Speak English?

Bogeyman said:
Click to expand...

I lived in Montréal for two years. In short, the Quebeckers do not speak as they write and their speaking is much more (like way more) informal than the French one.

The video is pretty much right, but the French speaker is not French, he's got a slight foreign accent (his French is correct though) ; they also forgot to mention that the Quebeckers usually mix American terms/words (they have many Anglicisms) with their own Quebecker slang, plus words directly translated from American ("C'est malade ! = That's sick!), which do not really make sense in French (from France), in addition they have a funny accent (like your Hillbilly cousin...) and talk at a much faster pace than a French.

If not synchronized/dubbed, French Canadian movies/TV shows are subtitled when broadcasted in France...
 
That is my point precisely. "Brazilian Portuguese", "Mexican Spanish", "Quebec/ French Canadian French", etc. are all derivatives of their "mother tongue" just as "Canadian English", "American English", etc. are derivatives of their "mother tongue". Notwithstanding, "English" as spoken in England, the "mother tongue", is referred to as "British English", whereas "Spanish" as spoken in Spain is not referred to as "Spanish Spanish", "French" as spoken in France is not referred to as "French French", or "Portuguese" as spoken in Portugal is not referred to as "Portuguese Portuguese". I think "English" as spoken in Britain, the "mother tongue" should likewise be referred to as just "English" and that the regional prefixes should only be affixed to the derivative versions
 
Having attended university and worked in Montreal for a number of years I fully understand what you are saying. Spoken Quebec French can be a mish mash of English, Norman and other old French dialects and will often be referred to as Joual. I learned French in an English school and to this day I struggle to understand most Quebecois; they speak quickly and seem to run their words together; however, I've been told by a few people for whom English is not their native tongue that I speak quickly and run my words together in English. If you go down East in Canada to the Maritimes and some American states there is another French dialect, Acadian French.
 

Let me know when you have convinced the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries, and I'll listen. Until then, that's just how it is referred to :b ..but we all have our pet peeves, don't we?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register