By Alex Seggewiss, Local 715, inSolidarity Committee member
Picture this – it’s summer 1996, you’re at a family gathering and you managed to snag the perfect spot. Suddenly, you hear your mom calling for you in the other room and you know you have to get up, but you desperately want to keep your ideal spot. You sneak over to your mom and quickly make it back to find someone in your seat.
“Chien va a chasse perd sa place,” says your uncle in a singsong voice. Now you know you’ve lost the prime spot, at least until it’s time for him to get up and refresh his drink. Then, it’s fair game!
Sound familiar? If it does, you may have been surrounded by Francophones at some point in your life. Expressions such as these are common among the Francophone community and vary based on what “kind” of French you’ve learned.
Having lived the first 14 years of my life in Kapuskasing, Ontario and born into a Francophone family, there are so many ways in which this language and community has shaped me. I am profoundly proud of my French heritage and am always overcome by a sense of joy when I am able to share in these experiences with others. Nostalgia always makes an appearance and warms me.
Not unlike others who are separated from this direct link, I find myself searching for opportunities to dive back into the familiarities, but not knowing quite how to get there. I feel the ease of the language slipping from my fingers at a steady pace and all I want is to hold onto it for dear life. Then, I came across Pratique ton français avec nous par Zoom/Practice your French with Us by Zoom with the Provincial Francophone Committee (PFC).
On March 20, 2025, which also happened to be “journée internationale de la francophonie” (International Francophone Day), I joined the session with a few butterflies in my stomach. Facilitated by PFC members, including Linda Kuizenga, Elsa Linto, Tony Ivanoff, Eric Lacroix, Charles Seguin, Holly Sullivan and Julie Barr, approximately 22 participants with varying levels of French-language skills introduced themselves and were then divided into two groups for further conversation around the theme of the night “expressions.”
From my perspective, the committee’s goal of engaging multi-lingual members and giving them space to practice their French-language skills in a safe, welcoming and non-judgemental environment was most definitely achieved.
“The French-language is beautiful with its accents and nuances, and this was a great opportunity to showcase the richness of our language,” boasts Kuizenga, PFC Chair.
The idea emerged from recognizing that several members occupy bilingually designated positions but had minimal opportunities to work in French. Discussions around facilitating a conversational group have been occurring for years, but technological and geographical barriers kept it from coming to fruition.
“As the technology evolved, we were faced with the Covid-19 pandemic where we realized our members were too ‘Zoomed out’ to participate in this type of activity,” said Kuizenga. “With the world returning to a type of normalcy, we had the perfect opportunity to finally launch the Conversational evenings by Zoom en français.”
Sessions are typically held every third Wednesday of the month and e-blast invites are sent out prior to with instructions on how to register for a link.
Next month when the invitation hits your email, whether you consider yourself bilingual or a beginner, do yourself a favour and join the session. You may be surprised at how much of the language you recall or at the very least, you’ll have spent an evening with fellow OPSEU/SEFPO members with a similar goal and in my opinion, that’s never a bad thing.