Frenchie
Jack of all trades
Silk said:
If you could understand everything they say, you wouldn't like them much either.
Parlez-vous Francais?
- Thread starter Verdeboy
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If you could understand everything they say, you wouldn't like them much either.
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Frenchie
Jack of all trades
Yup. Much more variety than english...
When I was 19, I spent a summer tree-planting (reforesting); the crew was from all over Quebec, and we used to laugh at each other's accents a lot... but we could understand each other, mostly.
The exception was the guys from the Lac-St-Jean region, I never could understand a word they said when they were speaking amongst themselves.
The other truly "different" dialect is Acadian french - spoken in the maritime provinces. It's a weird mix of perfectly preserved 16th century forms (there's no singular/plural forms for the verbs), and a whole lot of english loan words & sentence structure... "J'allions back" instead of "je retourne". Cajuns from Louisiana understand it, though.
When I was 19, I spent a summer tree-planting (reforesting); the crew was from all over Quebec, and we used to laugh at each other's accents a lot... but we could understand each other, mostly.
The exception was the guys from the Lac-St-Jean region, I never could understand a word they said when they were speaking amongst themselves.
The other truly "different" dialect is Acadian french - spoken in the maritime provinces. It's a weird mix of perfectly preserved 16th century forms (there's no singular/plural forms for the verbs), and a whole lot of english loan words & sentence structure... "J'allions back" instead of "je retourne". Cajuns from Louisiana understand it, though.
Frenchie
Jack of all trades
New Brunswick, mostly.
Here's a good overview of the Acadian story...
http://www.umaine.edu/canam/ham/acadiansettlement.htm
The one group I did forget, are the Metis, in Manitoba. They speak a distinct language, based on French and Cree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michif
Wow, Mamselle Lalonde (high school history teacher) would be impressed.
Here's a good overview of the Acadian story...
http://www.umaine.edu/canam/ham/acadiansettlement.htm
The one group I did forget, are the Metis, in Manitoba. They speak a distinct language, based on French and Cree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michif
Wow, Mamselle Lalonde (high school history teacher) would be impressed.
Frenchie
Jack of all trades
...but my geography teacher would be completely disappointed. You meant StPierre et Miquelon, didn't you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre_et_Miquelon
Not part of Canada, still part of France... they were never isolated from France the way we were for 300 years, so they pretty much speak french French.
...I find it strange that we have this Academie Francaise that determines what is & isn't "correct" French; instead of letting it evolve naturally like other languages. You'd think it would make the language less varied? But it does the opposite. Everybody winds up speaking 2 dialects: the French they learn in school, and whatever the local version is.
I had this friend from Paris, a few years back. We could understand each other fine (both speaking the French we learned in school); but if he was on the phone to his friends in Paris, or I was on the phone to Montreal... forget it. We could hardly even follow what the topic was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre_et_Miquelon
Not part of Canada, still part of France... they were never isolated from France the way we were for 300 years, so they pretty much speak french French.
...I find it strange that we have this Academie Francaise that determines what is & isn't "correct" French; instead of letting it evolve naturally like other languages. You'd think it would make the language less varied? But it does the opposite. Everybody winds up speaking 2 dialects: the French they learn in school, and whatever the local version is.
I had this friend from Paris, a few years back. We could understand each other fine (both speaking the French we learned in school); but if he was on the phone to his friends in Paris, or I was on the phone to Montreal... forget it. We could hardly even follow what the topic was.
S
seobeglobal
Guest
hahaha, so that's why you know french
Frenchie
Jack of all trades
I'm confused. Is there a post missing from this thread or something?
- how come seobeglobal's handle looks so different from everyone else's? Can't click on it to get profile, previous posts, or anything...
- hahaha, how come who knows french? Huh?
- Cookie: horoscopes?
- how come seobeglobal's handle looks so different from everyone else's? Can't click on it to get profile, previous posts, or anything...
- hahaha, how come who knows french? Huh?
- Cookie: horoscopes?
The post had a tag on it about horoscopes.
Frenchie
Jack of all trades
No, but there isn't much news, there. Europe's had short work weeks & long holidays for decades - they decided they'd rather have more people working less, than less people working more - partly because their unions are a lot stronger than ours.
Even in Canada, 4-6 weeks a year is pretty standard. Nobody takes as few holidays as Americans.
Even in Canada, 4-6 weeks a year is pretty standard. Nobody takes as few holidays as Americans.
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