Four Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

[sanch]

The Globe and Mail asked all 11 candidates the same four questions in their second language — English for Mr. Dion, and French for the others. Prof. Knoerr, a bilingual expert in French as a second language at the University of Ottawa, evaluated them according to a scale used for certifying second-language ability. Only one, Ms. Fry, felt that she could not complete the interview.

The interviews ranged from three to 11 minutes, and it was usually those who rated lowest who took the longest time. That was in part because of language, but perhaps also because of the questions: When Mr. Rae was asked if he could take part in a French-language leaders debate and beat Mr. Duceppe, his answer was simply, “Yes.” At any rate, Prof. Knoerr used only about four minutes of each interview for the evaluations, to provide an equal comparison.

For politicians, the evaluations provide more than just a rating of how well they express their message. It also determines whether a listener has to make an effort to understand them — too much effort, and a TV viewer will change the channel.

Both Mr. Rae and Mr. Ignatieff scored top-level ratings, rating 4, displaying a wide range of proficiency that Prof. Knoerr labelled “impressive.” Mr. Ignatieff hesitated a bit more, but in both cases, “the message got through very well, and the pronunciation was very good.”

Mr. Dion rated just below, at 3+. “He understands absolutely everything. His vocabulary and grammar are excellent, but his accent is very present,” Prof. Knoerr said.

Mr. Volpe, whose French is perhaps underrated because he sometimes misuses English terms in French, was given a 3, enough to certify him as bilingual. Ms. Hall Findlay, a Toronto lawyer and considered a long-shot candidate, was given a borderline mark of 3– because, although she made mistakes and searched for words, she was usually able to find a way to make her point.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060513.wxlanguage13/BNStory/National/home

 

[Finder]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

Interesting. Though however, Paul Martin could barely speak english if you ask me.

Also if you wanted a truly bilingual leader the leader of the Democrats is completely bilingual.

 

[#juan]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

Finder wrote:

Interesting. Though however, Paul Martin could barely speak english if you ask me.

Also if you wanted a truly bilingual leader the leader of the Democrats is completely bilingual.

Finder that is nonsense. Whatever you might think of Martin, he is perfectly bilingual.

Who are you talking about when you refer to the leader of the Democrats? Do you mean the New Democratic party?

 

[Finder]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

opps... so tired ment to say Jean Cretchen, my mistake. Don't post when you've been awake for over 24 hours on a night shift.


Edit:

Yes Jack Layton the Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada.

 

[#juan]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

You have my sympathies

After 24 hours, I couldn't walk, let alone write anything coherent.

 

[Finder]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

well I'm off in 20 minutes... which means once I get home in 60 minutes and then clean up the dogs in 90 minutes and then go to the washroom and brush my teeth in 105 minutes, I should be able to hopefully ignore my dogs crying and fall asleep in 120 minutes. Not that I am counting or anything.

 

[gc]

RE: Six Liberal contender

Now the article reads "Four Liberal contenders..." instead of six, I wonder why it changed.
At least Kennedy is still in the race, as he is the only decent candidate.

 

[Jersay]

Re: Six Liberal contenders don't pass as bilingual

Can't speak French. He isn't a good candidate.

 

[gc]

RE: Six Liberal contender

Jersay,
Who can't speak french? Kennedy?
He passed the test, and is apparently bilingual. Reread the article at www.theglobeandmail.com, there was an error before that has now been corrected.
So yes, I believe he is a good candidate.

 

[Finder]

I think the media making it appear that any canadate needs to speak french is somewhat misleading. I think anyone in Canada should have the ability to become the PM without the Media demonizing francaphones or anglophones who can not speak both tongues.

 

[Vicious]

I think the media making it appear that any canadate needs to speak french is somewhat misleading. I think anyone in Canada should have the ability to become the PM without the Media demonizing francaphones or anglophones who can not speak both tongues.

As a unilingual Canadian I agree. But if you can't speak french you can qrite off quebec and that's just the hard cold facts. Belinda can tell you more about it.