Here we go again!

[Lindsey]

Originally Posted by lynne b

I have no clue what you are talking about in most of this thread, but in this post it reminds me of here in America, where you are talking about the labels. Here everything is labeled in english and spanish due to so many spanishe speaking people are coming to America, i feel if they are coming into our country they should learn to speak and read english, same if we went to their country we would be expected to speak/read their native tounge. It is so sad to be in a store and you see the children doing the business or speaking for the parents.

Is Spanish an official language of the USA? I thought that it was just English.

Here it is federal law that everything be in both English and French because they are our two official languages, and I really don't mind that at all. We learn French in school, and I am not fluent but I know enough French that I could get by, as with most Canadians. However, say you are a Quebec store owner, and you put up an English sign in your store... you get FINED. If you have any English showing at all, you have to have French first, and bigger, and more visible. They are just threatened by the English language. About 40% of people in Quebec know English, especially around Montreal, but they are worried that it will take over.

We have French Canadians and English Canadians but in the end we are just all Canadians and I think we should embrace our multiculturalism and multilingualism. Our leaders speak both English and French, debates are done in both English and French, and our national anthem is sung with both English and French verses during sports like the Olympics. It just bothers me that they think since they are French, they are different than us, and they don't want to be a part of our country.

[judy]

It really sounds like they are snobs about being French! It is a very pretty city, but they really should get over themselves! They sound silly to me. There are so many more important things to think about!

English is the only language of America. We have Spanish on just about everything to accommodate the Spanish speaking people who have come to live here. This practice started about 20 years ago (???)

I studied French from 7th through 12th grade, and I loved it. It is nice that you are bilingual.

[Lindsey]

I would love to go to Montreal and Quebec City someday! I haven't been to the east much.

It's funny, I never noticed Spanish on anything in the USA, but of course I probably wasn't looking either! Do you find you pick a lot of it up by just using every day products? I think that's how I know the names of so many fruits, vegetables, shampoos, soaps, etc. in French It sticks in my head more than just learning it in school!

I don't consider myself bilingual because I probably can't have a real conversation with a French person lol. It's so tough to pick up because they talk so quickly and I can't tell where one word is supposed to end and another start! I know the basics, bonjour, au revoir, s'il vous plait, merci, comment ca va, je m'appelle... and most importantly: parlez vous anglais? (Do you speak English?) Lol!

J'aime mes amis!!! (see, I can put some words in sentences!)

[gja1000]

Originally Posted by Lindsey

I would love to go to Montreal and Quebec City someday! I haven't been to the east much.

It's funny, I never noticed Spanish on anything in the USA, but of course I probably wasn't looking either! Do you find you pick a lot of it up by just using every day products? I think that's how I know the names of so many fruits, vegetables, shampoos, soaps, etc. in French It sticks in my head more than just learning it in school!

I don't consider myself bilingual because I probably can't have a real conversation with a French person lol. It's so tough to pick up because they talk so quickly and I can't tell where one word is supposed to end and another start! I know the basics, bonjour, au revoir, s'il vous plait, merci, comment ca va, je m'appelle... and most importantly: parlez vous anglais? (Do you speak English?) Lol!

J'aime mes amis!!! (see, I can put some words in sentences!)

Wow! I studied French all through high school, and I thought I forgot it all as I never use it now, BUT, I knew everything you wrote in French!!!

[judy]

I know what you mean! I took French from 7th through 12th, and could read books in French. But, I got to France, and asked directions of a gendarme. I had no idea what he said! A driot, a gauche, so fast!! I never tried that again!

[gja1000]

Oh Judy, I NEVER knew enough French to read French books! LOL! You WAY surpassed me!

[judy]

If you met my HS French teacher, you would know why! She was so strict! She called home if she caught you wearing make up! She was a tiny thing, but it was her way, or the highway!

I love that teacher to this day! She taught me a beautiful language, and worked so hard with all of us.

I also had a cousin who had lived in Montreal for a few years. She came to live in my building with my Grandmother when I was in 10th grade. We spoke to each other only in French. She was fluent, and I was learning.

So, I had a lot of advantages and learned it well.