Land of the Maple Leaf ~ Canadian Club

[TRIFORCE89]

Originally Posted by Cosmotone8

Quebec is already the reason that the rest of Canada has to learn French (no offense to those in Quebec), and that's already bad enough, but this is absurd.

More like pretend to learn. We pay Quebec lip service.

Until Grade 9, my French education consisted of playing Bingo and learning about Bonhomme. I was vastly unprepared for Grade 9 French lol

[Lightning]

Well, if you're living in an area where the primary language is French, I think it's fair to expect that your typical public worker would only know French. I'm sure there's a number you can call to get instructions for that kind of thing in English. It's not like in any other cities in Canada, any old worker will know how to answer anything in French. I mean, I think it's weird that the Premier would go on the record saying something like that instead of being all veiled and politically correct and politician-y but I don't necessarily disagree with what he's saying... but seriously, if you don't know the native language of an area, it's kind of your own fault (in my opinion) and no one should expect to be catered to. Until all of English-speaking Canada offers that kind of bilingual support, Quebec shouldn't be expected to offer it in reverse. Either everywhere does it, we don't make a big deal when Quebec doesn't do it, or we stop claiming to be a bilingual country.

I wish Canada were better at teaching the opposite language, though. I see people posting on PC from countries where English isn't their first language and even by 13 they're able to communicate quite well on English-language forums and whatnot. Most people finish the entirety of their mandatory French classes without even a basic grasp on how to speak French, at least here in Ontario, despite having to learn it from... what is it, grade 1 through 9? (I wasn't here until grade 7 so I don't know when it starts here... it doesn't even start in NS until grade 4.) :( I feel like the only reason we get by is because French and English are already somewhat close in etymology so it's easy to guess at meanings. If we had better classes and more immersion available, Canada would be closer to a legitimately bilingual country but as it is now, it's a pretty sad claim.

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by LilJz1234

You know what's worst? Is that the people that works in public transportation here can't even speak English properly for themselves. I'm not talking about everyone ofc. But you think that if you wanna work in the public transportation you should know at least English and french since it's the dominant language here, or you have to force everyone who have to take the public transportation to learn french just to buy tickets and ask for directions?

More like people that work in public anything. I sometimes get really bad service because I can't understand some people and am constantly asking them to repeat themselves.

[Brendino]

Originally Posted by Lightning

I wish Canada were better at teaching the opposite language, though. I see people posting on PC from countries where English isn't their first language and even by 13 they're able to communicate quite well on English-language forums and whatnot. Most people finish the entirety of their mandatory French classes without even a basic grasp on how to speak French, at least here in Ontario, despite having to learn it from... what is it, grade 1 through 9? (I wasn't here until grade 7 so I don't know when it starts here... it doesn't even start in NS until grade 4.) I feel like the only reason we get by is because French and English are already somewhat close in etymology so it's easy to guess at meanings. If we had better classes and more immersion available, Canada would be closer to a legitimately bilingual country but as it is now, it's a pretty sad claim.

I'd have to agree with this. I know that out here in BC, people could care less about French (only 50,000 out of the 4.5 million that live here speak it fluently), so I'd say either teach it right through until graduation, or drop the Official Bilingualism nationally, and have it regulated on a provincial level. I'd prefer if we went with the first choice, though, since having taken French through grade 12, I'd at least be able to order a bus ticket in French if I had to.

[Lightning]

Originally Posted by Brendino

I'd have to agree with this. I know that out here in BC, people could care less about French (only 50,000 out of the 4.5 million that live here speak it fluently), so I'd say either teach it right through until graduation, or drop the Official Bilingualism nationally, and have it regulated on a provincial level. I'd prefer if we went with the first choice, though, since having taken French through grade 12, I'd at least be able to order a bus ticket in French if I had to.

