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French persons, is there a difference between Canadian French and.. err French... French?
8/25/2010 1:58:33 AM
Maybe similar to American English vs British English? Or with slang perhaps? 
8/25/2010 3:38:47 AM
Probably, from what I have heard there is an even bigger distinction. I wonder if Patrick (Shung) would know, and also tell us if there is an even bigger void from the Swiss spoken French?
Tony
Tony
8/25/2010 9:10:03 AM
aside the "accent" thing which is really pronouced for Candians (apparently they sound like french sounded 200 years ago..), they have a LOT of different words and expressions from the France french..
an exemple..
in french : "mes gosses" is a french slang for "my kids"
in "canadian": "mes gosses" seems to be a slang for "my testicles/balls" ...
and they are MANY like that... Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
Canadians have a ton of them, when France french mostly use the "anglisisme" as we call them.
Keep also in mind that they are a LOT of regions in France, and each of them have their own accent, and dialect.. with TONS of specific words and expressions too.. Sometimes the dialect is so different, as for words used and accent, that you CANNOT understand it (It's even worse in Italy and Italian... some dialects like the Friulan and Napolitan can even be studied in the University, so they are quite complexe)
as for Switzerland, we also sometimes have our specific words and expressions, and they also are different wether you are in Geneva, or in Neuchatel, or in Sion, or in Fribourg...
but French, Swiss, or Canadian, with a little effort can all understand each other easely. Even more when it's reading/writing.
But I couldnt understand a Canadian, speaking quickly, in slang, using street expressions without some time for adaptation.. neither could he understand us if we talked in the same manner..
an exemple..
in french : "mes gosses" is a french slang for "my kids"
in "canadian": "mes gosses" seems to be a slang for "my testicles/balls" ...
and they are MANY like that... Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
Canadians have a ton of them, when France french mostly use the "anglisisme" as we call them.
Keep also in mind that they are a LOT of regions in France, and each of them have their own accent, and dialect.. with TONS of specific words and expressions too.. Sometimes the dialect is so different, as for words used and accent, that you CANNOT understand it (It's even worse in Italy and Italian... some dialects like the Friulan and Napolitan can even be studied in the University, so they are quite complexe)
as for Switzerland, we also sometimes have our specific words and expressions, and they also are different wether you are in Geneva, or in Neuchatel, or in Sion, or in Fribourg...
but French, Swiss, or Canadian, with a little effort can all understand each other easely. Even more when it's reading/writing.
But I couldnt understand a Canadian, speaking quickly, in slang, using street expressions without some time for adaptation.. neither could he understand us if we talked in the same manner..
8/25/2010 10:09:32 AM
Originally Posted By Shung:
aside the "accent" thing which is really pronouced for Candians (apparently they sound like french sounded 200 years ago..), they have a LOT of different words and expressions from the France french..
an exemple..
in french : "mes gosses" is a french slang for "my kids"
in "canadian": "mes gosses" seems to be a slang for "my testicles/balls" ...
and they are MANY like that... Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
Canadians have a ton of them, when France french mostly use the "anglisisme" as we call them.
Keep also in mind that they are a LOT of regions in France, and each of them have their own accent, and dialect.. with TONS of specific words and expressions too.. Sometimes the dialect is so different, as for words used and accent, that you CANNOT understand it (It's even worse in Italy and Italian... some dialects like the Friulan and Napolitan can even be studied in the University, so they are quite complexe)
as for Switzerland, we also sometimes have our specific words and expressions, and they also are different wether you are in Geneva, or in Neuchatel, or in Sion, or in Fribourg...
but French, Swiss, or Canadian, with a little effort can all understand each other easely. Even more when it's reading/writing.
But I couldnt understand a Canadian, speaking quickly, in slang, using street expressions without some time for adaptation.. neither could he understand us if we talked in the same manner..
+87aside the "accent" thing which is really pronouced for Candians (apparently they sound like french sounded 200 years ago..), they have a LOT of different words and expressions from the France french..
an exemple..
in french : "mes gosses" is a french slang for "my kids"
in "canadian": "mes gosses" seems to be a slang for "my testicles/balls" ...
and they are MANY like that... Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
Canadians have a ton of them, when France french mostly use the "anglisisme" as we call them.
Keep also in mind that they are a LOT of regions in France, and each of them have their own accent, and dialect.. with TONS of specific words and expressions too.. Sometimes the dialect is so different, as for words used and accent, that you CANNOT understand it (It's even worse in Italy and Italian... some dialects like the Friulan and Napolitan can even be studied in the University, so they are quite complexe)
as for Switzerland, we also sometimes have our specific words and expressions, and they also are different wether you are in Geneva, or in Neuchatel, or in Sion, or in Fribourg...
but French, Swiss, or Canadian, with a little effort can all understand each other easely. Even more when it's reading/writing.
