Legault should celebrate French, not scold young people about anglicisms: GND

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Prime Minister François Legault's moralistic tone towards young francophones could backfire and make the French language “cool”, says Gabrielle Nadeau-Dubois.

A joint spokesperson for Québec solidaire, often referred to as GND, said she complained about young Quebecers spewing English into Legault's speech.

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“I think it's the worst way to convince people that French is important,” Nadeau-Dubois said of Lego's approach.

“It's a reverse way of protecting the French language … because you're pointing the finger at young people, telling them what to do, how to speak.”

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Nadeau-Dubois made the comment on the Gazette's Corner Booth podcast Friday.

“I mean, young people, they've always had their own vocabulary, their own slang,” he said.

“It's been this way forever and it's (such) an old way of thinking to say that we're going to moralize young people because of the way they talk.

“Do you think this will convince young people that French is important?”

In contrast, Nadeau-Dubois, 33.

By criticizing anglicisms in this way, Legolas makes the French language look “out of fashion (and) unpleasant,” he said.

“We should do the opposite. We should celebrate the French language and note that Quebec has such a wonderful and young French culture.

“Sometimes French has Creole because Haitian youth host French podcasts in Creole and sometimes in English.

“It's in real French, spoken by the real young francophones of Quebec.”

He added: “Language is not a museum object.”

Nadeau-Dubois said this is “the power of being bilingual as an individual.”

However, “I think we can all agree that the French language in Quebec will always be fragile … like other languages ​​around the world, it's threatened by this bulldozing of American culture going around the world.”

“I don't think Anglophones would argue with that, not at all.

“Would Quebec be a better place in North America without the French?” No.

“I have never met an anglophone who said that Quebec would be better off without the French. Anglophones, they grew up here, they live here, they know that French is part of who we are – a big part of who we are.”

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