They don't even have to teach through to grade 12--they can just actually TEACH French. The fact that we don't really learn any grammar or real sentences until high school in many provinces means the curriculum is just useless. I understand it's way too hard to offer immersion in every school but they could at least teach useful language constructs from the very beginning so kids actually have some way to USE the French they learn instead of just learning holiday vocabulary and doing simple crossword puzzles. <_<

[Alakazam17]

I agree with you Lightning, 100%.

Part of why I didn't want to learn French until I was in my twenties is because I felt like they were just trying to force it on us too much. And even then, they sucked at it. We were told to read these short stories allowed, and they gave us tests on spelling and verb conjugation(with words they had forgotten to translate for us...). Though best of all, French teachers at my elementary school were often required to teach us geography and history as well, just in English while using only French maps. xDDD

And in my case I was living only fifteen minutes from the Québec border. I can imagine it being worse further west.

[TRIFORCE89]

Originally Posted by Lightning

They don't even have to teach through to grade 12--they can just actually TEACH French. The fact that we don't really learn any grammar or real sentences until high school in many provinces means the curriculum is just useless. I understand it's way too hard to offer immersion in every school but they could at least teach useful language constructs from the very beginning so kids actually have some way to USE the French they learn instead of just learning holiday vocabulary and doing simple crossword puzzles. <_<

Yup, that sounds about right. They should do a better job, or just get rid of it.

I just don't see why we need to be bilingual. I understand our history with the colonies and language rights through the constitution, but it just seems too concentrated to one area for the rest of the country to pretend we're bilingual. It'd be like if we all had to pretend-lean Inuktitut as well because of the Northwest Territories.

I think it should be a demographic and demand thing. Like, I live in an area with a large Italian population, so in addition to French my elementary school also offered (not required) Italian. Now, ignoring that that really wasn't a good experience either XD Again, just colouring, crosswords puzzles, and bingo. In the later grades, we got some new teachers and since everyone but me was already fluent and would speak Italian to their parents and grandparents at home, they really upped the difficulty. Tested on language constructs like you were saying... but, I wasn't taught them lol It was just assumed we were all fluent due the area and it being an optional course, so while lessons were still time-killing crossword puzzles, tests were difficult and focused on the language they assumed I spoke fluently at home. :(

Anyway, getting side-tracked. I don't think we're really bilingual. Even with politics, we throw in a one sentence in French into a primarily English speech. It's just lip-service. I sort of view New Orleans as being like America's Québec. But, French isn't their second official language. Actually, Spanish would make more sense as their second language if America had to adopt one given demographics and demand (like I said above), and several places are starting to adopt that unofficially. So, I don't think that sort of thing should really be forced by legislation. That's not how culture should be formed. It should be natural and more self-realizing.

I don't have a problem with people learning other languages. It's a good thing to have. My dad majored in languages (I don't know why I didn't ask him for help in the French and Italian classes XD). I would have loved to haved learned one properly. But, our public schools do a really crappy job and there isn't much of a purpose to it being mandatory.

With all of that said tough, still not a reason to ban non-French speaking people from using public services in Québec. When it comes to front-line public service, I expect them to be able to communicate in both official languages. And if not, they should make every effort to accommodate them because they're the public service and we're the public. If someone from Québec was turned down in Alberta, I think it would be just as bad. And even then, what about tourists? People go to parts of Europe, for example, all the time from all over the world and don't speak the language. They get by because of helpful people offering the services, though I'm sure they're secretly annoyed. But still. I don't see how that concept shouldn't apply to Québec. Not to mention if you're an English-speaking citizen in Québec. You pay taxes that go toward public transit for example, but you wouldn't be able to use it. Makes no sense.

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by Lightning

They don't even have to teach through to grade 12--they can just actually TEACH French. The fact that we don't really learn any grammar or real sentences until high school in many provinces means the curriculum is just useless. I understand it's way too hard to offer immersion in every school but they could at least teach useful language constructs from the very beginning so kids actually have some way to USE the French they learn instead of just learning holiday vocabulary and doing simple crossword puzzles. <_<

I KNOW THOSE FEELS SO MUCH OMG.

