As part of the $1.5-million program, participants such as Mr. Wang sport a button saying “ J’apprends le français, encouragez-moi ,” (I’m learning French, encourage me). The message addresses a basic truth in Montreal: Most people are bilingual and tend to switch to English if they sense that a newcomer is struggling in French. It’s part of the daily interplay of language in a city that typically seeks common linguistic ground.
Has this ever been tried here?
What a clever way to mock the non-existent English skill lol…
I mean has there ever been a scheme in Taiwan like the Quebec one – i.e. for immigrants to learn the local language?
Sometimes I try to speak Chinese for practice and then meet people like working at Starbucks who are trying to practice English back to me. So both get confused.
If one button says I’m learning Chinese and another button says I’m learning English maybe the bigger button wins.
Oh, got it. That’s an interesting idea but I’ve never heard of an initiative like such myself. 