So it’s Quebec being Quebec. Most of Canada already hates the province. This won’t really change much on that end. I’ve had friends who have gotten scholarships to Quebec (who also went to French immersion schools) and turned down the offers because they simply didn’t want to live in a place like Quebec.
You wanna keep being isolationist and scream at the rest of Canada? Go for it. But stop being continually surprised that people don’t have good opinions of Quebec due to that behavior.
Yup. Quebec is so paranoid that if they don’t force people to speak French with laws and regulations then the language will die out. But French is a globally recognized language spoken in dozens of countries and the UN. Quebec is literally the only French speaking area that says they need to enforce it or it’ll die out.
My opinion? It’s a more acceptable form of xenophobia. They’re not worried people will stop speaking French. They’re worried about immigration and use language laws as a way to make moving to Quebec seem unappealing.
France has a whole host of laws to keep France French as well.
Quebec and Montreal are wonderful because they’re so different and yet so close.
It’s hard for me to hold a grudge against them for that. It’s not like they’re saying you must speak French to go to school there - they’re just saying you have to try to learn French if you want to go to school there.
This government (CAQ) has done many xenophobic thing. Restricting access to services in foreign languages to accommodate new immigrants is probably the best example of that. But this university thing, I don’t think it is. Most of the time, if you go and follow and Bachelor’s degree in another country, then you have to learn the language of that country because not every class is given in English only (of course there’s exceptions, but most of the time it’s like that). And you have to pay a hefty premium to go and educate yourself abroad.
This situation is way different, studying at university of Toronto is 16 000$ if you are from Ontario and 17 000$ if you are from another province. So it was often cheaper for people to go and study in Québec. This fee raise doesn’t have anything to do with xenophobia or anything, this is merely bring the prices to the “market value”. Yes there’s a bit of language protectionism, but it’s not all that inconvenient, and as someone already said, just trying to learn French is probably sufficient to get around it.
In short, I agree that there is xenophobic things that happens in Québec. I agree this provincial government doesn’t have a great track record on that front. But this change isn’t motivated by xenophobia, but other reasons. Up to you to decide if they’re valid or not in your opinion.
Speaking of xenophobia, you should look in the mirror.
Quebec trying to protect its francophone cultural heritage in a whole anglophone continent with so much American cultural influences through media, music and the internet is not xenophobic. It’s actually even a problem that other countries outside North America are facing.
In really sick and tired of the discrimination of Quebec and French Canadians coming from people like you who twist everything to fit their racist narrative.
The only reason you’re so mad is that you can’t come live a life here speaking the only language you know, English, and it pisses you off that you have to learn a second language. You simply wish the the French Canadians would finally just all fold over, speak English and the whole French Canadian culture to disappear so it could stop be an inconvenience to you. I think THAT’S pretty xenophobic, actually.
Je suis bilingue. Ma mère est francophone et je vis à Gatineau depuis 7 ans. Il n’y a que les francophone du Québec qui s’énervent quand je dis “bonjour hi”.
Pour revenir à ton commentaire, Peut-être qu’il y en a quelques uns qui vont s’énerver, mais certainement pas autant qu’il y a des anglophones ailleurs au Canada qui grimpent dans les rideaux dès qu’on mentionne le fait français au Canada et au Québec. Ce fil de discussion en est un très bel exemple.
Just simply and factually wrong. The entire continent is not anglophone. Way to completely eradicate indigenous heritage and other French areas throughout North America. Not to mention, you know, Mexico. And that’s if we’re talking mainland. If we’re talking the entirety of North America you’re including Bermuda, Greenland, Barbados, Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Puerto Rico, FRANCE with St. Pierre and Miquelon…
There is very little French spoken in New Orleans. There’s more creole, but is absolutely not used virtually anywhere as a part of daily life.
I haven’t been to Baton Rouge, but a quick googling suggests the same. It is not an official language and not part of daily life. It is heritage more than practice.
