So I’m sitting here at my Francophone philosophy conference. At first, things went well because speakers had really traditional accents and I could understand their talks fairly well. Then, however, we had two speakers from Quebec and I was completely lost.
During the break, I heard two Spanish-speakers discuss how they couldn’t understand the Quebecois presenters either. I swear that I’d never felt happier to see any other Spanish-speakers than these scholars from Colombia. I now feel marginalized no more. It’s so heartening to feel part of a community, even such a small one.
This is very fitting for a conference on identity.
Clarissa's Blog 
Oh la la… you know how Quebecois are sensitive about the way they speak French. Are you being humorous or are you serious?
What do you mean by ‘traditional accents’? Gosh Clarissa, this post borders on linguistic imperialism!
And yes, as you are well aware of, we create communities based on the rejection of others.
LikeLike
This talk will appear in a podcast and you’ll get to hear me speak French. And answer a question that was asked in French and that I actually understood.
LikeLike
You knew I would react to this post, right?
LikeLike
I live to provoke, my friend. Still, at the end of the day, I now understand French perfectly. I even spoke French. It wasn’t exactly easy but it happened. The immersion method of language learning is at work on me. 🙂
LikeLike