The Limitations of Unilingualism
Canadian Prime-Minister Stephen Harper’s recent appointment of Michael Ferguson as Canada’s Auditor General stirred controversy in Canada. The reason? Ferguson doesn’t speak French, one of …
Posts in category Various
Until the 1960s the Canadian Government Did Not Defend the Rights of Francophones
Excerpt taken from the book The Story of French (Ch. 10) In Canada, the British North America Act of 1867 safeguarded the rights of French speakers …
French as the Common language
Excerpt taken from the book The Story of French (Ch. 6) Many plans were made during the revolutionary period to establish a system of free primary …
The So-called Belgian Accent
Excerpt taken from the book The Story of French (Ch. 7) “Vous êtes Belge?” (“You’re Belgian?”) is a question Jean-Benoît is often asked in France, though …
France is Occupying Wall Street too
Julie visited Occupy Wall Street when she was in New York last week. Anyone can walk in and tour the site. It was like an …
A debate in Paris between Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Donald Morrison
Watch the 2nd part of the debate » Is French culture dead? And is the French language fading into oblivion? France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs …
The Guillotine: More Humane Than Hanging?
Excerpt taken from the book The Story of French (Ch. 6) Vandalisme (vandalism), anarchisme (anarchism) and terrorisme (terrorism) all took their present meaning in English from …
A debate in Paris
On October 19th, Jean-Benoît Nadeau participated in a debate with the Time’s former European bureau chief Donald Morrison, organized by France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Estates-General on …
Julie Barlow reads a passage from The Story of French
On Saturday, October 1st, 2011, in association with les Journées de la Culture / Culture Days, PWAC Quebec (Professional Writers Association of Canada) held a book …
Is There a Typical Swiss Accent?
Excerpt taken from the book The Story of French (Ch. 7) Like the issue of the Belgian accent, that of the Suisse accent is complicated. …