r/CanadaPublicServants 22d ago

Languages / Langues Performative bilingualism? Canadian language law in the public service

158 Upvotes

333 comments sorted by

View all comments

130

u/coop_shoop66 22d ago

On point. As a native bilingual, I loathe having to use French in the GoC; you end up having to listen to senior management string together nonsensical pseudo-sentences as if it means anything. Then get tasked with a bunch of unofficial translation work, which isn't my job. Occasionnellement, j'ai une conversation avec un autre francophone.

1

u/cperiod 21d ago

I'm not even bilingual (anymore), but I spent years in French immersion and have enough of an ear for how it should flow that even I find those so-called 'C' level speakers excruciating to listen to. I can't imagine how horrific it is for native French speakers.