Francophone Maine (Portland, Brunswick, Presque Isle: hotels, house, public school)

[Last1Standing]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Thanks for sharing the video. I enjoyed watching that.

Ayez du fun avec this one!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36ZLQ5H2so

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Last1Standing

Ayez du fun avec this one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36ZLQ5H2so

Ha ha that's great.

In all seriousness though, Chiac if it had become Canada's main language could have been a unifying force, much like Haitian Creole is in that country, or Singlish in Singapore.

Of course, anglophones don't speak Chiac. Even in the Moncton area which is the patois' home base, anglophones speak English pretty much the same as other anglo North Americans with very very few borrowings from French.

By and large it's only the francophones who speak Chiac, and those francophones who are "with it" with such things know that Chiac is not at all a neutral meeting place between francophones and anglophones but rather a transitional phase between pure(r) French and pure English.

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

Dual English-Spanish signage is an indication of lower educational and income levels in places with large numbers of monolingual recent immigrants. As earlier posters on this thread say, if you visit New Mexico towns where 80% of the residents speak Spanish as a mother tongue, signage is still in English. Same in the northern tip of Maine, where 80% of town residents speak French at home, yet signage is in English only. There, the residents had all their schooling in English (and virtually all are high school graduates at least).

Many Spanish-speaking immigrants in the US are recent arrivals, and many are undocumented and poorly educated men from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala who completed elementary or middle school only. Legal immigrants from Latin America include a sizable number of monolingual elderly parents of immigrants, seniors who will almost never totally master English. Stores that cater to these immigrants, such as Walmart, JC Penny, or clinics and government social agencies that serve them, are dual-language by necessity -- much like the Chinese immigrant enclave of Flushing, Queens. Whenever there's bilingual signage in the US, there's a reason.

True. Corporate America can also be really dumb though. Example: the Lowe's in Presque Isle gets lots of Franco shoppers from the Valley or across in NB. But what second language shows up all over the store (including huge words all over the walls)?? That's right---Spanish. There probably aren't 50 people in the entire area who speak it as their primary language. It's just the way that "corporate" says their stores must be.

[phaneuf]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

True. Corporate America can also be really dumb though. Example: the Lowe's in Presque Isle gets lots of Franco shoppers from the Valley or across in NB. But what second language shows up all over the store (including huge words all over the walls)?? That's right---Spanish. There probably aren't 50 people in the entire area who speak it as their primary language. It's just the way that "corporate" says their stores must be.

You will like this: In the Home Depot in my town in Maryland (where I've never heard French spoken ever, anywhere), when you go to the self-checkout, you can choose English, Spanish, or French as the language of your automated clerk's voice. I sometimes hit the French button just to hear it. I have to admit, it sounds foreign down here, but I love it!

[masonbauknight]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

There are lot of people of French Canadian descent who live in the community I'm in right now (it's an old mill town not too far from Boston itself) but sadly they are mostly 3rd-4th generation and many can no longer speak French as a first language. I even have one coworker whose parents came from Quebec and his last name is the same as the name of a town in the Central Region in Quebec but he cannot speak French, has never been to Quebec before, and tells me he has no intention of visiting because there are better places to visit in the world. It's the sign of the times I guess.

Years ago, when I was studying in France, I met a Mainer whose parents were from Quebec. He never learned to speak French, and that's why he was in Paris for a year. He felt so sad about his situation (he was well into his 20s), and his wife came with him for the year. He was trying hard to improve his French, although he spoke English with his wife. Really nice guy.

[masonbauknight]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

True. Corporate America can also be really dumb though. Example: the Lowe's in Presque Isle gets lots of Franco shoppers from the Valley or across in NB. But what second language shows up all over the store (including huge words all over the walls)?? That's right---Spanish. There probably aren't 50 people in the entire area who speak it as their primary language. It's just the way that "corporate" says their stores must be.

Hilarious! And why am I not surprised? It is largely a corporate/business decision. $panish $ells.

[FlowerPower00]

Originally Posted by ARrocket

I'm interested in visiting some of the Maine towns along the New Brunswick border which, according to Wikipedia, are primarily French-speaking.

It seems that Madawaska, Frenchville, Van Buren, etc. are all 80%+ French as a mother tongue.

However, while browsing around these towns on Google Maps, everything seems to be in English. I can understand, being in the US, how official signage is in English, but even business names and advertising seem to be all or almost all in English. This seems odd to me.

Anybody have any experience with these towns? Can I pop into a store/restaurant and reasonably expect to be served in French? Or is English primarily used in public, despite the vast majority of residents being Francophone?

I am reasonably certain, if you are speaking French in Madawaska, Frenchville, Van Buren, Fort Kent, Saint Agatha, and Saint Francis, you will get responses in French.

I was, extremely, blessed to be able to work in The Valley. Those are some really, really, neat people, who are proud to share their rich heritage.

UMFK https://www.umfk.edu/archives/

[2ner]

When my siblings and I were kids, we stayed in the home of a foster family in Madawaska. At that time, everyone spoke French, even the younger kids, and preferred that language. It was work for them to speak English... trying to find the right words. They all had French accents when they spoke English, even the younger people. I imagine this has changed now.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

There is a French heritage museum in Lewiston.
http://www.francocenter.org/educatio...ritage-museum/

[Benz73]

French public schools were banned in NS, PEI, Manitoba and I think also NFL and Saskatchewan. Each of them has their own Official Language Act. Those laws have been cancelled by the Surpreme Court with the help of few Quebec politicians using the constitution only in 1989. Even after that, it was difficult for french to go public schools because those provinces said their numbers were too small, therefore irrelevant. So they had to fight up to the supreme court and eventually get their schools. Probably the most time consuming way in the world to send a child to school. Those fights occurred until very recently but, at least, what remains of the french speaking citizens can finally send their kids to public french schools.

Today many former french citizens speaking english only whish they could at least understand the language of their grand-parents. But the authorities allowed very small schools only meant for the actual french speaking.