Quebec Seeks to Ease Divisiveness

[Alkistis Fleischer]

Hello!
Yes, that's funny. I had never encountered the superlative of fun before, so
I assumed it was a typo! Sorry about that:-)

You're right about immigrants in Montreal wanting their kids to learn
English. (Of course this tells you something about the value of English in
the society at large.) I can confirm this for the Greek community in
Montreal, one of the older communities and very much anglicized, but I am
sure it also applies to more recent immigrant communities.

Alkistis Fleischer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Survey Coordinator Brazil" <survey_coord_brazil at sil.org>
To: <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: Quebec Seeks to Ease Divisiveness


> Hi Alkistis!
>
> I didn't say "funniest", I said "funnest".  Now that's funny.  Ever
> hear of the "homousios"  "homoiusios" controversy?
>
> I wasn't thinking about the state's perspective, I was just thinking about
> trends in Montreal's general population.
>
> I've traveled a bit, and I see that anywhere in the world, English is the
> language of economic advancement.  I'm thinking about advancement up in
the
> higher echelons of the western world.  Where would you be if you didn't
> speak English?  English is strongly associated with
> the western world.
>
> No, Francophones aren't generally writing love letters in English.  I just
> thought that was an example of English bleeding into French domains.
>
> I agree with you that the younger generations of English Quebecois are not
> anti-French.  I'd say it's the under 30 cadre.
>
> I agree also that the Anglophone/Francophone categories are
> being redefined.  That's basically what I've been trying to say all along.
> As long as
> those categories were set in concrete, French survived.  Now that they're
> being redefined, how can we be so sure that French will come out stronger?
>
> Stan Anonby
>
> PS I've also hung around immigrant populations of Montreal.  It's true
that
> most immigrants now are switching to French rather than English, but I
don't
> think it's their first choice.  Those who have the means are forking out
the
> $ to put their kids in English schools, or trying to emigrate.
>
>