So, I'd like to speak a little with my Couchsurfer, Geneviève
Hello!
She comes from Quebec!
Yeah! I come from Montreal.
So I wanted to talk to her to discover what is different.
between the language, culture, mentality and all that
between Quebecers & the French, and also between Quebecers and Canadians
Wow - this could take a while!
Let's start with the language
There are a lot of differences within the language
I'd say one of the first things is that we have the same base vocabulary
It's the same structure as for the French, but
the attitude is what is most different
anyone who has gone to France or Quebec will notice
the difference between the attitude of the French and of Quebecers
The French can be more...
Not SO much, but they can look down their noses at you
a little arrogantly... I don't mean it pejoratively
It's their way - they'll speak to you loudly
Well, they are very proud of the language
I'd say that you are proud of French too, but it's a different kind of pride
You want to share it with everyone
As I said, when I was there everyone helped me to speak French
But when I was in Paris, it was the opposite
They made faces at me as I spoke "Ugh, what are you saying?"
Because my French wasn't so good
You have to speak French 100% perfect
If you don't speak exactly like they do, you aren't even worth listening to
Even though Quebecers have some Canadian culture
Quebec is the only bilingual provence, where they speak French
The rest of Canada is totally English
There's a history between France and Quebec
Quebecers have fought and still fight to keep the language alive
Because many people have trouble getting served in the centre of Montreal, especially in the west
and that makes it unfair for French speakers
compared to English speakers
French speakers in Montreal must speak English to get a job
There are many jobs for English speakers where they need no French
We accept it as it is, and that's a bit unfair
Our attitude means if we meet foreigners, we are so happy that they speak French
Since they haven't taken the easy road of speaking English
And they will adapt themselves to us
We welcome anyone who wants to learn our language
So we're proud of our language and our attitude towards it is different
And the expressions and curse words are also different
The biggest difference is in vocabulary
Looking at the history of Quebec...
Quebec was very religious for some time, very Catholic
So after the war and "Quiet revolution" these barriers were removed
For a long time priests were repressing people all over the region
And this explains why our curse words are directed at the church
So we've got some famous and very popular curse words, such as
"cross", "tabernacle", "host", "chalice" ([F**%$ing], [sh*t] etc.)
are all the names of things...
...in the church, right! For me, it was weird to say
Tabernacle!! [F*ck!!]
It's just some random words from the church
And your verb to "curse" is "to consecrate"
In France, you would say "bad words"
And that's the difference, it's the curse religiously since it comes from the church
Ok, let's move on to something else
Let's say someone like me has learned French from France
And I want to move to Quebec for a while and I want to speak like you
I want to learn the local dialect "joual"
What should I do to change my accent?
There are words like that, but starting with the accent...
I think that first you have to spend a lot of time with Quebecers
to train your ears, to immerse yourself deep in the culture
to walk through and stay in more Quebec districts (or Montreal)
staying less in the West and South
English-speakers tend to have money...
I like how you always say "the English" for English-speaking Canadians
It's different for me; when I think of "The English", I think of people from England
It isn't the U.K...
It's English speaking Canadians... or is it everyone who speaks English?
It's more for Canadians
We were saying before how you shouldn't say "la", but use "lâ" instead...
But, it depends
I would use "la" as a definite article
Like... "the table"
But if I want to say, "I am here", I would say "I'm here"
We make a contraction with I... am... as "I'm"
Here. It doesn't sound like "la" it sounds like "lâ"
So many things like that, usually "a" being replaced with "â"
At the start, you mainly have to get used to listening
To associate yourself with Quebecers and go to parties with them
They are very open, so you can go out with them
and you'll be a part of the family
And they'll love to hear you use bad words
Because it can be really funny
What other words would you learn are different, not just bad words
We just said before for example that we have just had "supper"
We didn't have "dinner" because the names of meals change
"Petit-déjeuner" in France is "déjeuner" in Quebec (breakfast)
"Déjeuner" in France is "dinner" in Quebec (lunch)
"Dinner" in France is "souper" in Quebec (dinner)
There are several words like that
The French would say a "mec" (guy) and we'd say "ga"
It comes from "boy" - ga(rçon)
What else...
In France, they say to go "shopping"
Our word is "magasinage" [shop = magasin]
The French use quite a lot of Anglicisms They won't really translate it
In Quebec, EVERYTHING is translated, including things you buy
There's a law to protect French in our province
It's law 101 that says ALL products and information must be written in French and English
In France, they don't really have that: they can say "Coke light"
They have a lot of anglicisms that they pronounce in a French way
They say email instead of "courriel"
The sign in the street says "Stop"
But in Quebec, it's "Arrêt"
EVERYTHING really is translated
compared to French from France
So there is a lot of vocabulary that's different
like for "voiture", we say "char" (car)
There are a lot of little details like that which means it isn't quite the same French
So if I go to Paris and keep speaking the same French I would have in Montreal
Parisians just wouldn't understand it
even if it's the same word, but I'm not pronouncing it like them...
If I say I want some "butter", they won't understand me unless I say it precisely as "beurre"
So you have to add their attitude to it
This has been interesting! To wrap up, could you tell us about your trip in Europe?
Before here you were in England, and now I'm hosting you through Couchsurfing
And tomorrow, you're going to Portugal
What are you trying to get out of this trip?
My goal is to discover more about the world
and the differences, like different ways of thinking speaking, eating
and the culture of how they do things differently elsewhere
to meet people
I also travel a lot for sport
I was in Chile to snowboard in August
I went to London to see a friend
I'm going to Portugal to do some surfing
And I've been hearing about how things here are quite special
like legalisation of marijuana, and all the things famous about Amsterdam
So travelling is good for enriching your life and opening your mind
I feel that if you aren't a citizen of the world in 2011
if you rest in your own little world, you can't improve
Yes, you're completely right!
Thanks for having shared a little of Quebec world with my readers
Thanks a lot! And I really miss Quebec
Instead of saying it like the French "I miss Quebec"
I miss Quebec!
Yes, that's good!
Thanks!