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...
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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:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-list...?ie=UTF8&qid=1364891267&sr=8-1&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.