When I felt confident enough about my ability to speak French, and my assistants were equally confident, I took part in my first panel in French. Among the participants was Mr. Yvan Loubier, a former Bloc member who speaks very good joual, Mr. Godin, who speaks Acadian French, and Mr. Simard, a Franco-Manitoban. There were four completely different styles of French. I understood approximately 6% of the conversation.
I am perfectly serious. There are different ways of speaking French, different expressions and accents. To be fully bilingual is not as easy as some people believe.