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> Canadian kids are forced to take thirteen years of (Quebec) French, so they already have a head start at getting fluent in the language of their new adoptive

> Canadian kids are forced to take thirteen years of (Quebec) French, so they already have a head start at getting fluent in the language of their new adoptive country. Hahahaha. Ask how hard it is to integrate in France when you're from Québec, so someone who's not even speaking French natively? Good luck, you'd have better luck moving to Quebec City. > Location-independent entrepreneur friends can buy a three-story chateau in the French countryside for less than the price of a single-detached house in a steeltown dumping ground like Hamilton. Good luck maintaining that.

otagekki 5y ago
Honestly, the "speaking French" part is overrated. Especially in Paris we have tons of immigrants from all over the (francophone) world and a sizable portion of them have an accent at least to us. Yet people won't look down systematically on you because you're foreign or speak with a foreign accent... And France French is much easier to pronounce.
908B64B197 5y ago
> thirteen years of (Quebec) French That’s like saying people learn (American) English. At least, from what I was told they don’t differentiate the two at the French schools here in SF. > Ask how hard it is to integrate in France when you're from Québec, so someone who's not even speaking French natively? Good luck People from Quebec told me France was a very welcoming place.
- thatfrenchguy 5y ago
  If you do not know you’re learning French from Quebec, you’re learning French from France lol. They are very distinct dialects.
- amscanne 5y ago
  It’s not even true. They teach Parisian French (or Standard French) in Canada at schools outside Quebec. I did immersion for 12 years. I think its simply a practical choice: French from France has more standards (set by the Academie Francais), more materials (because it’s the international standard) and therefore more teachers. In SF, they certainly teach Standard French. FWIW, I think that the differences are simply that Quebec uses a lot of old (like 17th Century) pronunciations, and a lot of distinct vocabulary, along with its own regional variations. Consider learning Quebec French equivalent to teaching English exclusively by reading works from around the time of Shakespeare. You could probably get by but you need to adapt if you step out of that world. Walking around saying “thou” would get you strange looks for sure. We would read Quebec literature at school, but there was often new vocabulary.
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    Quebec French is different than metropolitan French, but not to the degree that modern English is to Shakespeare, that’s a pretty ludicrous comparison. If you go from North America to the UK you’ll run into plenty of new vocabulary there too.
    - amscanne 5y ago
      I said around the time of Shakespeare, not exclusively Shakespeare (which is essentially poetry). Perhaps “King James Bible” would be a better example. I don’t think it’s that ludicrous, since English hasn’t really changed that much notwithstanding vocabulary and some spelling.
      - 908B64B197 5y ago
        I asked French and French Canadians colleagues over Slack about it. They had a good laugh. Apparently it’s true that French Canadians pronounce words in the pre-revolutionary way (so Royal French?). I know enough French to hold basic conversations and other than a different accent I didn’t notice anything that different. I mean, not more pronounced than English from the UK or Texas. The French Canadians sounds a little bit like Swiss to me. They told me it should be impossible to disambiguate in writing (except when one uses Euros!).

otagekki 5y ago

Honestly, the "speaking French" part is overrated. Especially in Paris we have tons of immigrants from all over the (francophone) world and a sizable portion of them have an accent at least to us. Yet people won't look down systematically on you because you're foreign or speak with a foreign accent... And France French is much easier to pronounce.

908B64B197 5y ago

> thirteen years of (Quebec) French That’s like saying people learn (American) English. At least, from what I was told they don’t differentiate the two at the French schools here in SF. > Ask how hard it is to integrate in France when you're from Québec, so someone who's not even speaking French natively? Good luck People from Quebec told me France was a very welcoming place.

thatfrenchguy 5y ago
If you do not know you’re learning French from Quebec, you’re learning French from France lol. They are very distinct dialects.
amscanne 5y ago
It’s not even true. They teach Parisian French (or Standard French) in Canada at schools outside Quebec. I did immersion for 12 years. I think its simply a practical choice: French from France has more standards (set by the Academie Francais), more materials (because it’s the international standard) and therefore more teachers. In SF, they certainly teach Standard French. FWIW, I think that the differences are simply that Quebec uses a lot of old (like 17th Century) pronunciations, and a lot of distinct vocabulary, along with its own regional variations. Consider learning Quebec French equivalent to teaching English exclusively by reading works from around the time of Shakespeare. You could probably get by but you need to adapt if you step out of that world. Walking around saying “thou” would get you strange looks for sure. We would read Quebec literature at school, but there was often new vocabulary.
- wbsss4412 5y ago
  Quebec French is different than metropolitan French, but not to the degree that modern English is to Shakespeare, that’s a pretty ludicrous comparison. If you go from North America to the UK you’ll run into plenty of new vocabulary there too.
  - amscanne 5y ago
    I said around the time of Shakespeare, not exclusively Shakespeare (which is essentially poetry). Perhaps “King James Bible” would be a better example. I don’t think it’s that ludicrous, since English hasn’t really changed that much notwithstanding vocabulary and some spelling.
    - 908B64B197 5y ago
      I asked French and French Canadians colleagues over Slack about it. They had a good laugh. Apparently it’s true that French Canadians pronounce words in the pre-revolutionary way (so Royal French?). I know enough French to hold basic conversations and other than a different accent I didn’t notice anything that different. I mean, not more pronounced than English from the UK or Texas. The French Canadians sounds a little bit like Swiss to me. They told me it should be impossible to disambiguate in writing (except when one uses Euros!).