Le français au présent et au futur
Réseau réussite Montréal’s “Le français au présent et au futur” project, in collaboration with Y4Y, focused on increasing the confidence of young English-speakers in developing bicultural relationships with the French-speaking community, while taking into account their professional and personal interests, and integrating themselves into a future in Québec. Many English-speakers feel a sense of linguistic insecurity when communicating in French, therefore, this project aimed to develop young English-speakers’ understanding of their own linguistic insecurities and strategies for dealing with it.
Y4Y designed multiple workshops to present in English high schools on linguistic insecurity and the use of French in the four chosen themes: “Friends,” “Sports, Arts & Culture,” “Work,” and “School”. A component of this workshop was presenting video testimonies from youth who overcame their own linguistic insecurities over time, and who provided strategies to youth experiencing the same. These videos acted as “conversation pieces”, so that students could react to the experiences of others, and relate their own to their peers in the classroom.
From November to December 2024, Y4Y had the pleasure of visiting Lakeside Academy to deliver workshops on linguistic insecurity. After watching the video testimonies from other youth, students shared their own ideas for building their own linguistic resilience. They wrote down their strategies on Post-It notes, which we have collated into a booklet!
Read them here.
Meet The Team
Project Coordinators
Lene Nemeh
(She/Her)
Communications & Project Coordinator
Lene graduated from McGill University with a B.A in Sociology and a minor in Psychology. She is passionate about helping others and about mental health. A value she carries with her throughout her life is to make sure people feel included, understood, and heard. Originally Syrian, she grew up in Saudi Arabia with an English-educational background and moved to Montréal seven years ago. She has a personal connection and understands what it’s like to be an English-speaker in Québec who is struggling to feel a sense of belonging. She previously had experience being the Vice-President Advocacy of McGill Students for UNICEF and enjoyed being able to advocate for a good cause. During her time at Y4Y, she aims to advocate for her fellow English-speaking peers in Québec and raise awareness on the challenges they face.
Freya Wilson
(She/Her)
Communications Assistant & Project Coordinator
Growing up in London, Freya graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a honours degree in French and History, specifically centred around interdisciplinary research on gender, sex and sexuality. Outside of her studies, she loved getting involved in student societies, charity fundraising and volunteering, including working on projects that promoted learning French as a second language. As the former President of the University of Edinburgh’s French-language theatre society, Les Escogriffes, Freya is passionate about the importance of creativity and collaboration when learning and developing new skills. Excited about her next chapter in life here in Montréal, Freya hopes to continue to inspire English-speaking people in their French-learning journey.