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Maybe because some of us are really proud of the cold weather we got? x)
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As much as I always make fun of Southern Ontarians for being wusses when it comes to winter, when we actually get winter, it's so much worse than the prairie provinces. -20~30 in SK has absolutely nothing on even -10~15 in some parts of Ontario. Our proximity to the Lakes means that when it gets cold, we get a wet cold that sticks to you and seriously chills you to the bone. On the other hand, in SK (and AB? Been too long since I've been there for winter) I always remembered it didn't matter whether it was -20 or -30... it always felt the same because it was so dry. I mean, yeah, once you hit the occasional -40 or lower and cars just won't physically start, it's pretty awful, but walking around in that cold isn't bad at all. Pretty much all of my extended family lives in SK and when one family came to visit once, they almost refused to leave their hotel room during a mild day because the cold was so different and they couldn't stand it. :P |
It was kinda mild out last week when I was shovelling the drive way last. So, I didn't bother putting on gloves. Got a blister from it now XD Should have worn them anyway
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I had to shovel my mom's driveway while I was there last week. :( It was horrible. I'm so, so glad I live in a townhouse complex where they do all that & salt for me... even if sometimes they do it at 2am (???) and keep me awake.
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Actually, it's a looot easier to shovel snow several times instead of all at once when it's finished snowing. :( Snow is heavy! I'd much rather shovel a few inches two or three times than a foot all at once much later.
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That last one I should have shovelled early though yeah. It got icy/slushy/heavy unlike the big snow before that which was lite and fluffy and easy to move around. |
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I had the same problem. :( I get blisters really easily anyway, so it really wasn't smart of me to do that, but whatever. And I'd rather shovel it all at once, imo its easier to just get all out of the way at the same time. |
I'm not very strong so if I don't do it in parts, I sometimes can't do it at all. u_u
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But, it was day time when I did that. Not night, or 2AM, and not at the start of the snow when there was only like a cm on the ground XD My way makes more sense than my neighbour's. |
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Oh, how did I miss this club when I last went through the list?! In any case, I'm joining now!
Username: Alakazam17 Relation to Canada: Born and raised in Ontario; has yet to live anywhere else. Favourite Province: Newfoundland Reason for Joining (optional): I am a proud Canadian and would like to chat with other Pokémon-Canadians. :D And one question, as highlighted above: if this is the Canadian Club, why is the default intro form given in American English? lmao |
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Anyways, welcome to the club! |
I guess that I'm kind of a grammar nerd when it comes to Canadian English, hehe. I remember having to quote Wiktionary to an American friend just to prove that we spell 'yogourt' as such up here, which is something that is even different from British English! =3
On the topic of snow, we just another another coldfront and three centimetres of snow today in Ottawa. It's nothing compared to what we've had, it's just that we weren't expected any more snow. But it'll be melting away soon enough! |
How long as been going at it, TF?
Yesterday it started to snow a bit and I was really depressed since it wasn't snowing for a couple of days and the snow was melting away. I went to downtown and when I finally came out of the mall, it stopped snowing and all the snow that was there, melted away. So I was pretty happy :P |
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We don't really have to learn French, or English for that matter, though it's fun so you should try it anyway. But it seems like Francophones are more pressured into learning English. If anything that's why some want to pressure us into learning French. =/
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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?
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Until Grade 9, my French education consisted of playing Bingo and learning about Bonhomme. I was vastly unprepared for Grade 9 French lol |
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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