Raquel Fletcher

CFLS '09, BA '15

 

Anglophone, Francophone, Francophile… that’s the voyage of identity of Fransaskoise Raquel Fletcher. After taking core French classes at Greenall High School in Balgonie, SK, as well as a beginner French class at the University of Regina, Raquel enrolled in the French-as-a-second-language program in 2008 to feed her growing interest in French.  

In the beginning, Raquel saw learning French as something purely practical:

I didn’t want to be a tourist in my own country. I wanted to be able to communicate in both of Canada’s official languages.

Then, while enrolled in the Certificate program, a real passion for French and Francophone culture was born. Raquel did some work placements and volunteering in the Francophone community, even taking part in a French-language play!

Raquel completed her path with a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Regina and then worked as a reporter for Global Regina for several years. With a desire to become fully bilingual, she returned to her studies to complete a bachelor’s degree in Francophone and Intercultural Studies.

In her opinion, her experience in French programs at university was enriched by the close relationships that students have with each other and with staff. She says she now has a network of contacts and friends in the Francophone community. It was due in part to this network that she was able to obtain a job as a bilingual journalist in Quebec City, working for Global Montreal.

She believes that it is largely because of her French studies that she was able to begin a journalism career in Quebec and because of the time spent in a Francophone minority environment that she can now fully appreciate living in a Francophone majority context.

You understand the world a bit more and a bit better when you’re able to understand two languages.

While Raquel acknowledges that learning a second language wasn’t easy, she has never regretted it because she knows that today she can live out her full potential.

 

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