Some Anglophones might not know who Simon Lalande is, but in the Francophone community, Lalande is a legend. He has been President of La LIEU, the French Improv league, President of l'Association de la francophonie de l'Ontario, and is usually quoted by anyone remotely interested to the question of bilingualism at the U of O.Oddly enough, Lalande never got involved within the SFUO and I asked him why. A large part of the interview revolved around the question of bilingualism and just how bilingual the University/SFUO should be. We also discussed the frustrations of being an "involved Francophone", or as Lalande says it: "The Token Francophone" of a Federated body. More often than not, that Francophone has to translate/correct documents and is unable to actually be involved.
Lalande also gave his opinions on whether or not there should be a separate French student union, like the model at Laurentienne.
It was certainly an interview for the ages. French podcast below.
Photo courtesy of Jason Chiu. The SFUO2 Blog™ exclusive.
2 comments:
wow. That's a really really interesting interview.
Brilliant points. I'm blown away.
Entrevue exceptionnelle. Félicitation Simon!
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