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 Words in the News
INTRO 
  BBC correspondent Mike Fox reported on an enquiry into the status of the strict language laws in Quebec, which are designed to protect the French language.
IN FULL 
  AudioListen to the report in full
French in Quebec

2nd November 2000

Quebec's language laws

NEWS 1 
 AudioListen to the first part of the report
  Walking around the streets of the world's second largest francophone city, it's difficult to believe that laws are needed to guarantee the continuing use of French. Most passers-by are speaking French, most of the shop names and advertisements are in French and French is the language of business and commerce. While English options are given on telephone call centre lines, French is the first language used when you get to speak to anyone. But many Quebeckers feel that they must continue to fight for their language in the one major area of North America where English isn't the dominant language. As a result there's a language charter which says that signs must use bigger writing for the French version and that shopkeepers should address their customers in French first. Most children go to French schools and only those whose parents were born in the province can go to English-speaking ones.
  AudioListen to the words
WORDS 
 

francophone city - a city where the main language is French

passers-by - general expression for people on the streets

call centre - a central location where big companies have many operators answering their phones

dominant - strongest or most widely used

'As a result..' - 'Because of this..'

a language charter - a written statement which says what languages must be used

NEWS 2  AudioListen to the second part of the report
  The situation was very different when the charter was first introduced in the nineteen-seventies. English was much more widely used and surveys then showed that those earning the highest salaries spoke only English and even a bilingual French speaker tended to earn less than Anglophones. Nowadays many employers in Quebec don't require staff to speak English at all. The hearing is unlikely to hear strong submissions about the threat posed to French by globalisation since international companies use English as their main language. But the English-speaking community here is also worried about the status of its language. Some leaders don't believe the inquiry will be sufficiently objective, while others worry that the language laws are creating problems for them.
  AudioListen to the words
WORDS  

surveys - when many people are asked their opinion about something this is called a survey

tended to - used to

anglophones - English speakers

Nowadays - Today, these days

hearing - a formal meeting where legal matters are discussed

submissions - a point or opinion made in court is a submission

sufficiently objective - fair to both sides, not favouring only one point of view

    
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