The Great Canadian Practice your French Thread

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Not generally so, no.

Just outdated and inaccurate.

Why inaccurate though? I kinda sensed that Sugar Sammy was using that term for fun.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Why inaccurate though? I kinda sensed that Sugar Sammy was using that term for fun.

It is inaccurate to, as people often do, use Hindu as a synonym for Indian.

[Dengler Avenue]

Ah okay. I was wondering about that too.

[mintzilla]

may i ask what difference it would make if i used Car or Parce que?

will anyone care if i just stick to parce que?

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by mintzilla

may i ask what difference it would make if i used Car or Parce que?

will anyone care if i just stick to parce que?

I see Car as a more well spoken ''Parce que'' but in the daily language, people will rarely use car.

[Dengler Avenue]

https://www.facebook.com/tfoONfr/vid...2wLG8bvftgpWr6

I just chanced upon this video from half a year ago. I haven't watched the whole thing yet but so far it seems interesting~

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I just chanced upon this video from half a year ago. I haven't watched the whole thing yet but so far it seems interesting~

This was basically about Ontario. I wonder if the same phenomenon exists in Quebec to the same degree, and if it really is about the callers or if it's just something some recruiters imagine is needed. At times you see that the guy was talking to people in English and looking at English job ads.

I've said before that English Canadians tend to make a huge deal out of Canadian French being a special thing while they don't really think about say Canadian English vs. UK or Australian English in the same way. I could imagine an Anglophone recruiter knowing just enough about this to be dangerous and being convinced that a particular dialect or accent should be a job requirement.

I was in Europe recently and I encountered expat (Anglophone) Canadians there who regretted the fact that they couldn't speak French because they were taught Canadian French instead of standard European French. In reality they probably never learned much French at all, and it's not realistic to expect to learn a language over a few years in school and then live as a native speaker decades later using that knowledge.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by someone123

This was basically about Ontario. I wonder if the same phenomenon exists in Quebec to the same degree, and if it really is about the callers or if it's just something some recruiters imagine is needed. At times you see that the guy was talking to people in English and looking at English job ads.

I think you are absolutely right, it's something recruiters imagine is needed. Based on the various accents I hear when I call any organisation's customer service, private or public, the accent doesn't seem to be important when someone is hired in a call centre in Quebec.

Originally Posted by someone123

I was in Europe recently and I encountered expat (Anglophone) Canadians there who regretted the fact that they couldn't speak French because they were taught Canadian French instead of standard European French. In reality they probably never learned much French at all, and it's not realistic to expect to learn a language over a few years in school and then live as a native speaker decades later using that knowledge.

It's the same French anyway. In it's written form, Quebec French is 99% similar to French from France. And as Acajack has mentioned a few times, basically, Quebec French is to France French what Texas English is to British English. Some expressions are different, but it's still mutually intelligible.

When I travel with my family and we meet French families (happened a few times in Slovenia and Croatia this summer), my kids play with the French kids and it usually takes a long while before they even get a comment on their accent. And then it can be "are you from Belgium or Switzerland?". Or "C'est étrange, il est doux votre accent!" (by which they probably mean "I'm surprised that you are from Quebec and I can understand you just fine".

With Youtube (my kids watch lots of French Youtubers) and easy international communications, the differences in accents and vocabulary tends to flatten over time, I noticed.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by begratto

When I travel with my family and we meet French families (happened a few times in Slovenia and Croatia this summer), my kids play with French kids and it usually takes a long while before they even get a comment on their accent. And then it can be "are you from Belgium or Switzerland?". Or "C'est étrange, il est doux votre accent!" (by which they probably mean "I'm surprised that I can understand you just fine".

With Youtube (my kids watch lots of French Youtubers) and easy international communications, the differences in accents and vocabulary tends to flatten over time, I noticed.

