The Difference en français Initiative
Worried about speaking imperfect French?
Speaking French in a professional setting can be intimidating, especially when you don’t feel perfectly bilingual. Your efforts to communicate in French are already noticeable, and make a real difference to your patients!
The Difference en français initiative has been designed in collaboration with Shared Health / Soins communs to help you overcome this linguistic insecurity and offer quality services in French. Discover a variety of practical tools to give confidence and help you integrate French into your daily practice.
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Why speaking French is essential
Speaking French with French-speaking patients goes far beyond words – it improves their understanding of care, reduces stress and boosts confidence, among other things. By making the effort to speak French, however imperfectly, you show your patients that they are heard and respected. Every word in French strengthens your relationship with them!
Browse through the Difference en français resources – they’re here to help you overcome any hesitation you may feel about speaking French in the workplace.
Your colleagues are also taking on this challenge, and they’re cheering you on!
In the following video, discover how your colleagues have integrated French into their practice and overcome their own linguistic insecurities. Their experiences show how speaking French strengthens the relationship with patients and improves the quality of care.
Above all, remember that you are not alone in this process! Their testimonials in this video will encourage you to persevere. Your colleagues are there to help you, so don’t hesitate to ask them questions and seek their advice on how to gain confidence in French. Together, every effort contributes to creating a more inclusive and caring care environment.
Thank you to the professionals who agreed to participate in this initiative!
The Différence en français Initiative:
Linguistic insecurity among healthcare workers
The initiative to tackle linguistic insecurity stems from a collaboration between Shared Health and Santé en français. This long-term initiative aims to tackle linguistic insecurity among those working in healthcare, thus increasing the active offer of French services.
Various tools have been produced, such as posters, promotional cards and the employee portal including two videos (available above) to help you understand how to counter linguistic insecurity.
- The first video touches on the importance of active offer in French and shows how one person can truly make a difference for a French speaking client.
- The second video supports recruitment efforts and encourages employees to feel confident occupying a designated bilingual position.