Date:  Tue, 11 Mar 1997 08:13:28 -0500
From:  "Christopher R. Coolidge" <ccoolidg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ZOO.UVM.EDU>
Subject: Re: All purpose arguments

 For an example of failure of language programs, we need to look at my
former home province Quebec and their continued insistence in shoving the
French language down immigrants' throats(including Anglo-Americans; only
English speaking CANADIAN citizens are allowed access to English public
schools). Then they bemoan that immigrants are taking away all the good
jobsa from their children. I mean, who's more marketable; a Vietnamese
immigrant who speaks both English and French(of course he would have
learned English because he's using Quebec as a stepping stone to get into
the States as soon as he can pass the much stricter U.S. immigration
requirements), or a Quebecois who speaks English very badly? And even
though the Office de Language Francais is a black hole that sucks money
and does nothing but bicker about how big foreign languages are allowed to
be on public signs, the Quebec government still throws money at it. You
wonder why I'm impatient about wasting money on programs that don't work.
maybe it's because I've lived in Quebec all those years...