Up until the end of Grade 9, all I did was learn really simple sentences, tons of vocabulary, a few key verbs (That I've forgotten and still need to know, mind you), and only in the past few years has my usability in French actually gotten to the point that I can make a half-assed attempt at a sentence. Sure it may have crappy grammar, but it gets the point across. But, if I started learning sentence structure back in like, 7th Grade, I'd probably be far more fluent and be more confident in speaking it.

The closest I got to really doing anything pre-High School was a novel study in French 9. We started rather close to the end of the year, so we never did finish it. Although it was like, a Grade 3 or 4-reading level book. I can read things and translate what most of it is into English and get the general idea of what's going on, or listen in on a conversation and pick out words I know, like vocab or a conjugated verb, but not much more. The current curriculum sucks and I really wish I had started earlier, or even done French Immersion. I'd be a far better speaker by now.

[Lightning]

Originally Posted by TRIFORCE89

With all of that said tough, still not a reason to ban non-French speaking people from using public services in Québec. When it comes to front-line public service, I expect them to be able to communicate in both official languages. And if not, they should make every effort to accommodate them because they're the public service and we're the public. If someone from Québec was turned down in Alberta, I think it would be just as bad. And even then, what about tourists? People go to parts of Europe, for example, all the time from all over the world and don't speak the language. They get by because of helpful people offering the services, though I'm sure they're secretly annoyed. But still. I don't see how that concept shouldn't apply to Québec. Not to mention if you're an English-speaking citizen in Québec. You pay taxes that go toward public transit for example, but you wouldn't be able to use it. Makes no sense.

Well, reading the article it seems like "ban" is way too strong a word. It just seemed like there would be no real effort to hire workers who were bilingual so if you were walking up to your average ticket booth or talking to a driver or something and wanted to conduct your business in English (in a French city), you would not be guaranteed service and if you absolutely couldn't figure out how to acheter un billet, you'd end up walking. And that is absolutely fair, in my mind. It's what happens literally everywhere in the world. o_O Why is it a big deal if it happens in Montreal? Just because that city is partially English as well? If the francophones of Montreal know enough English that they can speak it when needed, I think the opposite should be true of anglophones living in the same city. Tourists can do whatever it is they always do when they visit a foreign language destination.

City officials aren't walking through the public transit system and kicking people out if they're found speaking English or something. They can't BAN a language. It just seems like they don't think they should be required to offer service in English just like the rest of Canada isn't required to offer service in French. Not out on the street, anyway--there'll always be head offices and phone numbers to call for service in either language but your average bus driver or ticket booth attendant won't necessarily be able to help you in the language that is not actually native to the area. That was my understanding.

Originally Posted by Team Fail

The closest I got to really doing anything pre-High School was a novel study in French 9. We started rather close to the end of the year, so we never did finish it. Although it was like, a Grade 3 or 4-reading level book. I can read things and translate what most of it is into English and get the general idea of what's going on, or listen in on a conversation and pick out words I know, like vocab or a conjugated verb, but not much more. The current curriculum sucks and I really wish I had started earlier, or even done French Immersion. I'd be a far better speaker by now.

Yeah, the difficulty really ramps up when you get into the later (and optional) grades of French. When you take a French university course, they start teaching from Ontario's Grade 9 French. And that's the only required one here. I don't think you learn much aside from passé composé in it, since it's assumed you know present tense (except no one does because no one takes French seriously until that grade since the curriculum doesn't take it seriously until then). Why does that happen then? There's absolutely no reason it can't happen while we're kids. It's better to learn languages when you're young anyway. After a certain age, it becomes really hard for us to learn pronunciations and even actual languages. Children are much, MUCH more receptive to languages when they are very young so French basics and vocab and pronunciation and all that should be taught as early as Kindergarten with grammar and more useful vocabulary in earlier grades to go with it.