A chunk of New-Brunswick, a chunk of Eastern Ontario and a chunk of Northern Ontario, that’s pretty much it. There’s a couple of French communities left in Manitoba (when they were a big part of the province’s population until 100 years ago or so)…
Significant parts of the southern United States, primarily Louisiana.
St. Pierre and Miquelon, otherwise known as France.
I mean it’s the THIRD most spoken language in the entirety of North America. It is the second most widely taught foreign language (outside of Spanish) in American schools. Maine and Vermont essentially mainline French on the side with it being spoken pretty widely. Three major versions of French exist throughout the United States after descending from French settlers, much like Quebec. United States even has some towns (while small) that predominately speak French with Berlin, NH being one such example with over 10,000 citizens.
Pretending that French is a niche language that is in risk of dying out is laughably pathetic.
There is very little French spoken in Louisiana. There’s more creole, but it’s still single digit percentages. It is not common and their curriculums are certainly not in French.
The entire towns website for Berlin, NH is in English: https://www.berlinnh.gov/. There’s not even a French translation.
I think you are severely overestimating the prevalence of French as an official language in North America - and even as a lingua Franca.
Thank you for editing your response after figuring out from my other response that only saying “that is factually wrong” wasn’t good enough.
There’s so much I would want to say about your answer and why is all irrelevant that I could write a book.
You know, I was hoping I could find more civilized discussions here than on Reddit. But as soon as Quebec is mentioned absolutely anywhere on the internet, Canadians will come out in droves to talk shit about them all over the place. We are constantly facing this kind of narrative everywhere we look and it’s god damn tiring. It’s nothing short of discrimination and racism towards our people.
It’s funny that whole communities get banned for acting the same way about people of other nations, but being racist towards Quebecois always gets a free pass…
So I guess Mexico doesn’t exist? Honduras? Cuba? Puerto Rico? St. Pierre and Miquelon?
North America is more than just Canada and the United States and you’d do well to educate yourself on that before going on some diatribe about said region. Fucking GREENLAND is counted as part of North America dude. So no. You are simply wrong and do not know or understand what you’re talking about. North America is not an anglophone continent. There is a literal wikipedia page on all the languages of North America.
Oh… So lemmy is also a good place for Québec bashing… Awesome. I don’t think this latest move to attempt to slow the degradation of the French language in Quebec was very wise, but you just couldn’t resist pouncing on the occasion to attack big evil Quebec. Very civilized. 👌
When all the online interactions you see concerning your culture are people who barely have any knowledge of it taking a shit on it, you tend to not have the patience to be the bigger person.
I’ve only ever really been to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Canadian Niagara Falls. Montreal is fun and different, Toronto is like a baby NYC, Vancouver was cool but just ok. I’d go back to Montreal before I went back to any of the other places. Except in winter.
I don’t want to live in Montreal but that’s because I don’t like cities in general so whenever I go to Montreal I try to make it quick… Well, I take the time to eat at one of the tons of awesome restaurants 🤤
So it’s Quebec being Quebec. Most of Canada already hates the province. This won’t really change much on that end. I’ve had friends who have gotten scholarships to Quebec (who also went to French immersion schools) and turned down the offers because they simply didn’t want to live in a place like Quebec.
You wanna keep being isolationist and scream at the rest of Canada? Go for it. But stop being continually surprised that people don’t have good opinions of Quebec due to that behavior.
Yup. Quebec is so paranoid that if they don’t force people to speak French with laws and regulations then the language will die out. But French is a globally recognized language spoken in dozens of countries and the UN. Quebec is literally the only French speaking area that says they need to enforce it or it’ll die out.
My opinion? It’s a more acceptable form of xenophobia. They’re not worried people will stop speaking French. They’re worried about immigration and use language laws as a way to make moving to Quebec seem unappealing.
France has a whole host of laws to keep France French as well.
Quebec and Montreal are wonderful because they’re so different and yet so close.
