Second Language Training ( SLT )
- Thread starter Ralph
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Jungle
Army.ca Veteran
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I work in a bilingual unit. There are bilingual Anglophones, those who don‘t wait for the military to learn French. They go out and get the courses, then get the CF to pay for it. Some of them are actually very good. BUT, strangely, they rarely end up working in French. The opposite is very frequent: it is OK for a Franco from the Saguenay to work in English, but not for a Montreal-born Anglo to do so in French. The problem is, most Francos learn English on the job, not always realising the full meaning of the words they use, and end up getting warnings from the CofC or worse: a Harassment complaint !!! It‘s easy to whine when you have never experienced this kind of situation. Things are much easier when you ALWAYS work in your first (or only) language. Those who made the effort, who went the extra mile, will get the credit. YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE !!!
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When you are a member of the CF are you able to courses that you want. Specifically I am interested in learning languages. Are there courses in place to teach them and can anyone go?
Thanks.
Thanks.
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French in Quebec.
Advanced training in Monterey California at the U.S school.
Only training as required for the duties you will perform in the CF.
They will not train you in 27 languages to be a spy later.
Good question though as languages are in demand.
Good luck.
Advanced training in Monterey California at the U.S school.
Only training as required for the duties you will perform in the CF.
They will not train you in 27 languages to be a spy later.
Good question though as languages are in demand.
Good luck.
M
MG34
Guest
Most bases now have their own lang. schools so there is no need to go to Que for training.
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So that people don‘t think I am some kind of wannabe it isn‘t to be a spy later in life. Although that would be kinda cool. 
I have always just been in awe of those that speak numerous languages.
Preferably I‘ld like to refresh/improve my german and french, learn an asian language, and something slavic.
Thanks all,
Dylan
I have always just been in awe of those that speak numerous languages.
Preferably I‘ld like to refresh/improve my german and french, learn an asian language, and something slavic.
Thanks all,
Dylan
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As Old School pointed out extra languages can be a nice thing to have especially with deployments etc.
If you‘re still in school check out if they offer anything besides French where you attend? Post secondary schools usually offer more choices
(my universtity offered German, Russian and Spanish aside from French)
There are various community agencies, night schools etc that you can grab the basics from in a few months and at a reasonable price. You won‘t be fluent but it‘s a start. Like any skill, some people have the aptitude to pick up languages quickly, others don‘t.
The best way to really learn is to travel but that might not be an option. Nothing really improves your skills better than being in a foreign country and realising that proably no one around for quite some distance speaks English.
BTW, the basic requirements for entry into CSIS are a University degree, and a second language (usually French).
If you‘re still in school check out if they offer anything besides French where you attend? Post secondary schools usually offer more choices
(my universtity offered German, Russian and Spanish aside from French)
There are various community agencies, night schools etc that you can grab the basics from in a few months and at a reasonable price. You won‘t be fluent but it‘s a start. Like any skill, some people have the aptitude to pick up languages quickly, others don‘t.
The best way to really learn is to travel but that might not be an option. Nothing really improves your skills better than being in a foreign country and realising that proably no one around for quite some distance speaks English.
BTW, the basic requirements for entry into CSIS are a University degree, and a second language (usually French).
Y
Yard Ape
Guest
Bilingualism bolsters brain
CP
2004-07-26
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/07/26/557084.html
TORONTO -- The federal government says bilingualism helps hold the country together, and a study says it may do the same for your aging brain. The study, headed by York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok, finds being bilingual helps prevent people from losing their "mental edge" as they age.
"Being bilingual is like going to a brain gym," says Bialystok, whose research is published in the American Psychological Association's journal, Psychology and Aging.
"It's like exercise for those frontal regions (of the brain) because being bilingual means you have to use them a lot more."
The frontal lobe controls the brain's "executive functions," processes that allow one to plan, stay focused and avoid distractions.
Handling one language is a big task for the executive functions, Bialystok says, but juggling two languages is even more work. In fact, speaking a second language actually creates physical changes in the brain by increasing blood and oxygen flow.
