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Every time this issue is raised the subtext is always a value judgement and the matter at hand is not primarily related to second language ability or lack thereof. Just sayin'.
Every time this issue is raised the subtext is always a value judgement and the matter at hand is not primarily related to second language ability or lack thereof. Just sayin'.
Well the O/P was being very specific in his question with using the word "lie" rather than simply prefer not to or some other descriptor so therefore the answers are naturally going to be somewhat of an indictment.
Yes; some people in Quebec who are "efficiently bilingual", pretend that they are not. Lying is a pretty nasty word to use for that happenstance but it does happen.
Yes; some people in Quebec who are "efficiently bilingual", pretend that they are not. Lying is a pretty nasty word to use for that happenstance but it does happen.
That might be your perception, but I don't know anyone who would bother spending years learning and practicing a language, which requires a lot of effort, and who would then pretend that they do not speak it. Unless the person in front of them has been rude or something...
I confess to pretending I don't speak English sometimes - when the person is being a jerk and I would prefer not engaging in a conversation. It's a good way to get out of it.
Then again, I also pretend I don't speak French sometimes too! For the same reasons.
I know how to say ''sorry I don't speak X'' in a whole bunch of languages in fact. Handy trick.
Seriously, I thought Canada was bilingual? Do these people not even LEARN English in school??
Don't Australians learn a second language at school? Do most students still (if they ever did) speak it fluently 10 years later?
If you don't have occasions to speak that second language, you lose it. The vast majority of people in Quebec never (as in never, ever) have to speak English in their daily life.
The only place I've used English all weekend is on this forum and the last time I spoke it was at work on Friday. Even at work I don't even speak it every day, and many people don't even speak that often even here in Gatineau which is right on the border with Ontario (depending on the job they do).
At the school my kids go to in the middle of the neighbourhood here not all of the teachers are bilingual (far from it) and I suspect that even for those who are are, I am sure they can go for weeks at a time without speaking English. Especially if they have no reason to cross over to Ottawa.
The only place I've used English all weekend is on this forum and the last time I spoke it was at work on Friday. Even at work I don't even speak it every day, and many people don't even speak that often even here in Gatineau which is right on the border with Ontario (depending on the job they do).
At the school my kids go to in the middle of the neighbourhood here not all of the teachers are bilingual (far from it) and I suspect that even for those who are are, I am sure they can go for weeks at a time without speaking English. Especially if they have no reason to cross over to Ottawa.
Hell, even here sometimes I come across French-Canadians who have not used English in some time. I used to work in a retail store and some older people would struggle to express what they wanted in English. If someone is French, their family (obviously) and friends tend to be as well. The students who went to French immersion schools live in their own little world. You never meet them out and about because they have their own digs and events they tend to stick to.
I confess to pretending I don't speak English sometimes - when the person is being a jerk and I would prefer not engaging in a conversation. It's a good way to get out of it.
Not that the other guy was necessarily being a jerk, but at times when I did not want to engage in a conversation (say, in a pub or coffee shop), I would sometimes fall back on Russian, which I learned years ago. That usually worked to indicate that I couldn't communicate, and I would be better left alone.
Of course, that didn't work if I was reading the Globe and Mail, or Time magazine, or other English-language media, of course!
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