| View Poll Results: How to balance the need for English vs defense of French in Quebec? | |||
| Keep English as a required subject in school while maintaining or stregthening Bill 101 as needed as a counterbalance. |    | 8 | 53.33% |
| Allow a few second language options and adjust Bill 101 as needed as a counter-balance |    | 7 | 46.67% |
| Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll | |||
Council Member
Posts: 1,571 
Location: Changchun, China
Location: Changchun, China
January 14th, 2006, 11:46 PM
But Shiva. The kind of trilingualism you're talking about there is one in which two trilinguals mignt speak six languages among them! It's not the kind of bilinbualism/trilingualism/plurilingualism of which I was thinking (though that's my fault for not explaining clearly). Their motivation for learning two or three languages has to do with survival motivation. To achieve the same in Quebec, we'd need to adopt a policy which would actively promote language chaos just to get people to learn three languages and still not be able to communicate with another trilingual Quebecois. I don't think that would be desirable.
From that standpoint, I still think one common language plus diverse second languages would be the ideal. That way, they could have the best of all worlds (i.e., still be able to communicate with all Quebecois, learn a second language, and not have the French language threatened as a result of their second language, since it would not be a common second language, with only one common language, French, for all Quebec).
But Shiva. The kind of trilingualism you're talking about there is one in which two trilinguals mignt speak six languages among them! It's not the kind of bilinbualism/trilingualism/plurilingualism of which I was thinking (though that's my fault for not explaining clearly). Their motivation for learning two or three languages has to do with survival motivation. To achieve the same in Quebec, we'd need to adopt a policy which would actively promote language chaos just to get people to learn three languages and still not be able to communicate with another trilingual Quebecois. I don't think that would be desirable.
From that standpoint, I still think one common language plus diverse second languages would be the ideal. That way, they could have the best of all worlds (i.e., still be able to communicate with all Quebecois, learn a second language, and not have the French language threatened as a result of their second language, since it would not be a common second language, with only one common language, French, for all Quebec).
Member
Posts: 79
Location: Atlantic
Location: Atlantic
May 3rd, 2006, 08:53 AM
I live on both sides of the border, and I read what you are all saying and I can't believe that Quebec is a part of the Democratic Industrialized world.
Let me ask all of you something. If France is so much smaller than Quebec, surrounded by people speaking English, Spanish, Italian, German and Flemish, WHY DOES MOTHER FRANCE NOT PERCIEVE A THREAT TO IT'S CULTURE?
I have people in Quebec complaining to me that they don't get any tourists from the States and they ask me why. I tell them what people tell me in the States; "I went and I couldn't communicate with anybody outside of the hotel. They were rude to me in the bank and the restaurants. To hell with it!" Isn't that sad?
If I want to work in Quebec, I have to learn French. Why would anyone want to limit their career opportunities for a lifetime, by being limited to being able to work on only one spot? Quebec has it's own professional glass ceiling that prevents people from getting better work in their fields in other Provinces, and other Countries. English may be required, but how many people actually learn it and retain the skill?
Any Francophone with a higher education must learn English to survive in the business world, because sorry folks, Quebec may be 4X bigger than Texas, but in the scope of the world, it's a drop in the bucket. Don't you want Quebec to grow and prosper? Well, if you don't speak German, Russian, Polish or Italian, the common language of the international business community is English. It's not by design, or a conspiracy against French Culture, it was evolution.
People who learned French outside of Canada complain that they can hardly understand the Quebecoise. It's not a useful language to invest the time to learn unless you live in Eastern Canada.
What happened to the Canadian concept of "We're all in this together as neighbours, so we all have to pull together."? Nobody wants to see Quebec fail. If Quebec fails, all of Canada fails. If you saw the outside world encroaching on you the way it really is, the Anglophone and Separatist Francophone would grab each other and hang on for dear life.
Roger.
I live on both sides of the border, and I read what you are all saying and I can't believe that Quebec is a part of the Democratic Industrialized world.
Let me ask all of you something. If France is so much smaller than Quebec, surrounded by people speaking English, Spanish, Italian, German and Flemish, WHY DOES MOTHER FRANCE NOT PERCIEVE A THREAT TO IT'S CULTURE?
I have people in Quebec complaining to me that they don't get any tourists from the States and they ask me why. I tell them what people tell me in the States; "I went and I couldn't communicate with anybody outside of the hotel. They were rude to me in the bank and the restaurants. To hell with it!" Isn't that sad?
If I want to work in Quebec, I have to learn French. Why would anyone want to limit their career opportunities for a lifetime, by being limited to being able to work on only one spot? Quebec has it's own professional glass ceiling that prevents people from getting better work in their fields in other Provinces, and other Countries. English may be required, but how many people actually learn it and retain the skill?
Any Francophone with a higher education must learn English to survive in the business world, because sorry folks, Quebec may be 4X bigger than Texas, but in the scope of the world, it's a drop in the bucket. Don't you want Quebec to grow and prosper? Well, if you don't speak German, Russian, Polish or Italian, the common language of the international business community is English. It's not by design, or a conspiracy against French Culture, it was evolution.
People who learned French outside of Canada complain that they can hardly understand the Quebecoise. It's not a useful language to invest the time to learn unless you live in Eastern Canada.
What happened to the Canadian concept of "We're all in this together as neighbours, so we all have to pull together."? Nobody wants to see Quebec fail. If Quebec fails, all of Canada fails. If you saw the outside world encroaching on you the way it really is, the Anglophone and Separatist Francophone would grab each other and hang on for dear life.
Roger.
