Canadian astronaut’s bon mots help heal wounds from French language row | Canada

FMany people predicted humanity’s search for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French writer Jules Verne, whose two works (From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon) predicted many features of modern lunar exploration.

But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during NASA’s recent Artemis II mission.

Jeremy Hansen turned to the camera as the Integrity spacecraft sped towards the moon on the third day of the mission. “Good morning,” he said from nearly 125,000 miles away – a greeting with a literal translation that reflected the magnitude of the journey: hello to the whole world.

“For the first time in history, our language was expressed in French while going to the moon,” said a Canadian parliamentarian. “French has never been spoken from this far away.”

Hansen’s decision to speak French at NASA’s press conference during the mission and upon his return to Earth came shortly after a language controversy and public relations nightmare for Canada’s flagship airline; This underlined how deeply connected the language is to the country’s politics and culture.

Air Canada chief Michael Rousseau was forced to resign amid a storm of outrage last month after speaking just two words of French in a video tribute to two pilots killed in a fatal crash. One of the pilots was a native French speaker and Air Canada was headquartered in Montreal, and Rousseau’s inability to speak the language, despite having a French-speaking mother and wife, was seen as a slight to 80% of Quebec’s population.

Even Canada’s prime minister entered the dispute, saying the video showed “a lack of judgment, a lack of compassion.”

Weeks later, as the Artemis crew hurtled toward the moon, Mark Carney had nothing but praise for Hansen.

“Of course Canadians are proud of you for so many reasons, but it was incredible to hear you speak French for the first time in space,” he said while speaking French to the astronaut. “We are proud of what you do… We are all watching and inspired by what you do.”

The sight of two English speakers speaking heavily accented French to each other led to widespread praise among many Canadians.

“Francophones in Canada will celebrate these efforts. None of these men speak perfect French. They probably never will, but to see them publicly and very publicly resonate with Francophones across the country,” said Stéphanie Chouinard, a professor of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada, the post-secondary institution that Hansen attended. “The expectation here is not perfection, but effort and respect.”

Hansen learned French earlier in school and needed to achieve a high level of proficiency in order to graduate from RMC. He still frequently uses French at public outreach events and often answers questions from Canadians bilingually. To many, Hansen sees French as part of the job of representing Canada, and Air Canada’s chief appears to be treating the language as optional.

“Next to firefighters, astronauts are probably the profession that kids look up to the most. And for Hansen to put himself out there and make that effort — and show that it’s always a work in progress — is the best kind of role modeling you could hope for,” Chouinard said. “French is of little use in the corridors of NASA. [But] He knows he’s representing Canada and sees that as something important and worth showing off. “That says a lot.”

Online forums We talked about the astronaut’s heavily accented French, and most agreed it was impressive. And many pointed out the obvious: This was the exact opposite level of effort from Air Canada’s outgoing CEO.

Hansen has publicly stated his desire to represent the people of Canada to the best of his ability. He engaged with Native elders to better understand the cultural significance of the 13-lunar calendar shared by Anishinaabe, Cree and Haudenosaunee cultures, which guides planting, harvesting, hunting and gathering.

The Artemis II mission left Earth during Ziisbaakdoke Giizis, meaning sugar-marked moon in Anishinaabemowin; this is a time commonly seen as a time of renewal when maple sap flows.

Hansen’s custom patchThe dress she wore for the mission was designed by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond. Part of the footage shows Artemis firing her arrow with the astronauts, sending them around the “Grandma Moon” reflecting the “cycle of life”.

“Sit down with your elders and ask questions,” Hansen said from space. “I learned great things every time I listened to it.”

When the Artemis crew returned to Earth, they seemed moved by the profoundly human experience of leaving the planet. Hansen later said this made him realize that people are “small and weak, but strong together.”

Recent advances in artificial intelligence and wearable technology have led some to suggest that learning a second language is no longer important. But the Canadian astronaut’s decision to deliberately speak French in front of the world’s eyes reflected the deep cultural component of learning and respecting another language.

“Of course, language is a tool of information, exchange and communication. But it is much more than that. Anyone who decides to learn to speak another language other than their own realizes how specific an understanding any language has of the world and the universe around us,” Chouinard said. “It’s really a way of learning to see the world – our world – through a different lens.”