I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a joke or something, but yes. More than 90% of the people in Quebec speak French. More than 50% speak English, but for most it’s a second language.
No, it was a genuine question. I did not know It was mainly used as a first language in Quebec. I thought it was a semi-common second laguage for Canadians.
No, only in Quebec. There’s a bit of French spoken in Ontario (especially on the border with Quebec), and maybe 30% of the population in New Brunswick, but in other provinces it’s not even the second most spoken language.
For example, Manitoba’s most widely spoken languages are 1M English, 33k Tagalog, 30k Punjabi, 19k German and 15k French.
Quebec government, specifically. Other provinces only require government services to be provided in both French and English but private businesses can mostly do what they want. Quebec requires private business to be conducted in French unless the customer requests service in a different language. Any non-French text or speech made to a customer before they request it can be seen as a violation. They can be a little overzealous at times.
The government eventually said exotic dishes with no French name are allowed as an exception. Looking up menus of Indian places in Montreal shows they have completely Indian names for many of their dishes.
What happened with that change to signage laws that was going to require tens of millions of dollars to update eg “Canadian Tire” to “Magasin Canadian Tire” and whatnot?
They’re not at all snobby. The French in France are snobby. If you try to speak to them in French and it isn’t Parisian-style french, they’ll try to switch languages on you because they can’t bear to have their dear language mangled like that.
The Quebecois aren’t snobby, they’re just obnoxious about preserving their language and culture. And it gets pretty absurd. Around the world stop signs say “STOP” even in French speaking countries. But, in Quebec they mostly say “Arret”, and when a local English-speaking community has stop signs that say stop, vigilantes sometimes change them to Arret.
There are certainly stories of overzealous enforcement, but the context of Loi 101 and its amendments is worth considering.
Québecois is really interesting. It has a lot of old, outdated French in it due to the colonial connection with France being severed hundreds of years ago, where it evolved distinctly and the locals made different decisions on what to change and how to adapt to new concepts.
One could argue the French government has been obsessive about policing language much longer with the académie française.
The Canadian government is pretty weird about that aren’t they?
Nope. The Canadian government just sighs and wishes Quebec wouldn’t be such a problem.
French is the dominant language in Quebec?
I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a joke or something, but yes. More than 90% of the people in Quebec speak French. More than 50% speak English, but for most it’s a second language.
No, it was a genuine question. I did not know It was mainly used as a first language in Quebec. I thought it was a semi-common second laguage for Canadians.
No, only in Quebec. There’s a bit of French spoken in Ontario (especially on the border with Quebec), and maybe 30% of the population in New Brunswick, but in other provinces it’s not even the second most spoken language.
For example, Manitoba’s most widely spoken languages are 1M English, 33k Tagalog, 30k Punjabi, 19k German and 15k French.
Quebec government, specifically. Other provinces only require government services to be provided in both French and English but private businesses can mostly do what they want. Quebec requires private business to be conducted in French unless the customer requests service in a different language. Any non-French text or speech made to a customer before they request it can be seen as a violation. They can be a little overzealous at times.
What’s the menu like for Indian restaurants in Quebec? Are there French names for Biryani, Paratha, Paneer etc?
The government eventually said exotic dishes with no French name are allowed as an exception. Looking up menus of Indian places in Montreal shows they have completely Indian names for many of their dishes.
At a certain point I have to assume they just slap a bunch of "le"s on and call it a day
Damn, I’ve heard jokes about quebecios being snobby with their French but that seems excessive.
Which makes it all the more hilarious that the French people I know have joked about Quebec speaking “garbage French”
It’s not snobby. From an anglo perspective, here’s how it plays out in reality:
WAITER: Qu’est-ce que vous voudrais? ME: Huh? WAITER: What would you like? ME: {proceeds to order}
…And life goes on.
I mean that’s fine, but the fact that it’s required under penalty of law is absolutely excessive
What happened with that change to signage laws that was going to require tens of millions of dollars to update eg “Canadian Tire” to “Magasin Canadian Tire” and whatnot?
They’re not at all snobby. The French in France are snobby. If you try to speak to them in French and it isn’t Parisian-style french, they’ll try to switch languages on you because they can’t bear to have their dear language mangled like that.
The Quebecois aren’t snobby, they’re just obnoxious about preserving their language and culture. And it gets pretty absurd. Around the world stop signs say “STOP” even in French speaking countries. But, in Quebec they mostly say “Arret”, and when a local English-speaking community has stop signs that say stop, vigilantes sometimes change them to Arret.
There are certainly stories of overzealous enforcement, but the context of Loi 101 and its amendments is worth considering.
Québecois is really interesting. It has a lot of old, outdated French in it due to the colonial connection with France being severed hundreds of years ago, where it evolved distinctly and the locals made different decisions on what to change and how to adapt to new concepts.
One could argue the French government has been obsessive about policing language much longer with the académie française.