Quebec - Only French? (schools, universities, camp)

[PalmBch]

Do people in Quebec speak only French with you? Are the signs in French, or both French & English? Do a random person speak French or English with you? Are schools in French?

[ya7oo]

Originally Posted by PalmBch

Do people in Quebec speak only French with you? Are the signs in French, or both French & English? Do a random person speak French or English with you? Are schools in French?

In Montreal, the population is 20% whom have English as their 'mother tongue (anglophone).' Just over half the city of Montreal is considered 'Francophone' by mother tongue, another 20% is Allophone (who's mother tongue is neither English or French) Then on top, I suspect there are even more English speakers who are not 'registered' as Quebeckers, especially those who go to McGill and Concordia University.

In Quebec we have an English and French school board, as well as English universities in Montreal- outside more bilingual areas like Montreal & Gatineau, French is much more dominant and English speaking people are harder to find- though you will find people with knowledge of English almost everywhere.

Most signs are only in French, though some of them will be in both English and French. Bill 101, which was a racist law that came in 1994 forced businesses to make their signs with French being the biggest, then English which has to be smaller then the French.

Majority of the time, you will be approached in French unless you are in an area with non-Francophones, such as many areas in Montreal. Everywhere else then Montreal you will almost always be primarily addressed in French!

Source: I live in Quebec and English is my mother tongue

[HappyDaysCopenhagenSkoal]

Originally Posted by PalmBch

Do people in Quebec speak only French with you? Are the signs in French, or both French & English? Do a random person speak French or English with you? Are schools in French?

What's the point of this thread?
Please ... let this thread die!

1) If your French is good enough, you will be able to keep them from switching on you.
2) If your French is awful, they'll probably switch to English - remember that the quality of English diminishes outside of Montréal.
3) French schools? LOOK IT UP! You don't need to ask us this question. Even wikipedia will tell you.

BTW, I can walk into many shops in Montréal and start speaking Italian, and it's fine.

Moderator cut: save the personal attacks for your personal life

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by HappyDaysCopenhagenSkoal

What's the point of this thread?
Please ... let this thread die!

You know, you're right. I answer these things all the time here but maybe I shouldn't.

I can appreciate that some people just don't know and are curious but I have travelled all around the world and it seems to me that almost everyone I met at least vaguely knew that that Montreal and the province of Quebec were a part of Canada that was predominantly French-speaking.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ya7oo

Most signs are only in French, though some of them will be in both English and French. Bill 101, which was a racist law that came in 1994 forced businesses to make their signs with French being the biggest, then English which has to be smaller then the French.

You are entitled to your opinions but I don't get your racism comment (though I've heard it a million times before - or at least 999,999 times).

Since there are black people who speak French and black people who speak English, aboriginal people who speak French and aboriginal people who speak French, Asian people who speak French and Asian people who speak English, etc., I fail to see what race has to do with this.

You can agree or disagree with the law, but the use of the r-word by you and others is just for shock value and is totally unfounded.

[ya7oo]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You are entitled to your opinions but I don't get your racism comment (though I've heard it a million times before - or at least 999,999 times).

Since there are black people who speak French and black people who speak English, aboriginal people who speak French and aboriginal people who speak French, Asian people who speak French and Asian people who speak English, etc., I fail to see what race has to do with this.

You can agree or disagree with the law, but the use of the r-word by you and others is just for shock value and is totally unfounded.

Racist? You'd have to talk to M. Jacques Perizeau about that word- what did he mean when he blamed the referendum loss on 'money & the ethnic vote?'

Discriminative might be a better word, discrimination can also be interrupted as racism. Racism is not only about color.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ya7oo

Racist? You'd have to talk to M. Jacques Perizeau about that word- what did he mean when he blamed the referendum loss on 'money & the ethnic vote?'

Discriminative might be a better word, discrimination can also be interrupted as racism. Racism is not only about color.

I am not a PQ supporter and did not appreciate his comments, but in the interest of fairness, it is worth mentioning that Parizeau was married most of his life (until her death in fact) to a woman named Alicja Pozanska, a concentration camp survivor.

Also, regarding racism, well once again, since being of a particular race does not mean one cannot speak any single language in the world, I still don't get the point. There are people named MacFadden, Reid, Fraser and Harvey who are francophones in spite of being racially Anglo-Celtic, and there are anglos named Gagnon and Tremblay who could be called "French Canadian" in a racial sense.

[lucknow]

It is not a racist law in any sence of the word. It is however a nationalist law. Now this will really confound our friends the American readers. The supreme court of Canada found this law unconstitutional. However the government of Quebec invoked the "Not withstanding clause" of the constitution to override the supreme court and the law stands regardless of the courts decision. I'm a English speaking Canadian fron Ontario and I totally agree with the Quebec governments decision to over ride the constitution in this case. Quebec has a distinct "French Canadian" culture surrounded by 350 million English speaking people in the USA and Canada. It's very important that the people of Quebec are able to preserve and nurture their own culture against the pressure of the the much larger culture outside of Quebec. I greatly admire the Quebecers that they have been able to do this so successfully for such a long long time. I believe that the supreme court decision was a correct one in relation to the Canadian constitution but I agree with the government of Quebec that Extrordinary measures must be taken to protect their unique and valuable culture.

[ya7oo]

Originally Posted by lucknow

It is not a racist law in any sence of the word. It is however a nationalist law. Now this will really confound our friends the American readers. The supreme court of Canada found this law unconstitutional. However the government of Quebec invoked the "Not withstanding clause" of the constitution to override the supreme court and the law stands regardless of the courts decision. I'm a English speaking Canadian fron Ontario and I totally agree with the Quebec governments decision to over ride the constitution in this case. Quebec has a distinct "French Canadian" culture surrounded by 350 million English speaking people in the USA and Canada. It's very important that the people of Quebec are able to preserve and nurture their own culture against the pressure of the the much larger culture outside of Quebec. I greatly admire the Quebecers that they have been able to do this so successfully for such a long long time. I believe that the supreme court decision was a correct one in relation to the Canadian constitution but I agree with the government of Quebec that Extrordinary measures must be taken to protect their unique and valuable culture.

I also think it's great that Quebec has been able to protect their unique and valuable culture.

One white nationalist such as a member of the Aryan Nations or Stormfront, in a place like United States might also agree with you that their desire for a white state, is not racism, but 'nationalism.'

Everything has their own limits, Marois passed the limits. What does it matter if they have a black or Arab posterboy showcasing their parties? They only use these 'colored' people because they recognize they can never win a referendum or Montreal without 'the ethnic vote.' Do you think a person like Pauline Marois see's Amir Khadr, Vivian Barbot, or Maria Marouni as 'true' Quebecois?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ya7oo

Do you think a person like Pauline Marois see's Amir Khadr, Vivian Barbot, or Maria Marouni as 'true' Quebecois?

Yes she most certainly does. The same way you and most other people probably see David Suzuki and Donovan Bailey as true Canadians.