Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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Fifth Form

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16 The Branksome Slogan Canada s Language Problem Two languages mainly are spoken in Caniada, French and English, and we see that disunity, misconception and prejudice have ever been present between French and English speaking Canadians because they speak and think in these two tongues. In searching for a solution to this problem we find that neither group would abandon their language m favoiur of the other, because of the intense pride which is the heri- tage of the British and French alike. Each group believes, and with good reasons, that its own language is the expression of the most brilliant modern civilization. Consequently, both the French and Eng- lish languages must stay in Canada,, and they must live together in harmony. Since we must have two languages, then the remedy for Canada ' s language difficulty is comparatively simple. Both groups must learn both languages. In this way two dominant races will come to greater understanding and unity. Schools in all parts of Canada are required by law to teach both French and English in their classroom.s; however, the school can do nothing practical without the help and co-operation of the family, in the home. It is the duty of all Canadian families to teach respect for the two official languages of the country, and to provide, for their children, conditions that will be favourable for the learning of these languages. It is the English, and particularly the English of Ontario, who are respoinsible for most of the trouble that arises between the French and English in Canada. They have no conception of what they owe to their country, and consequently do nothing to help their children learn French. There are many good English-speaking people amongst us who, snug in the unrestricted enjoyment of their own language, feel that such a slight inconvenience to another race as the loss of certain language rights should hardly be made a subject of protest. They state that the English tongue is the clearest and most comprehensible of all languages, and that of the French-Canadians an unintelligible jargon. They hon- estly believe in the superiority of English speech and civilization, and they comsider that to make English the one official language of Canada w ould be almost a righteous act in giving the French-Canadians some- thing better than they had before. But, if we had a better under- standing of our fellow countrymen, and to do this it would be necessary to learn their language, w e could more easily see their point of view, and disagreements would not spring to the fore as readil} as at present. Unfortunately, arrogant forms of prejudice have taken root amongst us, which have told us that French-Canadians do not speak good French, and that to learn French would be to learn a miserable

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18 The Branksome Slogan patois. For the most part French-Canadians speak excellent French, and in genera l they speak their language better than we speak ours. Even if this were false, the ultimate goal is not for everyone to be able to speak perfect Parisian French, but for the citizens of a bilingual country to be able to converse fairly fluently in either of the languages of their country. The English-speaking Canadian cuts a sorry figure beside his French-speaking countryman in the matter of linguistic accomplish- ments. Most French-Canadians can speak English, while probably not m.oire than ten in a hundred English-Canadians in Quebec have conver- sational knowledge of French, and in the other English-speaking prov- mces the number with this accomplishment is negligible. It has been said that if today we had in Ontario as many English-Canadians who spoke French as there are French-Canadians who speak English, our racial troubles would vanish into thin air. It is a good thing for us to live in a country where it is essential to have a knowledge of two languages. We are, therefore, the guardians of the most wonderful intellectual, literary, and artistic treasures of white civilization, and therefore we can draw indefinitely from these spiritual and cultural resources of France and England. It is not possible to make Canada perfectly bilingual. It is often naturally impossible for people to learn any but their own language, but if Canadians were willing to make at least an attempt in the direc- tion of bilingualism the number of Anglo-French friendships would be increased nearly one hundred percent, and Canada ' s most difficult prob- lem would be solved. VIRGINIA TORY. Me and Minerva It sure ain ' t like the good old days! In them days you courted your gal with a bunch, of posies, and helped her up the steps in case she ' d trip over her skirts. ' Course I don ' t remember all that, since I ' m just turned twenty-three, but pop told me, and he oughta know, ' cause he got ma that way. But anyways, what I was goin ' to say was that it ain ' t like that in my generation. F ' r instance, take the way I got my- self nicely hooked up with a cute little red haired number, belonging strictly to the twentieth century. This here ' s how I did it. I got a job at the munitions factory in the spring o ' forty-one. (I ' ve had flat feet ever since ma made me wear Pops old shoes, and none o '