Over the past few weeks, Dion has been actively using English more and has already shed some of his difficulties with pronunciation. When talking about his "three-pillar" political platform, for instance, it no longer comes out as "peelers," much to the disappointment of comedians and pundits who had fun with the nickname for strippers.
Dion is spending a lot of time with his English tutor:
"She's helping me to catch the music of the language, where to put the intonation. It's a complete mystery for me," Dion said. "What I understand is that you (English-speakers) have that by instinct more than by rules.
I can only speculate that the Dion household didn't worry too much about ensuring that little Stephane was encouraged to learn and speak English. The mother-tongue and the motherland were likely all that mattered.
However, if he is actually successful in his remedial homework, it may end up being a liability. His fractured English was the only thing preventing me from falling asleep during a speech.
25 comments:
labelled many things, from Anonymous, to Allophonic, I'm still the same old Tango Juliette who sez:
Eh bien. A Franco-Franco settled in the KwayBeck part of officially bilingual Canada apparently doesn't have to learn, actually -- is kept from learning, ESL.
We Allos, landing in KueBeck, had to learn both official languages, and somehow manage to try to hang on to our own, as well. Zut. And Alors.
I count my multilingualism / polyglotism a blessing. Too bad the fearless leader of the Liberal party never perceived Canada in the same glorious light of tremendous freedom and opportunity.
Salut, eh?
Garth said on his blog today that his office was defaced.
http://repocreepo.blogspot.com has the scoop.
Hardly defacing but hilariously funny!
Too Bad DiDi can't find a tutor to teach him about things like reality, honesty, integrity. And, maybe common sense!
I personally do not care how bad his English is when his ideas and what comes out of his mouth is still crap!
"Garth said on his blog today that his office was defaced"
Does it mean all the pictures of him were taken down?
Gabby - lol!!!!
Repo's post is on National Newswatch!
Oui, Tango. C'est dommage.
Tango Sez:
P'raps le p'tit Gart' should just keep his trews up, and quit moonin''da hill.
That'd keep his place from defacement, eh?
Tango Sez:
P'raps le p'tit Gart' should just keep his trews up, and quit moonin''da hill.
That'd keep his place from defacement, eh?
Joanne @ 03:12:00 PM:
It must be your influence ...
Gabby, see what happens when you hang around Chucker's blog and mine too long? ;)
Even if Dion learns to speak the Queen's English he will still be a French subversive to me.
(real conservative)
Citoyen Pion should just forget dusting off his english and head back to the nearest university library where he belongs; and gather dust there.
I know it's unfair Didi but let a true LEADER run the country.
Metalguru
Metalguru, my sense of it all is that Dion is the Liberals' sacrificial lamb. When the party bigshots figure that the public has deemed the Grits sufficiently punished, Dion will be turfed and a new great leader brought on the scene.
Mr. Dion's difficulties with intonation & his pronunciation of English words are not the main focus for me. What I have more of a problem with are his ideas.
Like Tango, I too managed to learn the two official languages of this vast beautiful country. Unfortunately, not everyone did/does. That may have been the fault of the Fathers of Confederation, who made Education a provincial, rather than a federal jurisdiction.
If I had my "druthers" I'd have every child in Canada start learning both languages from kindergarten on. When they're that young, kids absorb knowledge like sponges.
We'd sure save a lot of money; second-language training for civil servants & public officials would be unnecessary.
It's too late for the Liberals now, Joanne. Harper has taken the centre and is now "accepted" by enough Canadians (Even more so after the budget and the Qc election) to form a majority if no atomic bomb type gaffe comes before the next election.
The 'new' Conservative ship will sail for a full mandate and even beyond until corruption and/or other factors come along.
The Liberal power structure already know this.
As for Conservative supporters who are currently dissapointed with Harper's lack of right wingness of late should realize that Harper is slowly 'taming the sheeples' and bit by bit will make them realize in the long run that small government/less taxes is the key for true prosperity.
but,
Like the Honorable John Reynolds said just the other day: "The Liberal name brand is like Coca-Cola"; Entrenched and hard to shake off from so many years in power" ...Something like that anyway.
Metalguru
Metalguru - "The Liberals have one heck of a brand name. It's like fighting Coca-Cola," said Reynolds.
Pass me a Pepsi, please.
". . . Joanne (True Blue) said...
Metalguru - "The Liberals have one heck of a brand name. It's like fighting Coca-Cola," said Reynolds.
Pass me a Pepsi, please. . " ?
TangoJuliette sez:
That last"pass me a..." would of got you into a fierce scrap with an irate Franco-Canadian Quebecois dude, in my childhood days, on Montreal's multi-lingual lower-east side.
Ah the good old days - - je me souviens!
Oh yeah ..... politically incorrect word "Pepsi" taken completely out of context would offend a Quebecois so don't y'all say it print it or think it!!!!
Just came acrooss this.
OTTAWA (CP) - Liberals are double-dog daring the Conservatives to embrace Kyoto.
Turns out Stephane Dion is not the only former Liberal environment minister to name his canine companion after the international climate change treaty. David Anderson, who held the environment post before Dion, also has a dog named Kyoto.
"She's suing for identity theft," Anderson quipped in an interview Thursday.
Dion, the newly minted Liberal leader, has been photographed extensively with his white husky, Kyoto. He got the four-legged symbol of his commitment to battling climate change shortly after the Liberals were turfed from power last year.
Anderson was way ahead of him.
Wow, he even plagirized his dogs name.
He he he...........
Narry an original thought!
From DiDi!!
Pass me a Pepsi, please.
Not me, Joanne. I still prefer Coca-Cola, though I may have to choke down my next bottle or two until I get over Reynolds' comment.
Brian, truth be told, I don't drink either. Bottled water is my non-alcoholic beverage of choice.
Dion will never be a PM, even tho history shows every lib leader has in the past.
The fact he is an atheist, french citizen and doesn't speak english, and has mps who march with the terrorists will turn a lot of voters off. These facts will be brought out during any election campaign, by bloggers.
Once the facts of how his new carbon tax will hit the pocketbook of all cdns, (like the gst did) and the fact that to keep Ont liberal he has exempted the auto sector, voters will rebel. The carbon tax is another adscam in the making.
Mary - Dion's an atheist? I didn't know that.
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