Marso
New member
- Joined
- May 20, 2017
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Alberta
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Conservative
With proper training it is estimated that one can become fluent in French by putting in about 540-4400 hours depending on proficiency and method. This means practicing French from 4-8 hours daily, at minimum. However, the current provincial education mandate in my home province of Alberta and of most other provinces dictates that only 2 and a half hours are given to French per week.
This boils down to Grade 7 French learners being stuck at A1 grade French (the level of basic communication. The lowest rung on the totem pole, so to speak), after 3 years of instruction.
With only 6 years of French instruction, one at best can perhaps achieve A3 French by Grade 9, when the French program ends. However, whatever knowledge you had gained will likely be lost over a 6-year span, and certainly if you never use French in a massively Anglophone province.
The only way in which one can be fluent in French is taking a special program known as French Immersion where all instruction aside from English lessons is conducted in French. These programs are often full, understaffed, or are taught by teachers who are not of a high enough proficiency in French to teach.
The question is this; should French education be removed from curriculum aside from French immersion to make way for more useful life skills, like Home Ec which has been dropped in most schools. And if it should not be dropped, what changes should be made to ensure that French taught in schools can be at least a foundation for home interests in learning French, instead of it's current overspecified form.
Citations:
https://frenchcrazy.com/2011/08/how-long-does-it-take-to-become-fluent.html/
https://www.fluentin3months.com/hours-to-learn-a-language/
This boils down to Grade 7 French learners being stuck at A1 grade French (the level of basic communication. The lowest rung on the totem pole, so to speak), after 3 years of instruction.
With only 6 years of French instruction, one at best can perhaps achieve A3 French by Grade 9, when the French program ends. However, whatever knowledge you had gained will likely be lost over a 6-year span, and certainly if you never use French in a massively Anglophone province.
The only way in which one can be fluent in French is taking a special program known as French Immersion where all instruction aside from English lessons is conducted in French. These programs are often full, understaffed, or are taught by teachers who are not of a high enough proficiency in French to teach.
The question is this; should French education be removed from curriculum aside from French immersion to make way for more useful life skills, like Home Ec which has been dropped in most schools. And if it should not be dropped, what changes should be made to ensure that French taught in schools can be at least a foundation for home interests in learning French, instead of it's current overspecified form.
Citations:
https://frenchcrazy.com/2011/08/how-long-does-it-take-to-become-fluent.html/
https://www.fluentin3months.com/hours-to-learn-a-language/
