Kids bridge Nunavut’s language divide

IQALUIT — For elementary school students studying in French and Inuktitut at Iqaluit’s Nakasuk School, this past week was chock full of music, dance and crafts.

For four days, students in Grades 4 to 6 put reading, writing and math to one side and got together for a series of workshops.

Activities included drum-making, Québécois and Inuit traditional dancing and singing, and learning to make music with spoons and tambourines.

The week of music was spearheaded and paid for by Iqaluit’s francophone association, L’association des francophones d’Iqaluit, and French teachers at Nakasuk School.

It was designed to give Inuktitut-speaking and French-speaking kids a better appreciation of each other’s culture and language.

“It was a good mix,” said Martine St-Pierre, who teaches French to students in Grade 4 to 6.

“How do you say that in French?” was a common question during the workshops.

Usually the two groups’ contact is limited to encounters in school corridors or on the playground.

“It’s fun to go with the French group,” said one Inuk boy.

The students were scheduled to perform for parents and the public at the school yesterday night.

On Friday night the Francophone Association planned a similar show and pi a supper.