But I couldnt understand a Canadian, speaking quickly, in slang, using street expressions without some time for adaptation.. neither could he understand us if we talked in the same manner..
That may be why we are speaking of the Québécois as our cousins and not our brothers
.Movies/ TV series in Canada are often released sooner than in Europe so we are often streaming/downloading them dubbed in French Canadian.
And each time it's quite hilarious.
French Canadian dubbing:
_No Canadian accent, they are speaking as Parisians.
_As Shung said: absolutly no "Anglicism", and some of their translation are really ridiculous, even for us.
_The only exception is the pronounciation of Anglo-Saxon names. It's really funny for us and our shitty English accent to hear them with a correct and very strong American accent.
I have spent the last week in Switzerland and I found the Swiss accent in Lausanne and Fribourg way much more mild than expected.
Anyway I'm working much of the year with Swiss coworkers so I'm used to it.
9/30/2010 5:29:13 PM
Never had a problem in France with my "accent vaudois" (Shung........I used to live in Yverdon). As far as the Canadian French.......................can't understand it. Can pick up a word or two here and there, but overall, no clue.
9/30/2010 7:17:06 PM
Yverdon.. the place suck nowadays, especially the train station. lots of agressions.
I serve in Payerne, not far.
I serve in Payerne, not far.
10/1/2010 8:31:33 PM
Was there last April (2009) for an afternoon, but before that it was 10 years. Had a great aunt that lived in Payerne (my grandmother's sister). Family roots are from Oulens-sous-Echallens, went to school in Lausanne and Neuchatel back in the 1960s
10/1/2010 11:32:15 PM
Quebec is so anal about its language that the Quebec provincial government hire undercover language police to ensure that the signage displayed by commercial premises is predominantly shown in French. There have even been cases of Quebecer's ratting on businesses that are not complying. Furthermore (believe it or not!) there are heafty fines for businesses in Quebec that don't comply with the language laws. It's not that I'm against any culture trying to protect its language, but its the fact that Quebec uses police state style tactics to ensure compliance and that they have managed to foist their damn language on 3/4 of the rest of the Canadian population (English speaking Canada) who don't speak French and have no desire ever to.
Nice food, and nice to visit no doubt, but really what a f&$*ed up place! I think most Canadians who aren't from that province would agree with this.
Nice food, and nice to visit no doubt, but really what a f&$*ed up place! I think most Canadians who aren't from that province would agree with this.
11/11/2010 5:54:30 AM
Originally Posted By Shung:
Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
Candians also have many more words because they don't use anything coming from the english language as french (and swiss) can do... for example:
an e-mail is an e-mail, in french too... but the canadians created their own word, now also used in France , which is "courriel" (comes from "courrier" (letter) "electronique" (electronic)
The French Canadians go out of their way to avoid any use of English. I understand that in France, a stop sign on the highway says "STOP". But in Quebec, a stop sign says "ARRET".
In restaurants, the menu MUST be in French. Although English translations are permitted, they must be in letters not more than 2/3 the size of the letters in the French words. Outdoor signs at a business must be in French only.
These regulations would appear to me as gross violations of one's freedom of speech, recognized in Canada's Charter of Rights. But no. The Quebecois say that it is a "cultural issue".
11/15/2010 3:10:15 PM
I was born in France and retired from the US military. I went to a NATO exercise at CFB Cold Lake Alberta in 1986 and it was surreal. The officers all spoke English and it seemed most of the junior enlisted troops(at least at this base) were French. They still would not speak English...I mean how does the Canadian military function at this level? I could understand them although they do have a strange accent. Years later when the Canadian Special Ops troops were part of my task force (in 2002) I had no trouble with them, they all spoke English.
11/15/2010 10:15:19 PM
When I was in Montreal I knew they people spoke English and French, but they would refuse to speak English even though they knew I didn't speak French. So I figured out a neat way to have some fun. I used my English/French dictionary and looked up each word going to great pains to apologize for my poor French first. Then it would take me FOREVER to get out what I wanted to say in French. Sure, I could have done it in a quarter of the time, but I figured if they wanted to be dicks, I could play that game too. Usually reason would prevail, and the waiter would say, "Thanks for trying, we can use English"...But when the people were real dicks, it was sorta fun knowing that I gave as good as I got.
