Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Will be going up to Quebec this week (flying) for holiday - to Quebec City. I am curious about whether the northern states that border Quebec have much French Canadian influence. Are people bilingual, and do people have many family ties across the border? Is there signage in French? I live in southern California and go down to Mexican border towns such as Mexicali fairly often and I know that border towns there are more are less Spanish speaking with almost all food being Mexican. Is it the same with border towns in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire? Then again, these border areas may have few populated cities/towns . Just curious
The French names are there. The Catholic Church is there. But the language is almost gone.
A previous Governor of Maine was a son of French Canadian immigrants, the oldest of 14 children, and grew up speaking French.
Will be going up to Quebec this week (flying) for holiday - to Quebec City. I am curious about whether the northern states that border Quebec have much French Canadian influence. Are people bilingual, and do people have many family ties across the border? Is there signage in French? I live in southern California and go down to Mexican border towns such as Mexicali fairly often and I know that border towns there are more are less Spanish speaking with almost all food being Mexican. Is it the same with border towns in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire? Then again, these border areas may have few populated cities/towns . Just curious
Interesting question. I vaguely recall someone telling me that a lot of people on the north end of Vermont speak French, so I Googled. Got Wiki, but it included this:
Quote:
Today, French is the second most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Will be going up to Quebec this week (flying) for holiday - to Quebec City. I am curious about whether the northern states that border Quebec have much French Canadian influence. Are people bilingual, and do people have many family ties across the border? Is there signage in French? I live in southern California and go down to Mexican border towns such as Mexicali fairly often and I know that border towns there are more are less Spanish speaking with almost all food being Mexican. Is it the same with border towns in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire? Then again, these border areas may have few populated cities/towns . Just curious
It was exactly as you describe the Southern border on the Northern border, but 100 years ago, when French Canadians migrated to New England on mass looking for jobs. What you have now is some very small towns that still have alot of French spoken at home, but the vast majority of French-Americans are assimilated. You have the heritage of a last age, maybe the Southern border will be the same in 2122. Canadians have been too prosperous too long for that same dynamic to continue.
I wonder if you can get good poutine at border towns close to Quebec, just as you can get great Mexican in El Paso, Calexico, San Diego, etc close to the Mex border.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,749 posts, read 23,819,647 times
Reputation: 14665
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmlandissf
I wonder if you can get good poutine at border towns close to Quebec, just as you can get great Mexican in El Paso, Calexico, San Diego, etc close to the Mex border.
I live in St Albans, Vermont, about 15 miles (24 km) from the border. There are definitely lots of families here with French Canadian last names; but as previously stated in the thread, speaking French at home and in the community is fairly non-existent in 2022 and assimilation to English occurred with previous generations. Perhaps remote parts of northern Maine might still have some French influence, but it's probably miniscule at best. Occasionally in local job classified ads a local employer will seek out bilingual candidates and the local chamber of commerce does have a strong unity with cross border commerce and businesses.
But yes, we do indeed enjoy poutine here and I can think of at least three pubs here in town that serve it and we have a fantastic French bakery as well.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 06-07-2022 at 05:41 AM..
It's still a foreign country to us as soon as you cross the border.
And while sure there may be French names on some of the store signs and mailboxes, and some people may trot out their French with us, the latter also happens to us sporadically much further into the US in the wider Boston area (Leominster, Lowell, Woonsocket RI, southern NH), the Old Orchard Beach area (ME), NYC, the Jersey shore (Wildwood) and even as far as south Florida (Pompano, Hollywood, Hallandale).
Because some of those counties bordering Quebec voted for Trump?
Not really. It feels the same no matter who is in power or who they vote for.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
