Sally Rehorick
Figure skating and second languages
By Marie Labrecque
A former figure skater, Sally Rehorick still continues to spend time in skating rinks—but now as an official. Since 1992, she has participated in five Winter Olympics, namely as a judge, head coach of Canada’s national figure skating team and Canada’s chef de mission. She is currently a member of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
and holds the important position of Director, International Client Services.
This fully bilingual Anglophone quickly discovered that she had a gift for languages. “I started learning French in high school in Edmonton. I got 96% in my second-language course and 56% in math... so it was pretty clear to me which path I should take! My grandmother was Parisian and I often heard her talk about France. Also, I always loved languages. I saw them as a challenge, a learning process that would continue for the rest of my life. I was able to improve my French little by little because I continued to work in that language.”
During her professional career, Sally taught French at various institutions, including the prestigious Harvard University for a year. She was also the long-time director of the Second Language Education Centre at the University of New Brunswick. Her bilingualism has been useful not only in her academic career, but also in her athletic career. “It really helps me in the world of skating and the Olympic Games because there is a lot of travel involved. I have the opportunity to speak with other judges and trainers in languages I know, and I can train judges in Quebec. Last February, I gave a presentation in English and French to some chefs de mission from other countries. It was one way of showing the Olympic community that in Canada people are welcome in both languages. I am very happy to be able to do this myself, without having to use an interpreter.”
For this polyglot (she has also studied Spanish and Italian and lived in Japan for two years), landing a better job should not be Canadians’ main motivation for learning a second language. “For me, it's mostly about being open to other people in the world. Language is the soul of the people. What I find interesting about the West Coast is that a lot of people, especially young people, speak French as a third language. These trilinguals are the future.”
