Difference between French and French Canadian

Kimia

HI folks,

Really want to become fluent in French. Am living in Toronto at the moment and it would help with my job. I did French for 10 years in school so I'm not completely new to it. I'm thinking of getting the Rosetta Stone French online version as it looks like fun and that always helps when learning! However, is there a massive difference between French and French Canadian?

I don't want to waste money on the French Rosetta Stone if it wont' apply here in Canada..

Any advise?

Shhh

The main differences between french french and canadian french are in the slang and the acccent.. they will understand french french and if you are only just learning you'll have an anglo accent anyway so it won't make a difference. Move to gaspesie or quebec city - you'd learn soon enough there..

alexjk

I find Canadian French simpler compared to European French, as in they use less complicated words and structure. Here is the same song from the film 'Anastasia' in Canadian French and in European French to illustrate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B6s2uBA1H0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL3794PMusU

bc dub

Personally I haven't got a clue, but a good friend from Toronto once told me that when the french came to canada and colonised it in the 16th century, they brought the language and many words and or phrases these french people had and there are still used today in Quebec. Where as in France, the language, like english has evolved and buzzwords and phrases haven't crossed the atlantic to canada's version of the language.

franc 91

Have a look at the Wikipedia pages in French and in English on this subject -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French (and then click on Français on the left-hand side)

tac foley

If you are furriner and learn 'standard' French then you'll be good to go in Québec - standard 'Sorbonne French' is taught and spoken there by anybody who has been to school there in the last 145 years. The most common dialect of Québécoise around Montréal is called 'Joual', from the North American 'slurring' of the French word Cheval [horse].

However, if you were Canadian and did not speak French, and made little or no effort [this is pretty common, for reasons I won't go into here], then a more than figurative cold shoulder will be yours.

I am the only French-speaker in my large extended family in Ontario and therefore much in demand whenever a trip to either Québec or New Brunswick is in the offing, but as a furriner you will find that you are far more welcome than us natives are - Québécers are nothing if not nationalistic - think Scots but with a major grudge, after all, the King of France at the time of the séparation actually SOLD Lower Canada to the British.

And if you visit a restaurant -

1. Don't ask for 'moulins' [windmills] instead of 'moulines' [a kind of oyster].

2. Don't take your spoon out of your coffee mug.

3. Don't object to people smoking like chimneys - they ALL do it.

4. Don't mention Piérre Trudeau or the Queen in the same sentence.

5. And NEVER mention Dieppe.

tac

franc 91

Well I can say this - when singers and artistes from Québéc come to Paris, they're readily understood, though possibly they make an effort to make sure that's the case. When we hear Québecois speaking joual between themselves that's not so easy. I think the biggest culture shock for us is hearing a strong regional accent with words and expressions that seem to us very old-fashioned (NB I'm not denigrating at all) and effortlessly they switch to American or American expressions mixed in with their French.
There are various dialects in French that you find in the West - le Saintongeais, le parler Poitevin for example which probably have some similarity with Québecois. Rien for instance is pronounced 'ren' (rhyming with main) - in fact there are local associations like Métive (harvest), Anrantéle or Pivetéa that are there to promote the local dialect.
Here's an article on some research on this subject (en français)
http://pivetea.free.fr/canada.htm

tac foley

tac foley wrote: »

5. And NEVER mention Dieppe.tac

I've been PM'd by an inquisitive person wanting to know why I wrote this.

Google 'The Dieppe Raid' and you'll find out why.

In WW1, the British high command used the blood and bodies of valiant Australians and New Zealanders at Gallipoli to no visible benefit.

In WW2, with Mountbatten in charge, it was Canadians who provided the cannon fodder at Dieppe.

Thankfully, none of my family were involved, and that's all I'm saying.

tac

franc 91

When people from Québéc come to France, there is one small fortified town in the West of France they are interested in visiting and that is Brouage which has strong associations with Champlain.
http://www.bernezac.com/Brouage.htm
Traditional Québecoise music has Scots and to a lesser extent Irish influences. For instance, I have a recording of a Qébecois fiddle player who explains that in one case, following an attack by British soldiers, the local French-speaking population fled into the forests, but eventually were allowed to come back and stay in their villages. To celebrate this a local fiddler composed 'le Reel du Triomphe'.
Here's another website where you can see how important the reel is in music from Québéc -
http://www.mustrad.udenap.org/bios/boudreault_louis.html