[romanP]

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

If I walk into a store or resteraunt and can't buy anything cause it's all chinese to me (litterally), and the cashier or anyone else working there isn't fluent enough in English (or French in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Eastern Ontario) to help me out, the place should be shut down outright.

I don't think you do your argument any dignity when you can't be bothered to spell "restaurant" and "literally" properly.

Like fuck, you want people to speak French or English so you can be happy yet you butcher it yourself.

So? You going to hold that against me? The last time I took an English course where spelling mattered was back in grade 7. Since then, i've typed everything and used a spellchecker, which isn't on the forum. When you don't use something for a decade, it tends to fade from memory, in this case my spelling.

Hwo aubot I tpye whit lal teh ltertes ni teh wrdos lal meixd pu jsut ot fcuk whit ya?

I haven't studied for a spelling test since... probably second grade. I'm almost thirty, and I still have no trouble spelling a pretty vast amount of words.

Oh hey, guess what, I also think people should learn more languages! This North American mindset of "we have enough languages, speak English or go home" is really pretty stupid. The more languages you know, the more knowledge you have access to. There is a lot of literature written in languages that aren't English, which will never and should never be translated to English because it just doesn't.

[romanP]

Lemmy Lemmy:

First, "immersion" means that they already know how to speak English or French

Incorrect! Immersion is how you learn to speak a language in a useful manner. I know many people who are predominately English speaking, who went through French immersion from first grade to till high school graduation, and their French is light years better than mine, which I only learned from taking lame core French classes where they barely teach you anything.

[ShepherdsDog]

$1:

There is a lot of literature written in languages that aren't English, which will never and should never be translated to English because it just doesn't.

que?

[Lemmy]

romanP romanP:

Incorrect! Immersion is how you learn to speak a language in a useful manner. I know many people who are predominately English speaking, who went through French immersion from first grade to till high school graduation, and their French is light years better than mine, which I only learned from taking lame core French classes where they barely teach you anything.

How is what I said incorrect? I never said anything inconsistent with what you've said. These kids that will go into Mandarin Immersion will be Enlgish first-language. If they're not, it's not "immersion", it's a Chinese school. We have French Immersion here in Ontario. The kids that go are English first-language kids, who take some of their courses in French instruction. They also take what's called "core French" (as well as "core English") which teaches grammar and language arts. They take some or all of their non-language classes in French (though in practise, a LOT of the French immersion instruction is done in English, especially in Primary grades). I went through French Immersion program from grade 3 to 13, my friend, so I think I'm able to comment on what an Immersion Program means. And yes, I speak better French than other Anglophone kids that only took French in French class.

[Brenda]

Well, of course, if all you hear all day is French. It took my kids 4 months to pick up the english language so well they could meet the expectations. And they didn't speak one word of english. BUT... Their Dutch is lacking now, so that is up to me to keep alive...

[raydan]

romanP romanP:

Language barriers are broken down much more easily if everyone speaks the same languages.

Stating the obvious, aren't you?

[EyeBrock]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

Funny, I was marked on spelling all the way through junior high, highschool and university. A professor said to us once, "It doesn't matter how brilliant or earth shaking your point is, if you can't convey it in a literate manner. People will focus on the grammatical and spelling errors and ignore the message."

And that's the truth in the real world. If I hand in a badly prepared report it reflects badly on me, so I don't do it.

All this crap at school, letting kids 'express' themselves with poor grammar and spelling is just very silly and not preparing our children for life outside school.

[romanP]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

$1:

There is a lot of literature written in languages that aren't English, which will never and should never be translated to English because it just doesn't.

que?

There is a lot of literature written in other languages that doesn't translate to English very well, and would be a waste of time to bother. Learning the language the literature is written in would be more beneficial.

[Lemmy]

Shakespeare, for instance, is most beautiful in its original Klingon.

[herbie]

Scape Scape:

They need Punjabi as well. In BC, Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi is spoken far more then French or German.

In the Lower Mainland that's true. Not so Beyond Hope.
And you know what, I really bloody miss that! It actually bothered me for years when I moved away, and 22 years later most people still think I'm weird just because I can use chopsticks.
Looking forward to visiting Surrey Lanka and a wedding in Ahmetsford this summer.

As to the topic, I don't think it should be publicly funded other than night school classes. If you want to get a leg up on possible trade advantages bu immersion schools, pay for it yourself.

[kenmore]

Lemmy quote "let's leave out French since this is BC) already" BC is a province in Canada and falls under the Constitution.. so we can't leave french out.. sorry

[Lemmy]

I only meant that, of those who would be clientale for a "Mandarin Immersion" program in BC, the vast majority of those kids would be English first-language, not French first-language (if not ALL). Most of the immersion students in Canada that are French first-language would, presumably, be in Quebec (though one of my roomates at university, a francophone, went though English-immersion at school in Saint John, NB).

[EyeBrock]

herbie herbie:

Scape Scape:

They need Punjabi as well. In BC, Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi is spoken far more then French or German.

In the Lower Mainland that's true. Not so Beyond Hope.
And you know what, I really bloody miss that! It actually bothered me for years when I moved away, and 22 years later most people still think I'm weird just because I can use chopsticks.
Looking forward to visiting Surrey Lanka and a wedding in Ahmetsford this summer.

As to the topic, I don't think it should be publicly funded other than night school classes. If you want to get a leg up on possible trade advantages bu immersion schools, pay for it yourself.

See, I learned to use chopsticks in Hong Kong. A place I have visited numerous times. This is Canada.
Learn English or French, these other languages are nice to have but I personally think we should try and retain a 'Canadian First' angle on teaching languages to kids in Canada. That extends to teaching Aboriginals native languages too.

[kenmore]

I keep saying it.. its the erosion of Canada. if we allow this type of thing to happen we will have a country that has a history nobody can remember and fragmented subcultural groups who have no allegiance to Canadian values. There are far too many people who are here ( and have been for years) who can't speak English or French and don't bother to because they don't have to. We have to take a stand or else we will be asking school boards to teach English.. getting way out of hand

[Lemmy]

But if they're in Mandarin-immersion, they ALREADY KNOW English. I agree, way too many new arrivals don't learn English or French, but that's not what this thread is about. It's about IMMERSION programs. It's about "language OF instruction", not "language instruction".