March is Francophonie Month!
Célébrez le Canada avec nous en français!
Mar 1, 2021 - By Christine JohnsonWhy in March?
To coincide with the International Day of the Francophonie on March 20 of every year.
March usually coincides with March Break for students in Canada in most provinces and territories. Schools choose a week in the month of March to celebrate the French language.
Why celebrate the French language?
Canada’s two official languages are an integral part of our identity.
Why celebrate any language? Because a language is a reflection of a people’s culture, a manifestation of the human spirit – a unique way of expressing how one perceives and experiences the world around them. As we learn to understand and appreciate each others’ cultures and languages, we grow closer together in the human family.
Canada’s Official Language Act is being modernized! See here for more information:
Let’s celebrate the francophonie together, its culture, its diversity and its inclusivity across Canada! Discover here the organized activities from coast to coast to coast as well as online games and contests that Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie have planned for you: https://rvf.ca/en
Check out how the Ottawa Public Library is celebrating the month of the Francophonie this year:
https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/blogs/la-francophonie-your-couch
March is the Mois de la francophonie at the University of Ottawa! It’s the perfect opportunity to get to know and enjoy French language and culture in all its forms. Activities will take place all over the campus — lots of concerts, exhibitions, talks, films and more! This March, let’s celebrate our own rich, dynamic francophone community!
https://olbi.uottawa.ca/mois-francophonie
Practice your French listening skills, while enriching your knowledge about Canada’s geography and culture by listening to these documentary films in French:
- Let yourself experience Canada’s North in ‘Le Grand Nord canadien’, an exquisite documentary by Philippe Gougler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5M8lBTuF84 Spectacular!
- How many Canadians are aware that in Western Canada there is an organized and dynamic minority group of over 100,000 people, who all speak French? This group is spread across three provinces: Alberta, Saskatachewan and Manitoba, that vast territory better known as ‘the prairies’. The documentatry ‘La Voix de la prairie’ introduces these men and women, survivors of a unique history, which they are trying to preserve. This French-speaking population lives in the natural environment of vast plains and takes us to the heart of North America of the early explorers and trappers, the ‘coureurs des bois”.
More cultural activities online to celebrate the month of the Francophonie, brought to you by L’Alliance française d’Ottawa: https://afottawa.extranet-aec.com/events/view/0-Cultural%20Events#/
Listen here to ‘La Voix de la Prairie: La francophonie au Canada’ – documentary by Jean Dulon:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSuDP5M6ILQ