[TRIFORCE89]

Originally Posted by Lightning

Well, reading the article it seems like "ban" is way too strong a word. It just seemed like there would be no real effort to hire workers who were bilingual so if you were walking up to your average ticket booth or talking to a driver or something and wanted to conduct your business in English (in a French city), you would not be guaranteed service and if you absolutely couldn't figure out how to acheter un billet, you'd end up walking.

...

City officials aren't walking through the public transit system and kicking people out if they're found speaking English or something. They can't BAN a language. It just seems like they don't think they should be required to offer service in English just like the rest of Canada isn't required to offer service in French.

That article linked to in the thread read:

“We want the Charter of the French language modified so that all provincial and municipal services are offered exclusively in French,” said Marie-Claire Baigner, a representative from the SFPQ Union.

A ban on other languages would encourage immigrants and Anglophones to learn French, according to Baigner.

So, from that I took ban to mean... ban XD Granted, that term wasn't actually part of the quoted text and was probably entirely hyperbole on the article's part, but I ran with it. lol

Originally Posted by Lightning

And that is absolutely fair, in my mind. It's what happens literally everywhere in the world. o_O Why is it a big deal if it happens in Montreal? Just because that city is partially English as well? If the francophones of Montreal know enough English that they can speak it when needed, I think the opposite should be true of anglophones living in the same city. Tourists can do whatever it is they always do when they visit a foreign language destination.

...

Not out on the street, anyway--there'll always be head offices and phone numbers to call for service in either language but your average bus driver or ticket booth attendant won't necessarily be able to help you in the language that is not actually native to the area. That was my understanding.

In the other thread I had said, It says in our Constitution, or more specifically our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that both official languages (English and French) "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions". Provincial services are supposed to be provided regardless of language. French is Quebec's only official language since the '70s, but they're still required to follow the Federal legislation on this.

Other places in Canada, where English is the primary language, may not be following this as intended either. And that's wrong too. But, while corny, two wrongs don't make a right. If someone from Quebec comes to Toronto, they should be able to order from the TTC booth in French. If that's not happening, I'd support efforts to rectify it too. Wouldn't necessarily need to hire bilingual workers. Just have signage and assistance available. That's all I think is necessary. Even in the Quebec case.

The "they can walk" attitude shown in the article just strikes a stronger chord with me because it has a bit of a "if they can't figure out, screw them" kinda feel to it which just makes no sense in the service industry to me.

Anyway, enough on that from me here. Don't need two threads on this. XD

[Shining Raichu]

Hey guys!

Alright, so Cosmotone8 has asked me to close this club as he wishes to leave PC and therefore won't be around to maintain it. I don't want to do that, because it's one of the more active clubs in the section and I think it would be a real shame to waste it. So, who wants it? As the four most active posters in the club, I'd like to see Team Fail, LilJz, TRIFORCE or Frostweaver take the reigns, but really it's up to you guys - I'll let you figure it out as a group and when it's been decided, someone shoot me a PM and I'll transfer the club over into their name!

[LilJz1234]

I wouldn't mind taking care of it if no one else is willing to, since I'm very active on this forum and all. But if anyone here wants to take care of it instead, that would be great since I'm already running the Naruto Fan Club.

But since Cosmotone is leaving PC :'[ how is the new person in charge gonna be putting new members on the list? Since we don't have permission to edit the first post. Unless we'll have to make a new one?

[Lightning]

Nah, you can merge posts so SR would just copy one of your posts in here and merge it with the first post to trick the forum into thinking you made the opening post all along, so you'd be able to edit the list and everything then. (Or a new thread could be made but this one is already so well-established it looks nicer to keep it around imo.)

