Letter to the editor | Wants French immersion kept

Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008

Dear editor:

What is happening to N.B.? Loss of jobs and now loss of French immersion in our schools! As a parent who has a son starting school next year, I am outraged. As a local teacher, I am stunned with disbelief! I, myself, went through immersion from Grade one through nine and had no other exposure to the language other than what I learnt at school.

Not only am I fluently bilingual and have taught French for three years, I also have a major in English. Therefore, it is fair to say that my English did not suffer because of immersion. The French Immersion program enabled me to find employment in an English-speaking province because they felt I had an advantage should we have to serve tourists.

I chose to move back to N.B. after I was finished university so that I could raise my children in our wonderful bilingual community. My husband and I are seriously considering moving back to Nova Scotia so that my children can take French immersion. I am begging the people of our community who feel the same as I do, not to give up, but to fight back! You can e-mail the Premier, premier@gnb.ca, e-mail the Minister of Education, kelly.lamrock@gnb.ca or call the Minister's office at 506-457-4960. Thank you.

Donna Savoie-Webb

Tide Head

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OK ... you live in a bilingual area - actually, one where your children would proably hear a lot more French spoken than English - and you're worried about them learning French? I'm probably a bit older than you (no early immersion when I went through school), had barely an interest in learning French, took only the basic French course from grades 1 through 12, and still managed to graduate with "intermediate-plus" on my bilingualism test. Despite my lack of interest, I was still equipped quite well to function and work in bilingual environments in northern NB, and now, 17 years later, and living in another province in which I barely hear French, it only takes a few moments for me to recollect my French and communicate effectively. Am I an anomaly? I doubt it. You learn a lot of language skills through "osmosis" simply by living in northern NB and I really don't buy it that early immersion is absolutely essential, especially in that area of the province. Hey, if I can do it ...