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[bcohlan1]

I've been through the search function and found several older threads on the Université de Montréal, but none really answered my question for my situation, so here goes.

There's a TT job in my specialty (and these are few and far between!) at U of M.  The language of instruction is French, and mastery thereof is required of the faculty. However, there is also a university policy to help new faculty to attain said mastery, and they are not expected to have it until a period of three years has passed.

My spoken French is quite poor (I can read it, on the other hand, pretty well); I would be willing to work hard on it, and I think three years of working on my French in a full immersion environment could do wonders. But what on earth would I do in the intervening three years? I'm not required to demonstrate mastery until after the third year, great! But the language of instruction is French, and I'm presumably going to be teaching from day one. That first semester of classes would be one hopeless miscommunication after another. Is this worth even applying to? Thoughts?

[quebec_prof]

> But what on earth would I do in the intervening three years? I'm not required to demonstrate mastery until
> after the third year, great! But the language of instruction is French, and I'm presumably going to be teaching from day one.

Article 10 of the "politique linguistique de l'Université de Montréal" states

À l’exception des personnes visées à l’article 7, toute personne embauchée par l’Université à titre de professeur ou de chargé de cours doit maîtriser le français dès son entrée en fonction. Toutefois, le titulaire d’un poste menant à la permanence qui ne connaît pas ou ne maîtrise pas suffisamment le français peut bénéficier d’un délai maximal de trois ans pour se conformer à la règle générale. Sauf dans les cas les plus exceptionnels, l’obtention de la permanence exige la maîtrise du français.

It is therefore anticipated that certain faculty recruited by the University will have no knowledge of French or a knowledge that it insufficient (= insufficient to deliver lectures in French). During the introductory period I would therefore expect that you will be allowed to give lectures in English. This should be confirmed, however, with your future department. I am sure, however, with all the encouragement and resources that will be available to you, that you will make rapid progress in your acquisition of the language. The students are very patient, longsuffering and forgiving! It's a wonderful place to work and I encourage you to apply.