As far as my own experience goes, I grew up speaking English and French when I was a kid and did a mix of schooling in both languages while moving around from place to place but now I lived in Vancouver and use French about once every 2 years. I was just in France and Belgium and had a bunch of conversations and smaller interactions that seemingly went fine. If I can do it a person who lives in Quebec and speaks French every day definitely can. French TV and movies or in-person conversations remind me of UK English vs. Canadian English. Some words are different and it can be a bit less clear but it's not a big deal, and if you spent any length of time in the other environment you'd pick up the differences very quickly.

One thing that was a little awkward is that my travelling companion doesn't speak much French, and if we spoke English together in front of service staff they often asssumed we wanted service in English but often their English was bad or nonexistent. I have found that switching to English with them is the wrong thing to do in those situations. It's better to continue speak French.

[Dengler Avenue]

Is “On s’en fout” more or less a French French term? Or do people say that in Québec too?

[kwoldtimer]

Seen in Ottawa recently.

English - How are we doing? Let us know!

French - .... Faites-le nous savoir!

Correct? Clumsy? Correct but clumsy?

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Is “On s’en fout” more or less a French French term? Or do people say that in Québec too?

Oui, "On s'en fout" is common in Quebec. We also say "on s'en sacre".

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by begratto

Oui, "On s'en fout" is common in Quebec. We also say "on s'en sacre".

on s'en caliss, on s'en criss, but , on s'en tabarnack , mon préféré

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Seen in Ottawa recently.

English - How are we doing? Let us know!

French - .... Faites-le nous savoir!

Correct? Clumsy? Correct but clumsy?

I don’t know the answer, but I don’t want your comment unnoticed.
I can’t come with an example on the spot right now, but sometimes, even in a mandatorily bilingual city like Ottawa, the French translation makes even a learner like me shake my head...

Originally Posted by begratto

Oui, "On s'en fout" is common in Quebec. We also say "on s'en sacre".

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

on s'en caliss, on s'en criss, but , on s'en tabarnack , mon préféré

Okay relaxe, garz. Je n’ai posé aucune question à propos des sacre. Merci néanmoins.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Is “On s’en fout” more or less a French French term? Or do people say that in Québec too?

Slight tinge of French French in there still, though. A more standard Québécois formulation would be "on s'en sac'". On s'en criss is stronger / expresses ever so slightly more anger/irritation (still mild enough), on s'en câliss even more, and on s'en tabarnak even even more.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I don’t know the answer, but I don’t want your comment unnoticed.
I can’t come with an example on the spot right now, but sometimes, even in a mandatorily bilingual city like Ottawa, the French translation makes even a learner like me shake my head...

I noticed it, but I expected Acajack to answer.

I would say it is correct. However one could simply say "faites-nous savoir".

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by lio45

Slight tinge of French French in there still, though. A more standard Québécois formulation would be "on s'en sac'". On s'en criss is stronger / expresses ever so slightly more anger/irritation (still mild enough), on s'en câliss even more, and on s'en tabarnak even even more.

Looks like there really isn’t a way around sacre, eh?

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Seen in Ottawa recently.

English - How are we doing? Let us know!

French - .... Faites-le nous savoir!

Correct? Clumsy? Correct but clumsy?

"So literally perfect as to almost appear clumsy from a Spoken Quebec French POV" would be your answer

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Seen in Ottawa recently.

English - How are we doing? Let us know!

French - .... Faites-le nous savoir!

Correct? Clumsy? Correct but clumsy?

It's correct and neutral. Although in informal speech, you'll sometimes hear things flipped (eg "donne-moi-le" instead of the more standard "donne-le-moi"). Generally, the direct object comes first and the indirect second. In this case "le" is the thing being made known, so it's the direct object. "Nous" is the person to which something is being made known (à nous), so it's indirect. So when putting it all together, "Faites-le nous savoir" is in the correct order.

But honestly, if you're learning and just speaking in a non-formal context, people will understand you no matter what order you put it in and won't flinch if you get it wrong. It's not a widely-known rule.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Looks like there really isn’t a way around sacre, eh?

There is. "S'pas important" (written "Ce n'est pas important"...) ou encore "pas grave" ou "dérange pas" ou "pas besoin" etc