McGill University was slapped on the knuckles by the OQLF for only communicating with its staff in English.
A report from Radio-Canada also told us that the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion page on the McGill website is in English only.
But don’t worry, at McGill we love French. Yes indeed !
We even dedicated a whole page to him entitled Hold on, drum roll… “Le French side de McGill”!
We even created an Instagram page “Le French side de McGill”.
After that we wonder why the francophones complain all the time.
ARE YOU FIGHTING YOUR NERVES?
March is the month of Francophonie. At McGill, we didn’t want to ignore that. The Le French Side de McGill page has a calendar of events.
So on Thursday March 9th we presented “La Trivia Night”. With this warning: “We warn you, it will not be a trivia evening like the others”. The animation was bilingual so as not to scare anyone.
It also stated that this event was “open to all McGill students of all levels (complete beginners in the French language)”.
Phew, we’re relieved, complete beginners can join quiz night. It’s “totally sick,” according to the CAQ’s Anglicisms ad.
To celebrate Francophonie, we presented Frantz Voltaire’s conference A History of Haitian Life in Montreal on March 10th. And the Faculty of Dentistry presented a bilingual event with a “Best Telled Joke Contest/concours de jokes les plus contes”. The poster only reads in English: “Prizes to win! and “Free Pizza!” “.
Beginning March 27, everyone at McGill can attend the french@work event. The concept ? “Bring a French-speaking colleague to class”.
I wonder how it will look… Will we exhibit the French speaking individual like a circus animal, a scholar animal or a rare bird? We will introduce him to the students by saying, “This is Ginette. Ginette speaks French. French is that weird language spoken by the locals around the university. Please don’t throw peanuts at Ginette”?
FOLKLORIC FRENCH
But the good-natured and hilarious spirit of the Le French side de McGill site doesn’t stop there.
“McGill’s French Side” will stop at nothing to spread good humor and open camaraderie, and offers weekly language capsules to learn Quebec phrases.
This week see how well we’ve chosen the folksy expression that will make people cry in the living rooms.
“To annoy you, this Quebec expression means losing patience. The verb pogner comes from the meaning of pogner with someone, and nerves, referring to one who is at wit’s end. Example: My colleague quickly gets on my nerves when he is tired! »
Admit it is clear to everyone, as an explanation: “The verb to pogne comes from the meaning of pogning with someone”.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
In his column on McGill this week, my colleague Antoine Robitaille wrote: “The least we could do would be for the venerable university to respect the charter of the French language and give Molière’s language a real place in it. »
What do you want,” gets on my colleague’s nerves when he’s tired! »
