Author Archives: Julie Barlow

Nesbitt Will Stay Open… but will the EMSB start doing its job now?

By Julie Barlow | January 12, 2012

By Julie Barlow

January 11, 2011, EMSB Commissioners voted unanimously to take Nesbitt School OFF the list of closures for 2012.

Along with a group of other parents, Julie has been fighting for the last nine months to keep her daughters’ school open. The struggle has been epic. We did interviews for TV, radio, newspapers and magazine, in English and in French, for both local and national media. We maintained a blog and a Facebook page. We lobbied commissioners. We convinced politicians of all stripes and all levels to support us. And much more.

It’s been a long and hard battle, especially since we never knew why our school was on the chopping block in the first place. Nesbitt did not fit any of the “criteria” the EMSB had established for deciding which schools to close. Nesbitt is a big, successful, thriving school with a reputed and popular French immersion program, fabulous facilities, a central location, and harmonious, diverse community. Kids become perfectly bilingual at Nesbitt. There’s almost no bullying. No school is perfect, but we feel Nesbitt is about as close as you can get. Read more »

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Article on Le Français quelle histoire! in the French magazine, Le Point

By Julie Barlow | April 7, 2011

Jean-Benoît just got back from Paris where we launched the new and revised French translation of The Story of French. Good news! The French — who tend to think their language is on in the decline — seem to happy to hear from a pair of Canadians who beg to differ…But being French, of course, they don’t agree with us!

Posted in French / History, Press, Various | 1 Comment

Five Days to Save Nesbitt

By Julie Barlow | March 25, 2011

FIVE DAYS TO SAVE NESBITT

Save Nesbitt Elementary School

It’s a parent’s nightmare. You find out your children’s school has been slated for closure and you have 5 days to save it.

Well, it’s happening to us, parents of Nesbitt Elementary School, a 100-year-old school with a highly respected, 30-year-old French immersion program – a school that draws kids from all over East Montreal.

Posted in English, Language Learning, Various | 3 Comments

The Francophonie in Ten Words

By Julie Barlow | March 22, 2011

The French love to underline events with little glossaries of words. In honour of the International Day of the Francophonie, March 20, we’ve taken a shot at French art of the lexique: The Francophonie in Ten Words:

Posted in French / Francophonie, French / Linguistics, Various | Leave a comment

The Nail Polish Technique

By Julie Barlow | March 21, 2011

The classic “débutant” mistake I made when I started studying my first second language was thinking: the more I study, the faster I’ll learn. It’s true, you do have to study. But as I learned, none of the memorizing sticks unless the words come out of your mouth at some point. In other words, the only way to get a new language inside your head is to use it.

When I did my first Spanish immersion in Puebla, I knew the danger of studying too hard.

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Soap Opera Spanish

By Julie Barlow | March 21, 2011

Back in 2006, when I started seriously trying to learn Spanish I signed up for a month of private courses at the (very excellent) Spanish Institute of Puebla, in Puebla, Mexico. The clocking was ticking on my Spanish studies. At the time, I was “expecting” (our girls were due to arrive from Haiti any time) and I knew it would be years before I would get to do another immersion abroad.

Luckily, when I was in Puebla, I discovered something that would seriously boost my Spanish learning curve.

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Teaching Kids a Second Language

By Julie Barlow | March 5, 2011

Unlike learning a second language, experience has taught me that to teach kids a second language, you need a plan. There’s nothing organic or natural about it.

My twins spoke French Creole for the first three years of their lives. Read more »

Posted in French / Linguistics, Language Learning, Various | Leave a comment

Language Learning: The Hammers and Nails

By Julie Barlow | February 26, 2011

When you want to learn a new language, where do you start? In my experience – and this is my fourth – it doesn’t really matter.

Learning a new language is like building a house. Not that I’ve actually built a house. But I’ve seen it done. You start with a structure and some kind of foundation. Then you add walls, eventually you have something that stands on its own. Then you make it something you can live in. Later, you maybe make it elegant.

It’s the same with languages. Except for one difference. Don’t start with a plan. Just plunge in. Read more »

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Is French really on the decline?

By Julie Barlow | February 26, 2011

This is the question that motivated us to write The Story of French in the first place. With the mind-blowing spread of English across the planet, a lot of people assume French is being wiped out. Is it? Do these numbers surprise you? Read more »

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To Be Or Not To Be…a Francophone

By Julie Barlow | February 19, 2011

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

In my last posting I spoke about francophones and used the pronoun “we.”

Okay, where I live, in east Montreal, no one would call me a francophone. I moved to Montreal when I was 19 and learned French as I worked my way up in society, from retail sales to writing.

Today I speak French almost without an accent. Read more »

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