"If you're bilingual -- really, fluently bilingual -- your brain presents you with two options," she says. "Both language possibilities are there, and they are active and they are waiting to be chosen.
"So being bilingual means that every day, every time you use language, you've got to use those executive processes to make sure that whatever you're going to say next is coming out in the right language, and you're not getting misled by using the wrong language."
Over time, these mental gymnastics protect the brain by hindering the natural slowdown of the executive processes that occurs with age.
To prove this point, York researchers tested the cognitive function of 104 adults aged 30 to 59, and 50 adults aged 60 to 88. Half of the participants in each age group were monolingual, the other half bilingual.
The monolinguals were English-only speakers, but there were three types of lifelong bilinguals: English-Tamil, English-French and English-Cantonese. All subjects had similar education and income levels.
The experiment, called the Simon Task, measures a subject's reaction time when completing a simple task -- such as correctly identifying where a coloured square appears on a computer screen -- when presented with two competing options.
Bilinguals were faster on the test than monolinguals in each age group, says Bialystok.
Additionally, the study found that while monolinguals and bilinguals start slowing down at about the same age, around 60, monolinguals experienced a faster rate of mental decline.
"So what we found is that if you're bilingual, that normal slowdown is far less rapid, far less dramatic," Bialystok said, noting that natural aging is different from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
These "serendipitous" findings are good news for Canada, she says, critiquing arguments for assimilation.
"Immigrants all come with this gift and we shouldn't try to stamp the languages out of them and out of their children."
According to data from the 2001 census, about 17.7 per cent of Canadians identify themselves as bilingual, the largest proportion at any time in Canadian history.
However, while 43.3 per cent of francophones could speak both official languages, only nine per cent of anglophones could do the same -- a glaring disparity that's persisted since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced the Official Languages Act in 1968.
In fact, bickering over bilingualism continues in political quarters with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper -- who once called bilingualism "the god that failed" -- reigniting the debate during the federal election campaign when a media leak suggested the Tories would cut the level of French services on Air Canada.
But Allan Smith, a history professor at the University of British Columbia, says resistance to bilingualism is not necessarily rooted in malice.
He says the issue has lost its "political edge" with the passing of key personalities such as Trudeau and the cooling of separatist tensions in Quebec. Others, like Harper, just don't consider it "practical."
"It's not like Europe, where you are tripping over people who speak a different language all the time."
CP
2004-07-26
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/07/26/557084.html
TORONTO -- The federal government says bilingualism helps hold the country together, and a study says it may do the same for your aging brain. The study, headed by York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok, finds being bilingual helps prevent people from losing their "mental edge" as they age.
"Being bilingual is like going to a brain gym," says Bialystok, whose research is published in the American Psychological Association's journal, Psychology and Aging.
"It's like exercise for those frontal regions (of the brain) because being bilingual means you have to use them a lot more."
The frontal lobe controls the brain's "executive functions," processes that allow one to plan, stay focused and avoid distractions.
Handling one language is a big task for the executive functions, Bialystok says, but juggling two languages is even more work. In fact, speaking a second language actually creates physical changes in the brain by increasing blood and oxygen flow.
"If you're bilingual -- really, fluently bilingual -- your brain presents you with two options," she says. "Both language possibilities are there, and they are active and they are waiting to be chosen.
"So being bilingual means that every day, every time you use language, you've got to use those executive processes to make sure that whatever you're going to say next is coming out in the right language, and you're not getting misled by using the wrong language."
Over time, these mental gymnastics protect the brain by hindering the natural slowdown of the executive processes that occurs with age.
To prove this point, York researchers tested the cognitive function of 104 adults aged 30 to 59, and 50 adults aged 60 to 88. Half of the participants in each age group were monolingual, the other half bilingual.
The monolinguals were English-only speakers, but there were three types of lifelong bilinguals: English-Tamil, English-French and English-Cantonese. All subjects had similar education and income levels.
The experiment, called the Simon Task, measures a subject's reaction time when completing a simple task -- such as correctly identifying where a coloured square appears on a computer screen -- when presented with two competing options.
Bilinguals were faster on the test than monolinguals in each age group, says Bialystok.