I don't mind taking over it either but you are much more active and all so if you aren't too busy with the Naruto club already it probably makes more sense. ^^

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by Lightning

Yeah, the difficulty really ramps up when you get into the later (and optional) grades of French. When you take a French university course, they start teaching from Ontario's Grade 9 French. And that's the only required one here. I don't think you learn much aside from passé composé in it, since it's assumed you know present tense (except no one does because no one takes French seriously until that grade since the curriculum doesn't take it seriously until then). Why does that happen then? There's absolutely no reason it can't happen while we're kids. It's better to learn languages when you're young anyway. After a certain age, it becomes really hard for us to learn pronunciations and even actual languages. Children are much, MUCH more receptive to languages when they are very young so French basics and vocab and pronunciation and all that should be taught as early as Kindergarten with grammar and more useful vocabulary in earlier grades to go with it.

I started Passé Composeé in like, 9th Grade here too, and I'm doing other tenses as well, like imparfait and futur proche, as well as futur simple. Except I get them confused on a regular basis lol.

Originally Posted by Shining Raichu

Hey guys!

Alright, so Cosmotone8 has asked me to close this club as he wishes to leave PC and therefore won't be around to maintain it. I don't want to do that, because it's one of the more active clubs in the section and I think it would be a real shame to waste it. So, who wants it? As the four most active posters in the club, I'd like to see Team Fail, LilJz, TRIFORCE or Frostweaver take the reigns, but really it's up to you guys - I'll let you figure it out as a group and when it's been decided, someone shoot me a PM and I'll transfer the club over into their name! :)

I do have a lot of things I have to do, but if nobody else is willing (or unable) to, I can watch over it and whatnot.

[Brendino]

Originally Posted by Team Fail

I started Passé Composeé in like, 9th Grade here too, and I'm doing other tenses as well, like imparfait and futur proche, as well as futur simple. Except I get them confused on a regular basis lol.

My class started learning passé composé back in grade 7, but that was because our teacher actually spoke French as his first language, and figured if we got a head start we'd be better prepared for future French classes (I'd even say my grade 9 French class was easier than grade 7). I really wish that I could've stayed on that difficulty curve going forward, since I learned next to nothing about French for two years.

The big problem I think is that many teachers (especially as you get further away from Quebec) aren't as knowledgable about the language as they should be, so it's similar to the blind leading the blind in teaching French. I find that this leads to all of the simple activities like crosswords and learning songs, because you won't have a teacher specializing in French until high school. Again, if we want to promote a nationwide bilingualism, we should be learning it from a much earlier age, since even those two extra years would've improved my skills greatly.

---

I wouldn't mind helping out with the club, either, since I'm not quite as busy as everyone else, but then again, there are a couple of you that are more active here than I am. That, and the club isn't quite as active as some of the other ones, so I'm sure whoever's running it won't have too much trouble.

Also, I noticed that the Canadian Club is eligible to receive it's own emblem. I'm not quite sure what the requirements would be to receive it, what it would look like, etc., but I think it would be a neat idea if we had one.

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by Brendino

I wouldn't mind helping out with the club, either, since I'm not quite as busy as everyone else, but then again, there are a couple of you that are more active here than I am. That, and the club isn't quite as active as some of the other ones, so I'm sure whoever's running it won't have too much trouble.

Also, I noticed that the Canadian Club is eligible to receive it's own emblem. I'm not quite sure what the requirements would be to receive it, what it would look like, etc., but I think it would be a neat idea if we had one.

What it means by that, is that whoever owns the club (Which is now up in the air) can create an emblem for their club, and distribute it to whoever they want in that club.

@French subject: I had a teacher like that last year. Except that he also knew little English. He basically babied everyone through the course. To the point that he walked us through the final exam. In ENGLISH.

[Brendino]

Originally Posted by Team Fail

What it means by that, is that whoever owns the club (Which is now up in the air) can create an emblem for their club, and distribute it to whoever they want in that club.

That's the reason why I thought it'd be interesting if we all collectively came up with an idea, as there isn't really an owner right now to make one and come up with guidelines for it. I don't know, just an idea.

Originally Posted by Team Fail

@French subject: I had a teacher like that last year. Except that he also knew little English. He basically babied everyone through the course. To the point that he walked us through the final exam. In ENGLISH.

