Two French Language Teachers Meet in a Hallway

Does it sound like the beginning of a bad joke? I hoped it would! But this is no joke. What happens next? Do they speak in French? Do they speak in English? Every time they speak in English instead of in French they are sending a message to any bystanders that English is the preferred language. If you’re a French immersion learner, and you witness this, it surely sends a message that even my teachers would rather speak in French for “real life.”

If you’re a French immersion teacher working in a dual track elementary school in the province of British Columbia, there is a very good chance you don’t spend a large portion of your day conversing in French with other adults (or fluent speakers).

The culture of a dual track school can vary significantly from place to place. Most staff interactions are going to occur in the majority language out of sheer necessity (at least half of the staff members are not bilingual). If you’re a French immersion teacher working in a dual track elementary school in the province of British Columbia, there is a very good chance you don’t spend a large portion of your day conversing in French with other adults (or fluent speakers).

Becoming bilingual (or multilingual) is not something you can check off your bucket list. It is a lifelong goal. It is a commitment to thinking, learning, reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the languages we hold close to our hearts. I want us to be encouraged to lift one another up in the pursuit of this goal. When we meet in the hallway, parlons en français.