OTTAWA – With a nod to the 50th anniversary of Canada’s Official Languages Act, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie Mélanie Joly unveiled a new $16 million cultural program designed to help Canadians to learn and use English and French as a second language.
Dubbed "The Mauril" in honour of the late Mauril Bélanger, a former member of Parliament who championed Canada's two official languages, the program will provide access to a virtual learning environment, materials based on current events in Canada, Canadian cultural and artistic content, educational resources to help learners progress from a basic to an advanced level, and teaching tools to improve second-language comprehension and expression.
"French and English are at the heart of Canadian identity. They are the languages of our national dialogue”, said Minister Joly, in the announcement. “The 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act reminds us how important it is to create more opportunities for Canadians to learn them both. That's why "The Mauril" will become the go-to online program for all Canadians seeking to learn and master their second official language.”
CBC/Radio-Canada will design and implement the new program, which is slated for launch in 2020.
"Canada's public broadcaster is pleased and proud to be part of the Mauril project, an edutainment app for official languages learning,” added CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait. “Drawing inspiration from the success of curio.ca, our teaching tool for the educational community, we will be supplying this new platform with 100% quality Canadian content drawn from CBC and Radio-Canada's rich collection.”
Photo of Tuesday’s announcement via Minister Joly’s Twitter account