For the first month of my grade 10 French class, our substitute teacher was like that. He was half Vietnamese/half French, and wasn't all that great with English. He'd basically tell us exactly what to do, and it we couldn't figure it out, to just use an online translator. When our regular teacher came back from his surgery, the course was night and day to what we'd been learning up to that point.

[Oshy]

Username: Oshy
Relation to Canada: Born in Quebec
Favourite Province: Newfoundland
Reason for Joining (optional): To chat with fellow Canadians, of course! :D

[Lightning]

Originally Posted by Brendino

That's the reason why I thought it'd be interesting if we all collectively came up with an idea, as there isn't really an owner right now to make one and come up with guidelines for it. I don't know, just an idea.

We should have an emblem for people who manage to change the topic from weather to something else because we talk about weather way too much in this club. :P

[TRIFORCE89]

Speaking of weather, it was a nice weekend outside and then today it was flurrying ;__;

[Lightning]

We had a warning for snow squalls here... haven't gone outside in hours so I don't know if they actually happened. Hailed a bit while I was walking home from the bus, too. I'm fine with the cold sticking around for a few more weeks but I wish it wouldn't get warm in-between. It wasn't quite cold enough to freeze the mud so I got the worst of spring coupled with cold. Damnit, Southern Ontario. :(

[Yusshin]

Username: Yusshin
Relation to Canada: Born and raised! + Bilingual in French & English. 'Was born in a small town north of Barrie, ON. in '92 and went back and forth multiple times between there and Quebec from '08-'10. Now I live in Quebec and have since September '12.
Favourite Province: Quebec. Low rent. Decent wage. Low food cost. Low transportation cost. Easy to get anywhere in the Southern part of the province for cheap (trains in Montreal extend 1-2h average train travel time in most cardinal directions). Lots of festivals and activities in Montreal. Bilingualism. True patriotism (can't go anywhere without seeing Canada+Quebec flags flooping about). Lots of different cultures.
Reason for Joining (optional): CANUCKS UNITE! GO JEAN POUTINE! CANADIAN BACON! MEET MAH POLAR BEAR "SPARKY"!

On another note, Winnie the Pooh doesn't know squat about blistery, cold days. Was a chilly one in Montreal yesterday!

On the topic of French immersion, I was in it until Grade Four. Again, I lived in a small, crappy little city where French was really, truly not taken seriously; HOWEVER, we still learned passé composé in Grade Four (at least, the basics). I have no idea why some of you guys are learning it way into Seven, Eight and even Nine when it's part of the Grade Four curriculum. Shrugbeans.

After Grade Four, I was in Extended French so I was taught half my courses (well, was supposed to; didn't happen most of the time) in French i.e. History, Art, Geography, P.E. I guess it was rather advanced compared to immersion because when I came back from Québec in '09 and tried to partake in a Grade 11 French course (normal, not Extended), the level was so horrible in comparison - plus, the teacher sucked monkeybeans - that I actually homeschooled that year instead, dropping French altogether. I went back for the '11-12 school year (Extended, since they let me back into that school - they didn't take too kindly to me dropping out so suddenly to go live in Québec) and got 97% in the Extended French Class while tutouring Grade 9 Applied Core. The Academic Core was OK - they were learning Impératif and Imparfait + Conditionnel at that point - but the Applied Core's level was terribly low and filled with students who didn't care about it whatsoever (which didn't help). They were still learning the names of fruits - we were taught that in Grade Three Core/Immersion! - and could barely construct a sentence in French.

I do wish schools would take French more seriously, at least in Ontario where believe it or not, coming across someone who speaks French isn't that uncommon. Not a daily occurrence, but I saw francophones in my own crappy little 30k town in the middle of buttbeat nowhere, so... Not to mention, Hull, Ottawa, Timmins, Niagara Falls, North Bay, etc. have respectable francophone communities. South Manitoba has'em too, for those in Northern Ontario. Hum...

