) almost never write anything at length in French.
The Quebec government could at the stroke of a pen make it much easier for the Francophone student to go to regular public English school if a parent wishes to choose that option. I;m sure theres many a Francophone parent that can see the benefits of a fully functional bilingual Francophone child at the end of his education but if your only recourse to achieve that goal is to shell out $7000 per year for private school its a daunting figure that many cant afford.I dont see why the Government makes the decision as to what school a child attends,shouldnt that be the sole decision of the parent?
A real solution would be to have a unified school system with 80-85% of the day in French and 15-20% of the day in English. This would yield a truly bilingual population.
But I doubt the anglo community would go for this, and it's also impossible under the Canadian Constitution.
Perfectly bilingual is a bit of a stretch. I am not particularly impressed with the written French skills of anglos who went to English school in Quebec. Which is the basic job skill you need for anything above the drive-thru at Tim Hortons.
Sure your English-educated kid from Montreal can shoot the ***** about the Habs en français no problem, but when he's 25 after two years at Dawson and four, five or six at McGill, will he be able to write an email in decent French at work? My experience suggests that most cannot.
Living and working where I am you get a lot of people from all across Canada. My observation has always been that even the most unilingual francophones who end up in jobs that need English are up and running writing English surprisingly quickly, while anglos (even the most bilingual ones) almost never write anything at length in French.
Well who can compete with those mighty Francophones eh? smartest people in the world and come out of the womb already functionally bilingual. to the point where even unilingual Francophones are more bilingual than bilingual Anglophones.
.I'm sure both my kids are as bilingual as you are AJ..
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