Early intensive best language opportunity

Published Friday July 25th, 2008

Letters to the editor

A7L

Recently I retired from a 31-year teaching career that included work in Alberta, England and New Brunswick.

While I was growing up in Belledune, Premier Louis J. Robichaud initiated the idea of a bilingual system of education. Forty years later that bilingual system has been replace by a system of duality.

This dual system has been very inefficient and costly and will probably be unaffordable in the near future. The system has also resulted in two linguistic communities, usually working in isolation from one another, wasting resources on duplication of services.

I've arrived at the following conclusions concerning the benefits of bilingualism:

• Premier Robichaud realized a truly bilingual system is essential for the survival of the French language in N.B.

• Bilingual N.B. students graduate with a competitive advantage in the work world.

• The tragedy in Bathurst in January revealed the strongest argument for bilingualism. The rest of Canada and the world witnessed the power demonstrated by the strength of the two linguistic groups coming together to totally support each other.

After teaching in Europe and watching two nieces become bilingual at a young age, it became apparent to me there must be a better system to educate all N.B. students to speak both languages.

Children typically learn to speak their first language at the age of 2-3. Rather than waiting until Grade 5, by which time students may have been exposed to prejudices or peer pressures against learning a second language, it would be more appropriate to teach children a second language (conversation only) at the the beginning of their schooling by putting them for two years in the "opposite" school system to that of their native tongue: Francophone students would go to the Anglophone system and Anglophone students would go the the Francophone system for these first two years to be exposed to intensive language training.

Then, throughout the rest of their schooling, a schedule of second-language maintenance would be set up and in Grade 12 each student would have a standardized provincial test to evaluate competency in speaking the second language.

Thank you,

Reg Killoran

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A novel idea, Mr. Killoran, but one that will never be entertained by the Francophone community! French immerson was never introduced to create equality amongst two separate languages and cultures, but rather, to keep them apart. This entire notion was orchestrated to propel the French culture into the forefront of New Brunswick's linguistic communities, mandating a secure future of funding and employment to those who's surname reflect the covenant dialect. Look no farther than our government departments. Clearly, the mission is to encourage staffing it's employment vacancies with Francophones who can barely conjugate an English sentence. That's not bilingualism! To suggest an English F.S.L. graduate would receive equal employment considerations in a French regulated, bilingual job competition, likens the attempt of shoving jello through a keyhole. French immersion in it's present state continues to fleece taxpayers, while producing false hopefuls to "equal opportunity" N.B.