###

Also, if you come to Quebec and want tickets, you ought to know how to say it in French. If not, read a French Phrases for Dummies book or something. The same goes for Quebec->Ontario. If you want to buy a bus ticket in Toronto, say it in English, since that's the language of the area. Canada being "bilingual" is a false description of our nation because we all act on a provincial basis anyway. No one cares about traveling or the neighbouring province. All that matters is that you know a language that functions where you are; which is a bad attitude for later, because knowing both is a fantastic skill!

What irks me is that (note, I'm anglophone) there are a lot of anglophones who don't give a crap about French because they think they'll never need it or use it. In theory, they could say the same thing in Quebec, but there being anglophones over there who refuse to learn English makes it so that they're more pressured into adhering to the English people's demands, while English people content themselves with pretty much getting their way. I don't agree with that.

I'm happy with a new bill they passed recently, where English can no longer be a requirement for employment. The only language you can say is obligatory to a job is French and you can't not hire someone for not knowing English. Obviously, there are certain domains that are omitted from this, but basic service jobs (i.e. Cashier) are in accordance with the new bill. And I likey. Mucho. Again, I'm from Ontario and speak English first, French second, and I find that the bill is only fair. If you want to know how much your order costs, or what your bill is, come prepared: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listin...condition=used

It's really not that much to ask when most of the time, francophones are getting a lot less service in all the other provinces (minus, say, New Brunswick) than anglophones are getting in Quebec. Anglophones aren't really feeling the pressure either from curriculums and the likes to learn it either, as suggested already. Plus, some places you can opt out of French altogether if your parents complain enough. You can't do that in Quebec. You learn it up til Secondary 5 (HS 11 equivalent in Ontario, but still considered a high school diploma) and you can't opt out. It's a diploma requirement and they're hardbums about it.

Not too fair. imo bilingualism should become more enforced, otherwise drop it and make it a provincial thing. Then you can start considering Quebec (or, for someone in Quebec, Ontario/elsewhere) an "exotic" foreign location (yet, still national) like Rome or something where you definitely would try to "do as the Romans do" out of respect for another "province" or nation. I don't see why these rules don't apply when it's inter-provincial, but do when it's a new country. Silly is as silly does.

[LilJz1234]

Last week was the most awesome temperature that Montreal got for Spring yet. Didn't even drop below 0°C and max it would be was like 15°C, although it didn't go that high

We could go out with only a sweater! xD

[BlahISuck]

Username: BlahISuck

Relation to Canada: Immigrated to Montreal when I was 3. Then I moved to London, and have been in Toronto ever since. I love Canada, so much that you could call me a nationalist. I don't think I could've developed an immigrant/citizen identity anywhere else. I do have a multicultural identity that is probably only representative of Toronto, so my "Canadian" experience is quite limited in that respect. Other than that, I frequently compare Canada with the States to come to the conclusion that we are better. Let the bigotry flow freely!

Favourite Province: Ontario. Actually Toronto. I've lived, gone to school, hung out with friends, and conducted business in an area - and it's not even a neighbourhood, a pretty big area - where racial minorities are 90% of the population for 10 years. University came along and then I learned that white people live in Canada too. Oops.

Reason for Joining: I had no idea this club existed! I've been lurking in emulation for the past three years, so I guess this is relatively new. But I always want to embrace my Canadian identity, no matter where I am.

---

Why is it still so cooooold. I got all my snow to melt, but somehow it's still freezing. Wait actually I think this is supposed to happen. There is always a thaw at the end of March and a freeze the week after. I remember when it snowed pellets on April Fool's day in grade 4. Apparently the weather will be tolerable Thursday.

[Yusshin]

Originally Posted by LilJz1234

Last week was the most awesome temperature that Montreal got for Spring yet. Didn't even drop below 0°C and max it would be was like 15°C, although it didn't go that high :P

We could go out with only a sweater! xD

There was a day that it was super warm and pretty :D and like, all the snow melted practically lol

But today and yesterday... BRRR D: