Preface: Considering the subject of this posting, I feel I need to say that I, Elaine P Sawchuk, do NOT hate French Quebecers. As it is said, some of my best friends are Québecois! My 'first' (*wink*) boyfriend was Québecois, I spent 14 years with the Québecois father of my three children and as such, they are also 1/2 French Quebecers. Oh, and the fact that I'm blogging on this subject today, 'la St-Jean' is purely coincidental, I assure you!
This being said, watching reports submitted by Stéphane Giroux on CTV Montreal (the old CFCF-12) drives me up the freakin' wall!!! When he was first hired by this major English speaking station back in 1994, I remember being surprised that an anglophone station would hire a francophone with such a thick French accent. I listened to him stammer his way through reports, mispronouncing words throughout and replacing every 'th' sound with the letter 'd', as all French speaking Quebecers learning English do. Two years later, I moved to Europe and upon my return in 2000, I was really surprised to see he was still employed at the station.
So shoot me. I happen to believe that an English speaking channel should have reporters who are not abrasive to their viewers. I find having to deal with Monsieur Giroux's accent to be abrasive. What irks me to no end is that NO WHERE on any major French speaking station in Quebec will you find an anglophone reporter 'maganaying' the French language.
So, how has this guy lasted on this station this long? Who IS this Stéphane Giroux anyhow ... the secret love child of Lloyd Robertson and Bill Haugland?!?
PS In trying to find a pic of Stéphane Giroux to accompany this posting, I found one. ONE! The one from his online bio. My gawd, there are more pics of ME online (excluding Facebook, I mean) and I'm a nobody! YouTube the guy and there's nothing either. NOTHING! 17 years on a major station and he's transparent! Hmmm ... is der a story to dis???
3 comments:
Dennis Trudeau is on FM 98.5 for a short spot between 12:30 and 1:00 pm. But while his accent is REALLY heavy, his wonderful grasp of la langue de Molliere more than makes up for it. He, unlike your friend M. Giroux, is a true pleasure to listen to!
I'm sorry if my accent bothers you so much. But as my bio reads, I'm no love-child to anyone :-) Just a proud Canadian happy to be able to work in both official languages.
Glad the content of my stories keep you faithful to my work ;-)
Stéphane
"The subsequent report is a teeth-grinding and nails-on-the-blackboard experience for me."
You're not the only one! I actually mute the sound on my TV whenever his reports are aired, I find the analogy of nails on a blackboard extremely accurate. The most paramount job of any news reporter, be it on television or radio, is to be clear, articulate and smooth. Stephan, unfortunately, due to his heavy accent and mispronunciations of English words, fails in all these areas.
I really feel awful saying so and being negative, because he IS an intelligent and sharp guy, and judging from the sense I get from him and his co-workers interaction all these years in watching, he's a decent, respectable, warm and friendly man. In fact I must say he's an excellent reporter, just English is not his first language or forte and it shows. Painfully.
If you are reading this Stephane, please do know I and other viewers respect you a great deal. This is only a criticism of your accent, not you as a person or even your reporting skills. I doubt I would even think twice about it if I met you in person. People like you and Mutsumi are like family, we've known you so many years!
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