Language policy rarely makes headlines the way this one did. In mid-June, the Quebec government announced a landmark agreement with the province’s three English-language universities — McGill, Concordia, and Bishop’s — that sent a clear message about the future of French in Canada. According to CBC News and The Globe and Mail, the provincial government […]
Fr. Philip Johnson
Can AI Replace a Human Translator? A Researcher’s Perspective
Two translators with the same assignment got very different answers. A translation firm offered both professionals the same project—a large database of food product names and culinary labels to be translated into four languages. One turned it down, saying the research demands made quality work impossible at the rate offered. The other accepted, delivered a […]
How Rap and Hip-Hop Are Reshaping the French Language
One word. That’s sometimes all it takes to trace the entire arc of how a language changes. Wesh — derived from Darija, a dialect of Arabic spoken across North Africa — started as a greeting passed between diasporic communities in the banlieues on the outskirts of Paris. Today, it sits in the Le Robert dictionary, […]
Prince Edward Island Wants French Language Educators
The University of Prince Edward Island and the PEI provincial government announced a new package of financial incentives for students pursuing French-language education as a career. For Fr. Philip Johnson, a French translator and academic researcher at Hofstra University, this kind of institutional investment is a clear indicator of something larger: the demand for qualified […]
Celebrating International Francophonie Day
Every year on March 20th, something quietly remarkable happens across five continents. Millions of French speakers, from Montreal to Dakar to Brussels to Hanoi, pause to celebrate the language that connects them. That day is International Francophonie Day, and in 2026, it falls on a Friday. It’s one of those observances that doesn’t always make […]
