Who knew that a choice made at the age of 11 would impact my personal and professional life for many long years? French is my mother tongue, so what would I choose to study as a second language? I chose German. But then, what of English? English was my second choice and to which I only gave a second thought. Ten years later, deciding to dedicate myself to a career in tourism, I realised the scale of my mistake. After a few years of work I had to face the facts: English was indispensable. I took a few evening classes, but theory is nothing without practice. I then made a decision: I had to go and live in an Anglophone country. Canada came, irresistibly, to mind. Leaving aside Montréal – too French – Vancouver called, with its ocean, mountains and active lifestyle. With my working holiday visa in hand, I left (France) with the prospect of two years ahead of me to become bilingual. But Vancouver had a lot of surprises in stock for me.
Life has become multilingual. | Photo by Joshua Willis
Newly arrived, I headed for the lodgings I had secured for my first month in the city. Immediately I noticed the decor of the studio and noted the recurrence of the Cyrillic alphabet. The proprietor was Ukrainian. On a shopping trip I chatted with a sales clerk. She turned out to be Scottish. But that was only a foretaste of the cultural diversity that Vancouver had to offer.
In order to reach my objective of mastering the English language I am now taking part in “exchange conversations,” half in English, half in French. In so doing I meet many Vancouverites. But not all of them have been here for long. Some are East-Indian, others Chinese, Korean or Taiwanese. They tell me of their lives in Vancouver, how they came to the city and why.
Getting off the bus in the street, I asked directions of a passerby who noticed my accent and asked where I’m from. When I answered that I’m French he responded in French while declaring that although he is British he is married to a Frenchwoman! At work, which consists of a few hours in a shop, the coming and going of clients allows me to try and guess their backgrounds. I note different accents by the way customers ask for products. These discoveries continue day after day thanks to all the nationalities that crisscross the city of Vancouver.
These various encounters reflect the richness of the city. When you leave France for Vancouver you expect you’ll be learning English. That was my mistake. You don’t go to Vancouver to learn one language but many. The city is rich by way of its multiple nationalities, mainly Asians who have settled here over the last three centuries. Each of its citizens enriches the city by their accent, their sounds and sometimes by their untranslatable vocabulary. At the whim of various roads and detours one takes it is no longer Vancouverites whom one meets but rather countries, cultures and people who have been swept to the shores of Vancouver. These cultural mixes make up the wealth of the city and those who come to study and practice their English. One learns to be able to decode the different accents, recognise the backgrounds and adapt to the inherent expectations of each culture. Vancouver is a perfect example of the melting pot. In a literal sense it is the melding of people and backgrounds to make up one group of Vancouverites united in their love of nature, the ocean and the mountains. Each person puts forward their sense of belonging to the city. All along the avenues, the streets and the tangle of alleyways of the city you meet the diverse nationalities thrown into a colourful but pragmatic mix that seek to melt into one great mass, all the while maintaining their differences.
Translation by Barry Brisebois
