Is Trump’s assault on Canada bringing Québec and the rest of the country closer together?
Is Trump’s assault on Canada bringing Québec and the rest of the country closer together?
Amid ongoing Canada-U.S. tensions, Québec faces unique challenges in preserving its distinct identity, language and culture within Canada.
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There isn’t much appetite for Quebec’s independence now that the Millennials are huge in the voting demographics and Baby Boomers are slowly disappearing.
Now if you add a sliver of curiosity toward learning rudimentary French from the ROC, just to be better than the American or proud to be Canadian. Then Quebec will be happy to be part of Canada and fight fiercely to defend Canada. There will be differences of opinion and politics between rural Alberta and urban Montreal but this is true of every country.
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Now if you add a sliver of curiosity toward learning rudimentary French from the ROC
Technically we (rest of Canada) should already have rudimentary French since (at least when I was highschool) it was a core curriculum until the 9th grade, after which we had the choice to drop it or keep taking it as an elective. I stupidly chose not to continue, but still have the ability to understand about half of what I read or hear.
The problem in the ROC is the same problem that I have with my Portuguese; we simply don't speak it enough after highschool to maintain that base level of knowledge. It's something that I think most of us can dig up with some effort, but it doesn't flow off the tongue unless you're using it on a regular basis.
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Growing up, my father told me that Quebec bashing was a frequent occurrence travelling inside Canada. Frog jokes for example. (He was military and lived everywhere for a decade in the 70) also inside Quebec before French Canadian got a better access to university education it was mostly French speaking workers exploited by English speaking bosses.
Those divisions fueled resentment and the independence movement or at least that was my father’s thesis. I, myself, never felt a division along those line.
Now that Trump gives us a reason to fight together for a society where healthcare, education and human dignity having value independent of one’s ability to hold a job, I expect a united Canada for a while.
You don’t need to be fluent in French but showing that you care to learn a bit shows enough respect to open the door for more collaboration.
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Sadly, your father was absolutely correct. I like to think things have improved.
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Easy access to French media would have been helpful, like having shows dubbed in French along with English subtitles to follow along with, but the biggest advantage would have been being able to hear what words are meant to sound like instead practicing speaking French with another student reinforcing the incorrect pronunciation of a word.
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A shame really, because it would give you guys an edge fighting against Americans who don't even understand it at all past "Bonjour", "Oui oui", "Baguette" and "Omelette du fromage", if it came down to it.
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I like the idea of using French as a tool of resistance against the US imperialism.
I would like to see an American pissed off because a business meeting is in French! 💋
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Québécois here, I would love that. J’adorerai ça.
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Suggest you send a new statue of liberté, they'll open it and return it because they won't be able to work out what it means.
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School boards in Ontario are slowly lowering the amount of French that kids learn, even those in French immersion. That’s very sad. As a Brit I thought it was a great program.
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It’s become increasingly difficult to find French teachers.
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Living in Vancouver, I honestly think it's more advantageous to learn Chinese than French. The only reason I didn't fully switch my language studies is because Chinese is waaaay harder to learn (as an English and Portuguese speaker), so even though it's more useful here, it's still not that worth the effort.
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One thing I don't understand is that people don't take advantage of the summer bursary program. The federal government will pay all expenses (room & board, tuition , books, extracurriculars) for Canadian students over the age of 16 to participate in a language immersion course in Quebec. All you have to do is get yourself there.
I did it 40 years ago, and it made an insane difference to my French skills, which up to that point were learned in school. One of my sons did it about 5 years ago, and had the same experience.
Ridiculously, they have to keep extending the application deadline, because they don't have enough people!
Most of the courses are for people over 18, but there are some for 16 and 17-year-olds. Courses may be held in Montreal, Quebec City, or in smaller centers like Chicoutimi or Trois-Rivières. Accommodation may be in a college or university dorm, or home stays with Quebecois families.
There is a spring session for university students, starting in May and a summer session for high school students, starting in July.
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