Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
With regard to instruction in French as a second language, we often talk about education. It is something formal. However, as Ms. Kenny jokingly said, you hear English in the street, at the convenience store, in the bank and at the arena.
Anglophones tell me they want to learn French. "I'm taking French courses," they tell me. I ask them what radio station they tune in when they are in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in their car or elsewhere, and I simply encourage them to listen Radio-Canada, wherever they are in Canada, since they will hear good diction.
Sometimes I jokingly add that they will know they have understood from the moment they start being frustrated by what they hear. In the meantime, however, I invite them to tune in that network simply because to hear good diction. I tell them that will round out their learning, in addition to all the other methods they use. It is not enough to study French in class. They have to go to concerts, to theatre plays. They have to read books. A library card costs nothing. I was going to say that listening to Radio-Canada costs nothing either. It is already paid for; it costs them nothing and it is good. I am finished.
Are you going to do that? Will you encourage people to listen to Radio-Canada?
