DARE-OSEZ/ideas

FRANÇAIS

Communications

• As a champion, write a post in the Our Languages blog.
• Share capsules on official languages in your institution's newsletters or intranet (e.g. Did you know?). You could include:
  • Infographics on Canada’s official languages from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages;
  • Interesting facts about the flags of Francophone communities;
  • Images with quotes from Canadian artists (Language Portal of Canada); or
  • NeoTERMIUM illustrated fact sheets (Language Portal of Canada).

• Need inspiration for writing messages? Here are some key messages you can use.
• Promote the use of the second official language in internal written communications by encouraging employees to add an image below their signature block when they wish to inform the recipient that they are writing in their second official language.
  • Why not take the opportunity to be creative and display the colors of your institution? As an example, here is the image that was developed at Telefilm Canada.

Initiatives

• Present an official languages award to your institution's employees.
  • Examples from several federal institutions are presented in this discussion thread on the Community of Official Languages (GCcollab).
• Host a second-language book or movie club, with lunchtime discussion periods.
  • The National Film Board of Canada sometimes offers free film screenings, including during the holiday season and for the Journée de la Francophonie in March. Follow their Twitter account to stay in the know.
• Organize a month of daily linguistic duality challenges.
  • Here is the initiative developed by the Public Service Commission of Canada.
• Set a day when all meetings are held in our second language.
  • Here is an editable poster you can use.

• Initiate a dialogue with your institution's employees using the Dare to Discuss questions.
  • You can use the Dare! videos to start the discussion.

• Set up a language twinning program. Here are a few examples:
  • "Téléfun", Parks Canada Innovation Laboratory;
  • "Official Languages: Who's Your "Twin"?", Western Economic Diversification Canada.

• Promote the Official Languages Hub, a search engine with a wealth of resources on official languages offered by the Government of Canada.
  • Here is a promotional toolkit you can use.

Events

• Recruit speakers and organize a virtual talk on official languages. With MS Teams or Zoom, it's easier than ever.
  • Why not take advantage of the opportunity to use these MS Teams backgrounds?
• Organize a virtual or pre-recorded dictation. You or your deputy head could give the dictation to the participants.
  • Dictations from the Commissioner of Official Languages from previous Linguistic Duality Day celebrations remain posted on the Dare! Osez! website.
• Consult your institution's employees as part of a vox pop on linguistic duality.
  • Here is an example from the Canada School of Public Service. Why not call on your institution's communications team? They often have original ideas.
• Include a quiz from the Language Portal of Canada, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages or the Canada School of Public Service. You could even develop a quiz on the history of your institution.
• Organize a talent, drawing or song competition.
  • Here is an example of the meme war organized by the Official Languages Committee of the Prairie Federal Council.
• For more information on events related to official languages, please visit this page.

MATERIAL TO SHARE

• Backgrounds for MS Teams
• Images with quotes from Canadian artists (Language Portal of Canada)
• NeoTERMIUM illustrated fact sheets (Language Portal of Canada)
• Online quizzes (Language Portal of Canada)
• Quiz - 50th Anniversary of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
• Official Languages Quiz (GCcampus L005) (Canada School of Public Service)
• Dare to discuss
• Examples of bilingual voicemail greetings
• Infographics on Canada’s official languages (Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages)

Do you have other ideas to share? Please let us know and we will add them to this list.