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Old 12-15-2018, 02:02 PM   #15
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What I found interesting when my work travels required me to travel to the GREAT WHITE NORTHERN COUNTRY called CANADA. Is that not all provinces follow the same laws of their country. For example in MONTERAL you would be hard press to find an English road sign, everything was in French. If you asked a question in English they would ignore you even thought they can and do understand the English language.

As I was reading the original post, I wondered just how long it would take before the tongue-in-cheek humour of the topic would turn to something negative.
Not very long!
Yes, Canada has 2 official languages.
Yes, Canada has some differences in "provincial" laws.
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Old 12-15-2018, 02:05 PM   #16
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Wow... didn't mean to offend you....no humor...
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Old 12-15-2018, 02:06 PM   #17
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For example in MONTERAL you would be hard press to find an English road sign, everything was in French. If you asked a question in English they would ignore you even thought they can and do understand the English language.
So an oversimplification explanation...

The French were the first permanent settlers of Canada (that actually stayed...) and the English-speakers came later. The Anglophones (English-speakers) exerted colonizing power over the continent and English became the dominant language. But the French were first and understandably unwilling to "bow" to the "newcomers".

To look at it from a modern perspective, where I live immigration is shaping the demographics so much that the pan-Asian population (largely Chinese and peoples from the Punjab region of India) is becoming a very large percentage of the population. In 30 years, how willing would I be to stop speaking English (my first language, despite coming from mixed German/French and Irish blood) because my region is no longer predominantly Anglophone?
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Old 12-15-2018, 02:13 PM   #18
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Jim.B1: I personally see this as an opportunity to have open discussion. I used to work in the French newsroom at Radio-Canada (French CBC, the Canadian national broadcaster) as a cameraman. I had a unique experience in being a functionally Anglophone camera operator working in a French-dominated environment. Many of the newly transferred journalists from Quebec loved working with me as I was very open to working in "Franglais" (French/English "blend") so they could work on their regionally accurate English while I "boned up" on my conversational French.

A great opportunity that provided me with a unique viewpoint... now, the small French towns that surrounded Winnipeg were significantly less interested in having an Anglophone working for the national broadcaster in the French newsroom. So I hid the fact that I was an Anglophone as much as I could. So much so that some very senior members of the community would defend me when I was called out as being "an Anglo..."

I once asked the head of the Franco-Manitoban school division why he felt it was so important to maintain French-only language in their schools. He said "I have to teach my children French... they'll 'catch' English soon enough" (meaning through constant immersion)
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Old 12-15-2018, 02:50 PM   #19
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RoadDogYVR great post. Being older I remember when there were pockets of people mostly in cities. That you had to know some their language to go there. Some of those older folks never learned English. But we transform more quickly down here.
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Old 12-15-2018, 03:01 PM   #20
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Yes but when I want a Coke or similar, I still ask for a "soft drink", not a "soda" or a "pop"...
When my wife and I first moved to Florida, because of being raised in Alberta I asked what kind of “pop” they had in a restaurant. The waitress gave me a blank stare, so I repeated the same question several times. My wife, who had been to Florida a couple of times before, just sat there with a bemused look on her face, enjoying my confusion. Finally she smiled, looked at the waitress and said, “He wants to know what flavor of sodas you have.” I had no idea that they used a different word down here!😳😳
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Old 12-15-2018, 03:17 PM   #21
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When my wife and I first moved to Florida, because of being raised in Alberta I asked what kind of “pop” they had in a restaurant.
I'm from Winnipeg so it was "soft drink". Head an hour south to an area that is largely populated by Mennonite folks and the word becomes "pop" with the "o" sounding somewhere between an "o" and an "a".

As in you'd go "into town" for a "Papsi and a Ravell (the chocolate covered ice cream treat on a stick)"

The thing I get a kick out of when I head into The States is the difference in potato chip flavours! Americans look at you funny when you mention ketchup chips, unless they've been to Canada.

Or when I'd head into Washington State driving a big rig and stop at a McDonalds to try to get some McChicken Sauce!
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Old 12-15-2018, 05:04 PM   #22
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What I found interesting when my work travels required me to travel to the GREAT WHITE NORTHERN COUNTRY called CANADA. Is that not all provinces follow the same laws of their country. For example in MONTERAL you would be hard press to find an English road sign, everything was in French. If you asked a question in English they would ignore you even thought they can and do understand the English language.
You misunderstand Canadian provincial language laws. First the province decides wether it is unilingual French, unilingual English or bilingual. The only bilingual province is New Brunswick. The rest are all unilingual. Quebec is unilingual French and for good reason. It’s history is a French language heritage and as a result is considered a distinct society within Canada. Although not a Quebecer i strongly support and recognize this special place in my country. My mother tounge is English but speak, read and write fluent French as well as Spanish and German and can function at a very low level in Arabic. Hardest language I have ever learned. I know what it’s like to be in a position where someone has asked a question in a language that I am not comfortable in and wish that I could just sneak away. Saying that all or even many Quebecers are comfortable in English is at best misinformed. Having said that, in all of Quebec, Montreal has the strongest Anglophone population.

