fact it was never printed on my birth cer-
tificate—an argument I’ll leave to my par-
ents. This wasn’t the only time in my life I
risked losing my sense of French identity.
Later, when I moved to Germany, I almost
stopped speaking the language entirely.
However, thanks to my job here, I pushed
myself to pick it up again.
Now, as a 26-year-old working student
living in Berlin, half of my day-to-day life
is spent at university, where I complete my
courses in German. I also work part-time
for the language learning app, Babbel, in
French customer service, while I mainly
use English to chat with friends and col-
leagues—so speaking three languages has
certainly come in handy.
English speakers in Western Canada
don’t usually learn French as part of their
syllabus, which seems a shame when the
two languages are recognized by the Cana-
dian Official Languages Act. Will French
in this part of Canada be swallowed up by
English? Let’s hope not. As my dad likes
to remind me, “your roots are important.”
Speaking another language can open the
doors to more possibilities, whether you’re
French-Canadian or otherwise. It allows
you to immerse yourself in a new culture,
live elsewhere in Canada or in a different
country, better understand others and
broaden your horizons.
You can start learning at any time, with
traditional lessons, via an app, by finding a
tandem partner or practicing with a native.
If you’re graduating from a French immer-
sion school to study at an English-speaking
institution, call up your friends or relatives
to speak in French once a week, or refresh
your memory with subtitles when watch-
ing movies. For French-Canadian com-
munities in Western Canada, our struggle
is not always obvious, so maintaining our
voice is important. QTop left: Félix
folk dancing
with his cousin
at a local dance
group, La Ribam-
belle de Saska-
toon. Above:
Félix with his
parents, visitng
the Aachen
Cathedral in
Germany.59