I believe in the Foundation’s tremendous contribution to the lives of people of all ages and from all backgrounds.
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I believe in the Foundation’s tremendous contribution to the lives of people of all ages and from all backgrounds.
The quality of the services offered by the Foundation and the dynamism of its team makes it a real agent of change. Its humanistic and helping approach makes it possible to genuinely change lives.
Moreover, behind the statistics on literacy difficulties that exist in Quebec are hidden actual lives, people and families who have to deal with this reality.
Throughout my activities with the Foundation, I have worked with exceptional people who, with strength, courage and resourcefulness, have been able to cope with their shortcomings.
Among them, some have decided to make up for their reading and writing deficit. They went back to school… Each of their journeys is a profound lesson in determination. There are many obstacles for these adult learners who must continue to support themselves.
Not to mention the happiness generated by the Gift of Reading program. This year alone, 100,000 books were given to children who received them heartily.
I believe that knowing how to read and write means to be free. Read to understand the world around us, but also the small print clauses at the bottom of a contract. Write to confess our love as in the days of the Romantics or write an unequivocal resignation letter.
Read to escape, write to remember, read to laugh and cry, then write to tell it.
Salomé Corbo
An outstanding actress and improviser, she has been the spokesperson for The Gift of Reading program since 2014.
I have long believed that mastering a language was about mastering complex vocabulary that would impress everyone.
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I have long believed that mastering a language was about mastering complex vocabulary that would impress everyone. In fact, my mastery of the language came through the judgment of others. Then, I saw our theatre, listened to our movies, our TV, I read our literature and most of all I listened to people talking around me. I had to admit that the octosyllable verses were rather inconspicuous, not to say absent.
I understood then that mastering a language was less about using a pompous vocabulary than about mastering one’s thought.
I realized that mastering a language should not be to impress others. We master a language to make our emotions and ideas understood by all.
We master a language to let our personality shine through what we say and write. We master a language, by speaking, reading and writing it, in order to have access to others, but especially to ourselves. To master a language is to give yourself the fundamental right to exist.
I agreed to be an ambassador for the Literacy Foundation not only because it has proved its worth, but above all because it is an organization which gives the means to anyone who asks to learn our language and to enlighten us with their journey and life.
Philippe-Audrey Larrue St-Jacques
Actor and commedian, he is a true dandy. Passionate about words and the French language.