Additionally, the study found that while monolinguals and bilinguals start slowing down at about the same age, around 60, monolinguals experienced a faster rate of mental decline.
"So what we found is that if you're bilingual, that normal slowdown is far less rapid, far less dramatic," Bialystok said, noting that natural aging is different from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
These "serendipitous" findings are good news for Canada, she says, critiquing arguments for assimilation.
"Immigrants all come with this gift and we shouldn't try to stamp the languages out of them and out of their children."
According to data from the 2001 census, about 17.7 per cent of Canadians identify themselves as bilingual, the largest proportion at any time in Canadian history.
However, while 43.3 per cent of francophones could speak both official languages, only nine per cent of anglophones could do the same -- a glaring disparity that's persisted since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced the Official Languages Act in 1968.
In fact, bickering over bilingualism continues in political quarters with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper -- who once called bilingualism "the god that failed" -- reigniting the debate during the federal election campaign when a media leak suggested the Tories would cut the level of French services on Air Canada.
But Allan Smith, a history professor at the University of British Columbia, says resistance to bilingualism is not necessarily rooted in malice.
He says the issue has lost its "political edge" with the passing of key personalities such as Trudeau and the cooling of separatist tensions in Quebec. Others, like Harper, just don't consider it "practical."
"It's not like Europe, where you are tripping over people who speak a different language all the time."
A
ags281
Guest
Lexi said:
I theoretically "learned" French from grade 1 through 12. I say "learned" because obviously I didn't learn much since I still suck at it. Never really applied myself in it - just went through the motions - and now I have nothing to show for all that time in class. However, a couple years back I had a course in St. Jean, and I picked up more French there than I did in my entire year of grade 12.
I still can't speak French to save my life, but now I'm actually interested in learning (nothing makes you wish you had paid attention in French class more than meeting a girl so attractive it almost hurts to look at her and trying to carry on a conversation with her when she knows as little English as you do French
).Wouhoooo!!! In your face suckerrrrrs!!! :dontpanic:
Sorry, it was stronger than me!!
If you want to learn french, the best place is out of Montreal.. where you won't have the choice of speaking english.. that's why I'm in Vancouver.. You don't speak the language, you just die!! :
Next step, german and spanish.. and then, to an empty island where I can forget it all!! ;D
Sorry, it was stronger than me!!
If you want to learn french, the best place is out of Montreal.. where you won't have the choice of speaking english.. that's why I'm in Vancouver.. You don't speak the language, you just die!! :
Next step, german and spanish.. and then, to an empty island where I can forget it all!! ;D
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Ok, with St. Jean being not far from Montreal, does that make it a good or bad place to learn the language? Is it far enough away that you're immersed in french?
I'm really looking forward to Second Language Training, as its something I've always wanted to do (learn another language, no real preference), but never had the time or required motivation to do so.
Also, I second the motion that french throughout high school is pretty pointless. I don't think its just a matter of not applying oneself, as I've known very motivated people (high 90s in all high school subjects) who did it throughout high school and still couldn't do much better than read the labels at a grocery store. All it seemed to do was teach them a few key words and phrases, without any practical application of the language.
EDIT: Forgot to finish a sentence. Perhaps I should concentrate on english more before I try tackling french.
I'm really looking forward to Second Language Training, as its something I've always wanted to do (learn another language, no real preference), but never had the time or required motivation to do so.
Also, I second the motion that french throughout high school is pretty pointless. I don't think its just a matter of not applying oneself, as I've known very motivated people (high 90s in all high school subjects) who did it throughout high school and still couldn't do much better than read the labels at a grocery store. All it seemed to do was teach them a few key words and phrases, without any practical application of the language.
EDIT: Forgot to finish a sentence. Perhaps I should concentrate on english more before I try tackling french.
I don't know about St-Jean.. I guess it depends.. if you're talking about the CF base there, it might not be the best place, the city might be a good place, I've never been there.. Personnaly, I'm from Quebec City, the farthest east you go, the less english there is! except if you go more towards NB.. I can tell you that in Quebec City, except in hotels and in the old-Quebec, there's not that much english going around!!
BTW, Quebec IS the best city in the whole province!!!
