CHARLOTTETOWN – Aug. 28, 2018 – The provincial francophone information and news portal, ilebranchee.ca, is now officially bilingual, thanks to a newly added section called “Parents branchés”.

The objective of this new section is primarily to inform English-speaking parents who have children in French programs (Immersion or French language) and their teachers about activities taking place in French on the Island. It also encourages greater public participation in the francophone community’s events.

This expansion project was initiated by Canadian Parents for French PEI (CPF), which was looking to give more opportunities to French immersion students to integrate themselves into the Acadian and Francophone community of PEI by participating in more of its French activities. Nancy Kitson, CPF PEI president, said “Such a participation would give students an opportunity to practice their second language in a non-school context and to see that French is much more than just a school subject or program.”

The partnership with RDÉE Prince Edward Island, which operates a French community news site, ilebranchee.ca, was a great solution.  “These past few years, the francophone community of PEI is talking a lot about being more welcoming and inclusive with immersion,” says Bonnie Gallant, executive director of RDÉE PEI. “This project offers us a great method of creating bridges.”

All current users who post news and events on the site now have the option of posting their information in both languages, if and when desired. The English versions of the news will be posted in the “Parents Branchés” section, http://ilebranchee.ca/parent, which the public can access simply by clicking a thin blue banner at the top of the site.

English organizations and teachers wishing to post information and news are invited to create an account simply by clicking the “subscribe” button. The English section also includes a page giving information and links related to artistic and cultural resources.

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CUTLINE: Bonnie Gallant, left, executive director of RDÉE Prince Edward Island, and Gail Lecky, executive director of Canadian Parents for French, check out the new “Parents branchés” section of the ilebranchee.ca portal.

For more information:

Gail Lecky
Executive director
Canadian Parents for French PEI
902-368-3703
glecky@cpfpei.pe.ca

Bonnie Gallant
Executive director
RDÉE Prince Edward Island
902-854-3439, poste 232
bonnie@rdeeipe.org