The Editor, Re: "French immersion pour la bourgeoise," the Now, Jan 15.
I am so thrilled and happy with Adrian MacNair's column exposing the bourgeoise attitude regarding French immersion.
I completely agree that it is a form of segregation from the "mainstream" population. However, from my experience with friends and family, the education that one receives from French immersion is in no way superior. OK, so you know how to ask, "Ou est la bibliotheque?" but that's about it. It is demanded that you speak only in French and learning skills such as math, and science are secondary to speaking the language.
In fact, it has been my experience that every student I have known who has left French immersion (for whatever reason) when placed in a "regular" public school classroom, struggled at their grade level because they did not have the set of skills that they needed and would have received if they had attended a regular classroom.
Where we are situated in Canada, knowing French as a second language is a low priority. I can say this because I have French as a second language (and as a side note, the base of my French knowledge stems from a mainstream, regular, public school. When I lived in France, I seemed to do OK). Thank you again, Adrian, for shedding a light on this form of elitism.
Danielle Carey