Two attendees to Red Deer Carnaval snack on maple taffy, or cabane de sucre, at Red Deer's Festival Hall on Saturday, Feb. 22. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Bon temps!

Cultural events like Carnaval promoting bilingualism

Feb 22, 2020 | 2:18 PM

The enjoyment of entertainment and unique treats aside, Red Deer’s Carnaval event on Saturday also shone a light on bilingualism and what the French language means to Canadians outside Quebec.

Carnaval, a much-larger and long-running cultural event in Quebec City, goes for 10 days each February.

Serge Gingras, former regional director in Red Deer for the Association Canadienne française de l’Alberta (ACFA), believes events like Carnaval (in Red Deer) help young kids enrolled in French Immersion realize their new language skills can be applied outside the classroom.

“If a child is in a French or Francophone school, that’s the only place in Red Deer they’d typically hear French, so the purpose of our organization is to invite the community to attend our cultural events throughout the year,” says Gingras, noting, in addition to Carnaval, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day and Canada Day.

“French Immersion programs have been in Red Deer for over 30 years and we’ve seen growth in terms of the number of students who attend, the number of schools which offer it, and the grades in which it’s offered,” he continues.

COMMUNITY BUILDERS

Three central Albertans recipients of Alberta Immigrant Impact Awards

11h ago

town calls suit 'frivolous and vexatious

Sylvan Lake council member suing municipality, mayor and CAO for $317,000

Oct 05, 2024

RDES HOLDING OCT. 5 DEMO

Make your smoke alarms work for you this Fire Prevention Week

Oct 04, 2024

“A child can go from kindergarten to grade 12 totally in French Immersion, come out fully bilingual, and that opens more doors for them as far as travel and career. More and more, parents are realizing it is an advantage for their child to be bilingual in this country.”

In the Red Deer Public school division, approximately 10 per cent of all students are enrolled in French Immersion. Their program began in 1980 at Grandview Elementary; it’s also offered at four schools within the Red Deer Catholic Regional school division.

Isabelle Cliche, a children’s entertainer who performed at Red Deer Carnaval this weekend, has heard a lot about her home province in 16 years of living in Alberta. She says it’s part in Canada’s identity is reason enough to work to keep it alive nationwide.

“Sharing our culture and traditions through events like Carnaval is good way to do that. You don’t have to know French to come eat maple taffy and learn that it’s made from sirop d’erable. That’s how you learn French, and that’s why these gatherings are very important,” she says.

“Bilingualism is one way to live your life to the fullest because it will only open doors for you. The reason I can be a full-time artist is definitely because I’m bilingual. If you’re bilingual, it’ll never hurt you.”

According to the 2016 Canadian census, Alberta is home to more than 264,000 bilingual (English-French) people, the third most of any province or territory outside Quebec. That number was also an increase of 29,000 (or 12.4 per cent) compared to 2011.

The same census also found there were 5,445 bilingual people in Red Deer, 1,310 of which said French is their mother tongue.