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Like other ethnic groups in
Australia, French
speaking parents are keen to pass on their
language and culture to their children.
It is by no means an automatic process and without support, many fail
to motivate their children to keep up French as a mother
tongue.
It is especially difficult once the child
has entered the Australian school system. The bilingual French speaker
child feels isolated because:
- he receives all learning stimulation in
English and
- most
importantly, does not wish to differ from her or his peers
Parents have to override
these two major factors if they want to "win the battle".
In order to organise the appropriate support,
the families with a French-speaking background (French, Belgian, Swiss,
Canadian, North African, Mauritian, etc.) created the French speaking
Association of the North Shore Inc., (F.A.N.S.) in June 1998.
Its purpose is the promotion of the French language and culture amongst
the French speaking families located in the area.
Why should your bilingual child
participate in French-speaking activities ?
- to meet other
bilingual French speakers of the same age: "ah, there are
others like me…"
- to offer a balance with the
everyday teaching in English: "in this class, we speak French"
- to let them hear French from
others than their parents: "parents already have so much to
enforce "
- to
improve their knowledge of French as a native language in the early
years before the language structures of the brain are "set":
"the older the child, the harder the learning"
- to extend
their vocabulary in a fun atmosphere:
"French is fun"
FANS offer the bilingual families living on
Sydney's northern shores different structures
to help them maintain French as a mothertongue for their children but
also socially for themselves! :
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