bishopshodan Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 I can tell you this. If you stay in a farm house writing music with your band during the mid 90's in North Hatley, Quebec. You will not encounter any problem with the accent of the French Canadians in that area when they speak English. Because they wont speak English. When you ask them for directions in English to the village to buy food, they will snarl, growl and utter words that even in a different language you kinda get the meaning. Thank god I didn't sleep all the way through high school French classes, otherwise I think our rock group might have starved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boeserker Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Quebec! It's the best country in the world! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) They started making French mandatory when I was in junior high, and you had to take it (or some other language) though grade 11. I took it for 12 Honours to qualify for scholarships, but never took any classes afterward. The most good it did me so far, outside of trivia contests: a friend and I met a couple girls on the beach, and one of them was French (not French-Canadian). So, we could talk a little, but when you don't use a new language, the skills go away pretty quick. Also earned me points with the young security guard at work, recently from Senegal. Edited May 15, 2019 by Kragar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckNORRIS4Cup Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 According to the actual French, they can't even speak French properly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckistani Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, bishopshodan said: I can tell you this. If you stay in a farm house writing music with your band during the mid 90's in North Hatley, Quebec. You will not encounter any problem with the accent of the French Canadians in that area when they speak English. Because they wont speak English. When you ask them for directions in English to the village to buy food, they will snarl, growl and utter words that even in a different language you kinda get the meaning. Thank god I didn't sleep all the way through high school French classes, otherwise I think our rock group might have starved. There is a very easy way to get snooty bilinguals (in any language + English) to switch to English: start butchering their language. I had this happen in Quebec city once. Asked a local older gent having coffee to point me towards the bus stop. He ignored me. So i went ' excoozzezz moeeezz, poo vezz vhoosh seel vhooosh....' and he immediately went ' ze boos stop is ova there on zat street' and pointed me to it. Edited May 14, 2019 by canuckistani 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, smithers joe said: i’m french but can’t speak the language. if they learned english in school young, the french accent isn’t as pronounced. i know that german people that can speak english, still have trouble with V and W’s. heh, try speaking "Quebecois" in Paris, France. Good chance you'll be looked down upon as not speaking "proper French" or "real French". Edited May 14, 2019 by NewbieCanuckFan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldoescobar Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) 9 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: heh, try speaking "Quebecois" in Paris, France. Good chance you'll be looked down upon as not speaking "proper French" or "real French". Can attest to this as I speak both English and QC French (have a lot of clients in QC) I had more than a few tell me to speak English as it was easier for them to understand then speaking the QC version of French we learn in Canada Witnessed what I can only assume (don’t speak Spanish) was a similar situation while in Pamplona between a native Spaniard and a guy from Mexico. Edited May 14, 2019 by Ronaldoescobar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boeserker Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) Lot's of French emersion options in public school from Kindergarten on these days. I didn't put my kid in it because I figure 5 year olds have enough to worry about without being completely thrown in the deep end language-wise. Although, "they" say that kids are incredible quick to pick up new languages around that age. I'm going to let my kids decide which languages are more interesting/applicable to their lives when they get older. My 5 year old already has a grasp on Spanish through family and dora the explorer and she picks up French as well on her own. Like Gnarcore and others, I had French class up to Grade 11, never took it seriously and at one point made my French teacher cry by being little $&!#. I can speak, write and read it well enough, listening to the gibberish is something else though. You can learn all the French you'll ever need on the back of hockey cards and cereal boxes haha Edited May 15, 2019 by Boeserker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Ronaldoescobar said: Can attest to this as I speak both English and QC French (have a lot of clients in QC) I had more than a few tell me to speak English as it was easier for them to understand then speaking the QC version of French we learn in Canada Witnessed what I can only assume (don’t speak Spanish) was a similar situation while in Pamplona between a native Spaniard and a guy from Mexico. I knew a guy in the army who was a radio operator a couple decades ago and he said he had the hardest time understanding Newfies, Scots, etc., speaking *English* lol. Edited May 15, 2019 by NewbieCanuckFan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1CupB4IDie Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 French in France and French in Quebec are very different. A friend is from Morocco , speaks French and can not understand the French spoken in Quebec (or the French Canadian tv shows). I guess it's like Canadian English vs Scottish English. I knew a guy from a small town in Scotland...I couldn't understand him...it was like he was speaking a foreign language , not English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldoescobar Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 18 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: I knew a guy in the army who was a radio operator a couple decades ago and he said he had the hardest time understanding Newfies, Scots, etc., speaking *English* lol. One of my wife’s close friends is from Newfoundland and she says the same about her and her husband lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWMc1 Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 I dated a French lady once. She left me for no reason. She took my hands and looked into my eyes and told me to shut the door. I told her that she was closer and to shut it herself. She got mad and stormed out. It's too bad because I was really starting to fall for her. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 I think Swedish people have one of the strongest grasps of English as a second language. Think of another country (where English is not native) that has better grammar and a better accent than Sweden's. Maybe that is just my lack of exposure to Finns and Danes, but I'm sure WPG thinks the same way. But I also think it depends on who you hang with as well. I know that guys like Ehlers and Laine have really picked up their English since the draft. Even Nail Yakupov had the best English from a Russian before he went back to the KHL. I have grown up with a few ESL friends. Some of them didn't focus on learning the nuances of the English language and didn't hang out with Canadians. Others did just that and now English is like a 1B language to them. If that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkstar Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 I lived in Quebec City for a time and anyone who spoke English there had a heavy accent. My partner and friends from Montreal don't have an accent at all, and can speak better English than French. You can assume that nearly anyone outside of Montreal doesn't speak much English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) On 5/14/2019 at 11:36 AM, Gnarcore said: Everyone does learn a 2nd language in school from grades 3 through 12. Some just don't carry on with it. It is mandatory to have a 2nd language credit to graduate in BC. No not all students take a 2nd language gr. 3-12. Second language is not mandatory. Many kids drop out of French after grade 8 and do a learning assistance block instead actually. Not sure where you get your info from. Also french immersion term is pretty funny as in grade 12 " immersion kids in BC did one course Francais Lang 12 for 3 hrs a week for 4 months of the year... Thats really crappy immersion if you compare it to what kids do in europe..... Just sayin. Public Education in BC is broken with some of the lowest funding per kid in Canada and the worst paid teachers in Canada now here in BC. BC is the Alabama of Education..... Edited June 17, 2019 by kingofsurrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBH1926 Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 French in Quebec is different from the language spoken in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naslund.is.king Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 On 5/14/2019 at 11:42 AM, riffraff said: Tabernac! rapporté aux mods 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Just now, CBH1926 said: French in Quebec is different from the language spoken in France. This is true, although this should have been fairly obvious. The French spoken in France is different than in Switzerland too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBH1926 Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 11 minutes ago, Dazzle said: This is true, although this should have been fairly obvious. The French spoken in France is different than in Switzerland too. For sure, even Luxembourg and Monaco French is not the same. Not even going to mention numerous countries in Africa that speak French. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Curious: how does these differences in French compare with differences between British English and that spoken here in NA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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