SHS grads succeed in French

By Richard Wills, publications editor

Regardless of whether a young man is totally francophone, totally anglophone, or a blend of the two, the academic program at Selwyn House can prepare him to continue his schooling, his career and his life fully in the language and culture of Quebec.

As the premier French-language CEGEP in Montreal, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf is known for its academic rigour. In recent years, Brébeuf has begun to attract more Selwyn House graduates, who leave SHS as fully prepared to tackle the French curriculum as their classmates who attended French high schools.

William Martin-Chin 2004 grew up in NDG and Westmount in a totally anglophone household. “We spoke absolutely no French at home,” he recalls. A naturally bright student, he excelled in French at Selwyn House and found himself promoted to Langue Maternelle. “I thought it was a mistake at first,” he admits.

Encouraged by Mme Johanne Werbiski, William chose to go to CEGEP at Brébeuf, where he continued to place in the top 10 per cent of his class, doing especially well in subjects that required a thorough knowledge of French.

“It was good experience.” He says. “It opened me up to a new way of thinking. Now I’m richer for it. I can partake in both worlds.”

William graduated in health sciences and went on to earn a degree in civil engineering at McGill, making the Dean’s List each year. He is now back at McGill in a bilingual law program that encompasses both civil and common law. “You have to be able to cope with French being used in the classroom,” William says, crediting Selwyn House for preparing him for such an enriching journey.

William Pridham-Leroux 2009 didn’t speak a word on English when he started Kindergarten at Selwyn House. He says his parents had chosen SHS for him because it is “The best English school in Montreal—if not in Quebec—and my parents wanted me to get a good base in English.”

He graduated as an honour student and went to CEGEP at Brébeuf. He plans to continue his studies at the Hautes Études Commerciales.

“Selwyn House is evolving, changing, becoming more bilingual,” he says.

Yan Besner ’96 grew up in Westmount; his father is French Canadian; his mother from France.

“My parents would say I was an anglophone when I was growing up,” says Yan. “I would be spoken to in French and I would respond in English. I always understood that French was my mother tongue, but I needed to be taught grammar and that sort of thing.

“I learned through the SHS French program how to properly read and write in French.”

Yan also studied throughout high school with Johanne Werbiski. “She was great,” he recalls. “She had us reading at levels that were commensurate with the literature that francophone kids were studying in their high schools.

“I went to Brébeuf for the same reasons I enjoyed Selwyn House,” he says. “The teacher-to-student ratio and the passion of the teachers for learning was something that I wanted to continue having, because I had embraced that at SHS for 11 years. I chose Brébeuf based on that, not based on the language of instruction.

“At Selwyn House we were taught that we can pretty much go anywhere and have a fair chance of succeeding.

“Those two years at CEGEP were the toughest two years of schooling I’ve had,” Yan says, “tougher than law school, which followed right after. Without Selwyn House I would not have been able to tackle it, that’s for sure. But the preparation was there, and I highly recommend it.

“Since Selwyn House I have not studied in English,” Yan says. He earned his law degree at the Université de Montréal and is now a partner with the firm of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Montreal. “The legal profession in this province is predominantly francophone,” Yan says. “To work right now in this city you have to have a strong level of not only bilingualism but also biculturalism, and this is especially true for anglophones.

“At 16 or 17 the world becomes much larger when you break out of your niche neighbourhood, and there was a whole new sense of a culture that I wasn’t so much in touch with, irrespective of my family background,” Yan says. “To have a completely bilingual and bicultural school and to be exposed to that much younger is definitely a plus.”