west@utcsri.UUCP (Thomas L. West) (03/14/85)
Your comment that those taking immersion classes speak better 'French'
than the native speakers is a trifle bizarre. What *has* happened is that
those able to speak *both* official languages are naturally in a much better
position to succeed than those who speak only one, be that English or French.
You are correct in the assumption that seperatism is a dying issue at the
moment. Perhaps it may one day return, but I take pride in the fact that
Canada is the only country in the world that I can think of where such a
debate on the fate of the country could take place peacefully (with the
exception of some terrorist attacks that took place years before the issue
became a real one). [How many Americans did your civil war kill? :-(]
As for the cost of bilingualism, in purely economic terms, yes, it
probably is a loss, but in social and cultural terms, there is no
question in anyone (but the true cultural bigot) that the two
languages of Canada have been an important item in maintaining the
Canadian identity. (identity is word heard a lot in Canada).
THe implementation of two official languages is an argued debate, but
there are few who oppose the idea that the two official languages
policy should be ended. (and they're usually the ones who thought the
British should have shot all the French after the capture of Quebec in
1759(?)).
While I am not sure the same arguments apply to the USA, there is little
question in most Canadian's minds that two official languages is a favourable
policy for Canada. It's an integral part of our culture and one not parted
with without great damage. For the Americans, your culture is heavily
established and unique (thank goodness :-)). It is unlikely that
bilingualism would be as beneficial to the States. As well, since the
American reaction to non-English speakers tends to be a little harsher
than Canadians (err, sorry, non-American speakers...), bilingualism
would be even harder to implement in our Southern neighbour than here.
Tom West
{ allegra cornell decvax ihnp4 linus utzoo }!utcsri!west