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Resources for Canadian French? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4902 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 1 of 11 24 May 2011 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's been a long time since I've wanted to learn French. Junior high French classes ruined it for me. However, I just spent the long weekend at the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering, where things were half in English, half in French, so half the time I had to use a headset and hear everything translated at a delay. I also befriended a girl from Quebec. Throughout the weekend, I helped her practice her English, teaching her a couple of new words (like puddle... welcome to Winnipeg. :P ), while she made fun of my pronunciation on the few phrases I could say, including my own French last name. Apparently, schools here teach France French. What the heck? I live in Canada. So, to make a long story less long, I'm starting to think I should learn Canadian French. Problem is, it seems like all the resources are for France French. I know a lot is the same, but especially for audio I'll need Canadian French resources, since the accent is very different. Pimsleur is France French, french.about.com is France French... Does anyone know of any really good Canadian French resources? It's ridiculous that finding them in Canada can be a challenge...
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| translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6706 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 11 24 May 2011 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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The secret is that you have to search for Quebec French or Quebecois French rather than just Canadian French:
French Fun: The Real Spoken Language of Quebec Canadian French for Better Travel French Canadian on Youtube Awesome Wikipedia Article About Quebec French Awesome wikipedia article about Quebec French lexicon Quebecois-English / E-Q Dictionary and Phrasebook Edited by translator2 on 24 May 2011 at 5:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4902 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 3 of 11 24 May 2011 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks a lot for the resources, translator2. Unfortunately, that still leaves me with no real audio courses, which is starting to make me realise how difficult it will be to learn the Quebec French pronunciation.
I do have one resource readily available, though it's one I've never used and feel kind of terrified of. I live in St. Boniface. That's an area of Winnipeg where a large portion of the population speaks French. I live a block away from a French-language book store, and a 15 minute walk from a French library. Of course, in written material Canadian French is very close to France French, so it's the spoken language I really should be focusing on. But the idea of learning Benny the Irish Polyglot-style and actually going out and talking to people (including the many family members I have who are native French speakers) is terrifying to me. I wonder if Benny will see this post and lecture me on not waiting until I'm ready... I've already read your book, Benny. Haha. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Guido Super Polyglot Senior Member ArgentinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6315 days ago 286 posts - 582 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Danish Studies: Russian, Indonesian, Romanian, Polish, Icelandic | Message 4 of 11 24 May 2011 at 7:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you already speak some France French, then try these sites:
Radio news Canadian movies/documentals Radio Canada Québec French TV (have a look at 'Le Téléjournal') Québec French pronunciation, grammar and slang Québec French course. Click on the green "EN" button to turn the left column into English. You'll see that each lessons has 4 patters: they are all the same, just different ways to learn the same dialogue. I prefer to learn with the pattern 3. Unclick "Japanese" and click "French". You can also play the whole dialogue. I hope you enjoy it! Guido.- 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4902 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 5 of 11 24 May 2011 at 8:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, Guido, I'll definitely check those out!
I wouldn't go so far as to say that I "already speak some France French". I took French in school up to grade 8, but grade 8 was 9 years ago and I don't remember much. However, I think I have quite a bit of passive vocabulary in the back of my mind, because I notice it helping with my Esperanto studies. So it's hard to say how much I know, but I definitely can't speak it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5168 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 6 of 11 24 May 2011 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | ||
You should know that Manitoba French and Québec French are 2 different things, kind of like Manitoba English and Georgia English (random examples). In other words, if you wanted to learn American English, I don't think I'd recommend a Georgia accent as a target. First, Franco-Manitobans settled in the province several generations ago and lost contact with Québec, making the language sometimes slightly archaic sounding, and second, the francophone community has more in common with anglophones than it does with Québécois, and so the influence from English has had a great impact on the local language. As a result, Franco-Manitobans mostly use their French at home and with friends, so that their English is actually a lot better than their French, even when they claim that French is their first language. I've yet to find an exception to the rule. However, within the French-speaking community in Winnipeg, you will also find people from France, Africa... and Québec. If you wanted to find a Québec language partner, I'd look at the CUSB first, or post an add in Kijiji. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4902 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 7 of 11 24 May 2011 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||
That was one thing I was uncertain on. I knew Manitoba French sounds "funny" like Quebec French does, ie. not like France French, but I wasn't sure how similar the two are. The people in St. Boniface that are my relatives are all born and raised in St. Boniface, and they're bilingual, but prefer French. My younger cousins in particular speak French better than English, because they go to French schools. I guess it's Quebecois I'd most want to be able to communice with. My reasons are these: In Winnipeg, I'll never need French. There are almost no people who speak only French. French will come most in handy at national gatherings such as the one I was at this weekend. Also: I want to impress my new Quebecois friends. :) So here's what I'm thinking: Written sources are easy, because other than colloquialisms it's all the same. For spoken stuff, I'll try to use as many sources as I can get my hands on, so that I'll at least be able to understand different accents. All that being said, I don't know when I'll actually start on this, since I don't really feel like my Esperanto is at the point when I can safely stray from it. And even if I feel that way soon, I'll still have German making me feel guilty of language abandonment. But I would like to understand a good bit of French by the next gathering 3 years from now. We shall see! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5168 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 8 of 11 24 May 2011 at 9:43pm | IP Logged | ||
Are you really sure? My kids go to French schools too and apart from the kids who were born abroad, ALL their friends speak better English. It seems most of the kids use English with eachother in the school anyway. And I can assure you that the French taught in the schools would never be an acceptable level in Québec. The reality is just completely different. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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