Hello and welcome to English with Languissimo®, the podcast in English where I share stories of my week with you.
My name is Vanessa. I’m the founder and CEO of Languissimo®.
Let’s go!
The Voice of Islamophobia (La voix de l’Islamophobie)
March 15th is International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
Minister Hussen declared last year that he was standing in solidarity with Muslim communities across Canada and around the world. He stressed the fact that Canada was committed to denounce and tackle Islamophobia, hate-fuelled violence and systemic discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs.
Canada planned to invest eighty-five million dollars to fight Islamophobia.
Is it enough?
People have to stop associating the actions of certain groups and/or individuals to an entire population.
The older I get, the more I realize that I’ve had enough of all this discrimination, all this violence, all this hatred and all this intolerance.
Can’t we all live together in peace?
If it’s not for religion that we kill one another, it’s for power.
If it’s not for power, it’s for money.
If it’s not for money, it’s for control.
If it’s not for control, it’s for dominance.
It never ends.
When will it stop?
Religious wars have been around since the beginning of time.
Our governments keep repeating that it will never happen again and that we must learn from our mistakes.
Bullshit! Pardon my French, although a little bit of colloquial vocabulary doesn’t hurt 😊
We live in a world that butchers innocents in the name of religion, different skin color or physical trait.
When will we stop the massacre, and will we love one another?
Let’s open ourselves to others, other religions, and other cultures.
Let’s stop this hatred and help one another.
Let’s accept who we are for who we are.
Anyway, I want to take the opportunity of this important day to celebrate the female and male Muslims that are a part of my great team of teachers.
I thank you for the work you do, and I wish you a happy Ramadan!
Ramandan Mubarak to you and to you all!
Some Study Points
- “To be committed” means “être engagé(e)”. The noun is “commitment” (un engagement).
- “Hatred” means “la haine”.
- “Wherever and whenever” means “peu importe où et quand”.
- Please note that in English there is no “s” at “million” when followed by “dollars”. Example: eighty-five million dollars (quatre-vingt-cinq millions de dollars).
- “The older I get, the more I realize that” means “plus je vieillis, plus je réalise que”. “To get old/older” means “vieillir”.
- “To have had enough of” means “en avoir assez/marre/ras-le-bol”. “To be fed up with” and “to be sick and tired of” are synonyms.
- “To kill one another/each other” means “s’entretuer”.
- “Since the beginning of time” means “depuis la nuit des temps”.
- “To keep repeating” means “répéter sans cesse” or “ne cesser de répéter”.
- “ Bullshit” means “que des conneries”. A nicer way to say it is to use the acronym “BS”.
- “To be a part of” means “faire partie de/d’”.
Some Practice Questions
- Have you had enough of all this intolerance as well?
- Do you think that eighty-five million dollars are enough to fight Islamophobia?
Tada! That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Subscribe to English with Languissimo®, practice, take care and have a great weekend! Big hugs 😊