It’s hard for me to hold a grudge against them for that. It’s not like they’re saying you must speak French to go to school there - they’re just saying you have to try to learn French if you want to go to school there.
Exactly. The goal is to enable systems from out of province to better integrate the francophone society in the end.
This government (CAQ) has done many xenophobic thing. Restricting access to services in foreign languages to accommodate new immigrants is probably the best example of that. But this university thing, I don’t think it is. Most of the time, if you go and follow and Bachelor’s degree in another country, then you have to learn the language of that country because not every class is given in English only (of course there’s exceptions, but most of the time it’s like that). And you have to pay a hefty premium to go and educate yourself abroad.
This situation is way different, studying at university of Toronto is 16 000$ if you are from Ontario and 17 000$ if you are from another province. So it was often cheaper for people to go and study in Québec. This fee raise doesn’t have anything to do with xenophobia or anything, this is merely bring the prices to the “market value”. Yes there’s a bit of language protectionism, but it’s not all that inconvenient, and as someone already said, just trying to learn French is probably sufficient to get around it.
In short, I agree that there is xenophobic things that happens in Québec. I agree this provincial government doesn’t have a great track record on that front. But this change isn’t motivated by xenophobia, but other reasons. Up to you to decide if they’re valid or not in your opinion.
Speaking of xenophobia, you should look in the mirror.
Quebec trying to protect its francophone cultural heritage in a whole anglophone continent with so much American cultural influences through media, music and the internet is not xenophobic. It’s actually even a problem that other countries outside North America are facing.
In really sick and tired of the discrimination of Quebec and French Canadians coming from people like you who twist everything to fit their racist narrative.
The only reason you’re so mad is that you can’t come live a life here speaking the only language you know, English, and it pisses you off that you have to learn a second language. You simply wish the the French Canadians would finally just all fold over, speak English and the whole French Canadian culture to disappear so it could stop be an inconvenience to you. I think THAT’S pretty xenophobic, actually.
Je suis bilingue. Ma mère est francophone et je vis à Gatineau depuis 7 ans. Il n’y a que les francophone du Québec qui s’énervent quand je dis “bonjour hi”.
Y’a personne qui s’énerve pour ça réellement.
After three days of controversy and headlines around the world, the Legault government has backed away from the idea of banning the “Bonjour-Hi” greeting.
Source: the gazette.
Ouin. Non désolé. The gazette est un journal francophobe qui aime suciter la haine envers le Québec.
Pour revenir à ton commentaire, Peut-être qu’il y en a quelques uns qui vont s’énerver, mais certainement pas autant qu’il y a des anglophones ailleurs au Canada qui grimpent dans les rideaux dès qu’on mentionne le fait français au Canada et au Québec. Ce fil de discussion en est un très bel exemple.
Just simply and factually wrong. The entire continent is not anglophone. Way to completely eradicate indigenous heritage and other French areas throughout North America. Not to mention, you know, Mexico. And that’s if we’re talking mainland. If we’re talking the entirety of North America you’re including Bermuda, Greenland, Barbados, Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Puerto Rico, FRANCE with St. Pierre and Miquelon…
What other French areas in North America are you familiar with? The only one I can think of is maybe Haiti?
Baton Rouge and New Orleans come to mind.
There is very little French spoken in New Orleans. There’s more creole, but is absolutely not used virtually anywhere as a part of daily life.
I haven’t been to Baton Rouge, but a quick googling suggests the same. It is not an official language and not part of daily life. It is heritage more than practice.
Which is what Quebec is trying to avoid.
A chunk of New-Brunswick, a chunk of Eastern Ontario and a chunk of Northern Ontario, that’s pretty much it. There’s a couple of French communities left in Manitoba (when they were a big part of the province’s population until 100 years ago or so)…
I mean it’s the THIRD most spoken language in the entirety of North America. It is the second most widely taught foreign language (outside of Spanish) in American schools. Maine and Vermont essentially mainline French on the side with it being spoken pretty widely. Three major versions of French exist throughout the United States after descending from French settlers, much like Quebec. United States even has some towns (while small) that predominately speak French with Berlin, NH being one such example with over 10,000 citizens.
