For ESL Students: 10 Things You Should Know About The Canadian National Anthem

1. The Canadian national anthem is “O Canada”.“God Save the Queen” is also heard often, but Canada shares that song with Great Britain.
2. There are two sets of letters (words): English and French. Canadians often sing the hymn in their own mother tongue. But at public events, especially federal government ceremonies, people often sing partly in English and partly in French. (This doesn’t always work well. In his book, Straight from the heart Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wrote about trying to lead a crowd in the National Anthem. He sang in French, as he did not know the English words. I was hoping everyone else would join in, in English. But no one else started singing and he had to sing the whole song by himself).
3. First the lyrics were written in French. They were written as a poem by a Quebec judge, Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. To compose, Calixa Lavallée wrote the music for them. This was done in 1880 for a French-Canadian convention.
4. The English lyrics were written in 1908.Robert Stanley Weir, also a judge, wrote the words used today. He was not the first to try. In that year, a magazine organized a contest to find English words for the anthem. The winner was Mercy E. Powell McCulloch. But his lyrics never became popular.
5. The letters in French and English do not have the same meaning. French words speak of ancestors, war, and religion. The English words refer to “glowing hearts” and “true north.”
6. “O Canada” became the official national anthem in 1980. This happened on July 1 of that year, Canada Day.
7. It is sung at Canadian citizenship ceremonies. People who become citizens are encouraged to learn it for this occasion.
8. People are expected to stand when the hymn sounds. But this is not a law, just good manners.
9. It is in the public domain. That means no one owns the copyright. Anyone can use this song without payment.
10. To listen to the music and read the words of all versions, visit the Canadian Heritage site, here [http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/anthem-eng.cfm#a10]