If one is not comfortable around other cultures or languages Canada is not a good destination for you....and Quebec is definetly out of there...but you will be missing the most interesting and beautiful part of all of North America.

JMHO.
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Old 12-15-2018, 05:34 PM   #23
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What I found interesting when my work travels required me to travel to the GREAT WHITE NORTHERN COUNTRY called CANADA. Is that not all provinces follow the same laws of their country. For example in MONTERAL you would be hard press to find an English road sign, everything was in French. If you asked a question in English they would ignore you even thought they can and do understand the English language.
I've gone on vacation to Montreal (love it) and never had a similar experience. Maybe it's because I'd start the conversation by saying Bonjour or Bonsoir and then ask a question or make a request in English. Always got a courteous response in English.
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Old 12-15-2018, 06:12 PM   #24
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Saying that all or even many Quebecers are comfortable in English is at best misinformed.
When I drove over the bridge from Ottawa into what was then Hull (now Gatineau), I immediately noticed the difference. In many ways, I felt like I was in Europe - even the place seemed different than the very Anglo capital region.

I struck up a few conversations with the locals there, who surprisingly spoke little (if any English) in a small tourist town a little ways in. They were gracious as I fumbled along in my grade school French. The more I tried in French, the more willing they were to attempt English. Berlin was much the same - if I tried in German, shopkeeps would try in English.

The only place I found absolutely unwilling to try to accommodate non-locals was the Zurich Airport in Switzerland while in the International transit lounge - I tried to order a coffee with cream (or ANY variant thereof) in English, French, (poor) German and (incredibly poor) Italian. The woman looked at me as if I was speaking gibberish. And no, I didn't ask for a "double-double"
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Old 12-15-2018, 07:00 PM   #25
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I'm a late 40s former Prairie Boy now living near the West Coast of Canada. Canada "adopted" the Metric system while I was in elementary school but we Canadians didn't adopt it universally...

For example:
  • My house thermostat is set for 68 degrees F but if I wander outside in the Fall I want to know if it's above 15 degrees C so I can decide whether to wear a sweater or a jacket.
  • I'll order my hamburger meat or steak by the pound but sliced cold cuts by the gram.
  • I'll tell you how far my couch is from the TV in feet and inches but how far Medicine Hat is from Regina in kilometers.
  • I'll fill my truck up was litres of gasoline but ask my buddy how many miles per gallon his gets.
  • My drywall is 4' x 8', my studs are "2x4's", my screws are "inch and a half" but half my bolts and nuts are metric.
  • Tell me to hand you a 17/32" socket and I'll ask "what's that in Metric"... because fractions are hard!
  • I'll go to the store to get a pound of coffee and come back with come back with some size variety between 250 and 375 grams (all of which are less than a pound - 454 grams)
  • I'll measure water or milk in millilitres but flour in cups and salt and yeast in teaspoons or tablespoons.
  • Try asking a Canadian to hand you a quart or a pint of anything (besides oil or beer...) and you'll likely get blank stares.
Well, that did answer one question I've had. I was discussing the possibility of the States going metric with a buddy some time back, and I asked "What'll we do about plywood and sheetrock?" thanks
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Old 12-16-2018, 10:01 AM   #26
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Well, that did answer one question I've had. I was discussing the possibility of the States going metric with a buddy some time back, and I asked "What'll we do about plywood and sheetrock?" thanks
When the metric system was phased in dimensional lumber, plumbing, etc. was at first sold in metric measurments but with the same dimensions. It was so confusing the idea was soon abandoned and the imperial system stuck.

The metric system is easy to remember and use IF you think in metric. What's confusing is when you try to convert in your head one system to the other.
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Old 12-16-2018, 11:11 AM   #27
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When the metric system was phased in dimensional lumber, plumbing, etc. was at first sold in metric measurments but with the same dimensions. It was so confusing the idea was soon abandoned and the imperial system stuck.
Fresh out of high school I got a job delivering drywall and related building supplies from late 1988 to spring of 1993. I remember we had one building project that required Metric wallboard for some government mandated reason or another. Several semi-trailer loads of the stuff. Thousands and thousands of sheets.

Halfway through the project, we started taking good ol' fashioned 4x8/9/10/12/14 footers to the same jobsite. Nary a word was said.

Never saw another sheet of Metric wallboard.

I will say though that measuring in Metric is much easier for those of us who are "fractionally challenged" as I alluded earlier...
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Old 12-16-2018, 12:04 PM   #28
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When the metric system was phased in dimensional lumber, plumbing, etc. was at first sold in metric measurments but with the same dimensions. It was so confusing the idea was soon abandoned and the imperial system stuck.

The metric system is easy to remember and use IF you think in metric. What's confusing is when you try to convert in your head one system to the other.
I was thinking if they went to a metric measurement that was different, it'd be chaos for decades to come trying to figure out what to buy for repairs and remodels.

Tires are another example. I know my truck uses P265/70 x 16 tires. The 265 is metric, the 70 is a percentage, and the 16 is inches. Even Japanese motorcycles, where everything is metric, use wheels measured in inches.
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