Pretending that French is a niche language that is in risk of dying out is laughably pathetic.
There is very little French spoken in Louisiana. There’s more creole, but it’s still single digit percentages. It is not common and their curriculums are certainly not in French.
The entire towns website for Berlin, NH is in English: https://www.berlinnh.gov/. There’s not even a French translation.
I think you are severely overestimating the prevalence of French as an official language in North America - and even as a lingua Franca.
You’re confusing all French together like it’s one monolithic language and everyone speaks the same dialect.
It’s like saying English in Scotland, in Australia, in Texas, or whatever are all the same.
They all have their district differences.
The same with Québec French. It’s not France French.
And they all have distinct cultures and music genres and poetry and literature and art that make up the whole local culture.
That’s what you don’t seem to understand in this whole thing.
Thank you for editing your response after figuring out from my other response that only saying “that is factually wrong” wasn’t good enough.
There’s so much I would want to say about your answer and why is all irrelevant that I could write a book.
You know, I was hoping I could find more civilized discussions here than on Reddit. But as soon as Quebec is mentioned absolutely anywhere on the internet, Canadians will come out in droves to talk shit about them all over the place. We are constantly facing this kind of narrative everywhere we look and it’s god damn tiring. It’s nothing short of discrimination and racism towards our people.
So fucking sick and tired.
It’s funny that whole communities get banned for acting the same way about people of other nations, but being racist towards Quebecois always gets a free pass…
Yep, breaks my heart every fucking single time.
Haters gonna hate, I guess.
You are an active troll telling people to stop being angry because they said fuck once.
What you say really doesn’t matter to me whatsoever.
Have fun with that. Goodbye.
Just simply and factually correct.
Edit: OP’s original response was only
“This is factually wrong.”
I replied this to show OP that his answer wasn’t good enough and it worked.
North America includes Mexico, not to mention all the native populations that exist.
So I guess Mexico doesn’t exist? Honduras? Cuba? Puerto Rico? St. Pierre and Miquelon?
North America is more than just Canada and the United States and you’d do well to educate yourself on that before going on some diatribe about said region. Fucking GREENLAND is counted as part of North America dude. So no. You are simply wrong and do not know or understand what you’re talking about. North America is not an anglophone continent. There is a literal wikipedia page on all the languages of North America.
Why are you so angry? Why all the swearing? Can you calm down and try to be a bit more civilized?
Oh… So lemmy is also a good place for Québec bashing… Awesome. I don’t think this latest move to attempt to slow the degradation of the French language in Quebec was very wise, but you just couldn’t resist pouncing on the occasion to attack big evil Quebec. Very civilized. 👌
Perhaps try discussing it properly?
“Discuss properly” is pretty fucking rich in a thread that starts with “we hate everyone from this place”.
Who said that? Are you too small to be the bigger person?
When all the online interactions you see concerning your culture are people who barely have any knowledge of it taking a shit on it, you tend to not have the patience to be the bigger person.
I’ve only ever really been to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Canadian Niagara Falls. Montreal is fun and different, Toronto is like a baby NYC, Vancouver was cool but just ok. I’d go back to Montreal before I went back to any of the other places. Except in winter.
First person I’ve ever heard say they don’t want to live in Montreal, sounds like someone from Alberta
You would be wrong.
I don’t want to live in Montreal but that’s because I don’t like cities in general so whenever I go to Montreal I try to make it quick… Well, I take the time to eat at one of the tons of awesome restaurants 🤤
There’s a reason that most Canadians have a generally positive reputation in the states, but French Canadians are seen as pretentious assholes.
Quite the over generalization
That’s how stereotypes tend to work, yes
Most of Canada hating Quebec? 🤦🤦♀️🤦♂️