If anyone goes there, get a dictionnary and a map, people will help you!! 8)
BTW, Quebec IS the best city in the whole province!!!
If anyone goes there, get a dictionnary and a map, people will help you!! 8)
A
ags281
Guest
Unfortunately, I didn't get the benefits of language training in St. Jean, but I got a good preview of what to expect if I ever do get that training.
You can survive in St. Jean with just English (SLT course syllabus notwithstanding). However, you will also be surrounded by French and will learn some whether you want to or not. If you take a little bit of initiative and start trying to operate in French, you will learn very quickly. There is great potential there so long as you make the effort.
edit: stupid spelling
You can survive in St. Jean with just English (SLT course syllabus notwithstanding). However, you will also be surrounded by French and will learn some whether you want to or not. If you take a little bit of initiative and start trying to operate in French, you will learn very quickly. There is great potential there so long as you make the effort.
edit: stupid spelling
- Reaction score
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The trouble in Canada is we teach Peresian French in school but with in Canada we have so many dialect's which have no relation to Peresian French as the language is spoken to day.
Those of us in the military know this,we have are blueberry's (french Canadian for a hillbilly)
We have Acadian French in New Brunswick as it was spoken 300 yrs ago!!
I gave up when it was forced up me!!
I speak so,so Spanish,Norwegian,Tagalog(Philippino)some German if need be and formal French which I have used at work to help Tourist's on the Ferries.
No prob's in learning a lingua but don't enforce it on me!!
Those of us in the military know this,we have are blueberry's (french Canadian for a hillbilly)
We have Acadian French in New Brunswick as it was spoken 300 yrs ago!!
I gave up when it was forced up me!!
I speak so,so Spanish,Norwegian,Tagalog(Philippino)some German if need be and formal French which I have used at work to help Tourist's on the Ferries.
No prob's in learning a lingua but don't enforce it on me!!
- Reaction score
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Actually Earl, we have dialects in English also. Take three guys right off the rock and try to follow thier conversation......not likely!
I still can't speak French to save my life, but now I'm actually interested in learning (nothing makes you wish you had paid attention in French class more than meeting a girl so attractive it almost hurts to look at her and trying to carry on a conversation with her when she knows as little English as you do French).
Go for it, sometimes it works out quite well!
I still can't speak French to save my life, but now I'm actually interested in learning (nothing makes you wish you had paid attention in French class more than meeting a girl so attractive it almost hurts to look at her and trying to carry on a conversation with her when she knows as little English as you do French
).Go for it, sometimes it works out quite well!
Lexi said:
i give you a sample how unreasonably vindictive and tantrum ladened some french separatists have been when one made a quip that even the Supreme Court Justices of France, America and Canada would intellectually appreciate. There was this man who made an argument that the British have been the most liberal, multilingual and multicultural in language immersion. I do not know if that was the right word. But the british study and propagate swahili, urdu, farsi, punjabi, greek, tagalog, french, etc. among her diplomats and intelligence officers, government employees, laison officers including prince william and prince harry to further propagate. Somebody posted this item on a chatroom. The french policiy makers passed a law or whatever you call that ..they opened the doors to the study of four european languages presumably minus english. oh my God. what can you make out of that. Have we been dealing with irrational, vindictive quebec separatists all along!!
- Reaction score
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Go away, troll....and take your other self with you...you know who I mean!
Bruce
Bruce
Spr.Earl said:The trouble in Canada is we teach Peresian French in school but with in Canada we have so many dialect's which have no relation to Peresian French as the language is spoken to day.
Those of us in the military know this,we have are blueberry's (french Canadian for a hillbilly)
We have Acadian French in New Brunswick as it was spoken 300 yrs ago!!
I gave up when it was forced up me!!
I speak so,so Spanish,Norwegian,Tagalog(Philippino)some German if need be and formal French which I have used at work to help Tourist's on the Ferries.
No prob's in learning a lingua but don't enforce it on me!!
oh, my God that was one of the best arguments I have ever read. I felt about that too but not as articulate as you until you fed it to me.
8 stars for you!BUT I love the french language! sorry.
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