Official Languages committee  And you?

Official Languages committee  Yes, she has taken some courses. However, it's really hard for an adult to learn a language. It was quite difficult for me, but my 10-year-old sister speaks French perfectly.

Official Languages committee  She took courses during the day and she worked in the evenings.

Official Languages committee  My parents are divorced. I came here with my mother, and my father stayed in Brazil. Today my mother can get by in English, but she doesn't master it as my sisters and I do. So she doesn't really speak a lot of English or French.

Official Languages committee  My mother wanted us to learn French. She taught Portuguese. Even though she didn't speak French, she at least wanted us to read books and to consult dictionaries. So it was she who made the decision. For her, it was really hard because she still needed me or my sisters to translate things.

Official Languages committee  My sister, another girl who was Cuban and I all attended the summer courses.

Official Languages committee  I want my children to speak French too. I love reading and I read a lot of books in French.

Official Languages committee  It's not really a program; it's just a summer course, a partnership between the school and OCISO. After that summer course, the volunteer teacher really wanted to help me. It wasn't through school: it was she and I who, on a volunteer basis, studied French, grammar and so on. So she has taken the time to help me, right up to the present.

Official Languages committee  Sometimes the francophones at my work speak to me in English, even though I know they speak French. I can hear the accent and know whether they're anglophone or francophone. They never ask me if I speak French, and I can't say anything because I don't want to repeat myself. So I continue in English, but I understand that they would feel better if they could speak French.

Official Languages committee  That's why the students prefer to speak English. Speaking English is like a fashion. The students speak French. Some perhaps don't practise it often and forget words, but they all know how to speak French. However, when it comes to speaking, it's fashion that takes over.

Official Languages committee  It's also possible that they speak another language.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  I just like techno.

Official Languages committee  No.

Official Languages committee  It's virtually the same as what they said. When you speak French, they answer you in English.