This brings back memories
...of my Montreal years :geezer:
I taught myself to speak French. I did that mostly by watching subscripted movies on the TV and buying two versions of the same news paper everyday and sitting down with both the French version and the English version side by side. I did not become a gifted linguist but I did manage to cope with everyday life and I know that many of the "francophones" appreciated my efforts and responded with some understanding.
This is extracted from this morning's WSJ:
Quote:
By Paul Vieira and Jacquie McNish
Nov. 22, 2021 3:37 pm ET
On a cool, wet Saturday afternoon in the outskirts of Montreal, near the city’s main airport, a crowd of about 100 gathered in front of Air Canada’s headquarters demanding the resignation of the airline’s chief executive.
It had nothing to do with a lackluster stock performance at Canada’s largest airline. Protesters were mad that the CEO, who has lived in Montreal for roughly 14 years, can’t speak French.
“It’s an affront” to Quebec, said Marie-Anne Alepin, a protest organizer and president of the francophone-advocacy group, Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, “because the official language is French.”
The chief executive, Michael Rousseau, took over the top job this year.
“I have been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal,” Mr. Rousseau told reporters on Nov. 3 after a speech he delivered in English to a mostly French-speaking crowd. “I would love to be able to speak French.” However, he said his work schedule—which includes steering Air Canada through the pandemic—hasn’t allowed for time.
The comments reignited a linguistic firestorm, and the growing complexities of doing business in bilingual Canada and French-speaking Quebec. Tension over English and French usage in Quebec is longstanding, but this time the complaints target some of the top business leaders in the province.
