Quebec's websites more sensitive to languages?

[Machjo]

"I'd say this is an excellent question. No one can be forced to learn something unless they want to, so i guess a native language would have to appeal to a certain population for them to wish to learn it. I am not aware of any native canadian language that will provide some kind of international advantage which would justify the effort."

Or in that case, what about guaranteeing the freedom of any Canadian citizen who should wish to study a local indigenous language above and beyond all other laws (e.g., even Bill 101 couldn't prohibit a Quebec anglophone to choose, let's say, Cree over French).

I know most canadians wouldn't choose that option anyway. But wouldn't guaranteeing that freedom in law be a step in the right direction, even if it is mostly symbolic with limited substantial effect? After all, sometimes even symbolism can be very powerful.

Your thoughts on that?

 

[Huck]

Re: RE: Quebec's websites more sensitive to languages?

Sadly, learning chinese is currently requesting all me brain power

你在学中文吗?

sadly, im not learning chinese characters yet, only pinyin for now. every man has his limits 8)


wo3 tai4 xi3huan1 zhong1guo2!!

 

[Huck]

Machjo, im not sure i understand what you mean by giving freedom from law. If you refer to the bill 101, it is only valid for english and french. If a native wishes to display in cree only, i dont think he will have any legal problems. Of course, if 80% of the province begins to display incree, the law might change.

 

[McDonald]

I can see this happening in Texas, where I have been living for the last three years. A significant minority here speaks Spanish. Many of them are immigrants, but many of them are native Tejanos (Hispanic Texans). Many things are bilingual... government documents, voting ballots, signs, etc... But the Anglophones here reject it point blank. According to them, this is America and our language is English, plain and simple. But what they don't understand is that English is not simple at all for a middle-aged Mexican to learn. They get annoyed (and sometimes angry) when they hear Spanish being spoken. I expect that pretty soon there will be legislation enacted that will make English the official language here. As more SPanish encroaches, the Anglo-Texans will become just as frightened as the Québécois are about their culture.

As far as Quebec... I come from a family of Anglo-Quebeckers, I intend for English to remain my most used language in the home... but I love French and don't mind using it in public. It's a French-speaking province... that's that.

 

[Machjo]

Re: RE: Quebec's websites more sensitive to languages?

Sadly, learning chinese is currently requesting all me brain power

你在学中文吗?

sadly, im not learning chinese characters yet, only pinyin for now. every man has his limits 8)


wo3 tai4 xi3huan1 zhong1guo2!!

Weishenme ne? 为什么呢?

 

[Huck]

oh! dui4puChi3, wo3 yao4 shuo1 le: wo3 xi3huan1 Zhong1wen2 (han4yu3). Ye3 xi4huan1 Zhong1guo2. Wo3 zai4 Zhong1guo2 yao4 qu4. Wo3 pu4 zhi1dao4 shen2me shi hou.



i repespect china a lot as i admire their history and their phenomenal growth. The more i learn chinese, the more i understand that the way the words are built is very poetic (very imaged language). (for example movie '电影' which is 'electric shadow'. Many words like this i simply find superb in their construction).

I also have many chinese friends, with which i get along very well.

It's just sad for the communism part...


Anyhow, i respect the chinese a lot, very smart and capable people, at the image of their history...

Edit: Visiting china is clearly on my list of things to do...

 

[Machjo]

"dui4puChi3, wo3 yao4 shuo1 le: wo3 xi3huan1 Zhong1wen2 (han4yu3). Ye3 xi4huan1 Zhong1guo2. Wo3 zai4 Zhong1guo2 yao4 qu4. Wo3 pu4 zhi1dao4 shen2me shi hou. "

Hmmm... Your Pinyin reveals a pronunciation other than Putonghua; although it is very close since I can understand it no problem. It seems that the dialect you are learning uses lacks the "b" sound and thus replaces it with "b", the "q" with "ch" at times, and "r" with "w". From what part of China do your Chinese friends come?

 

[Huck]

hehe, i am in fact learning Putonghua. The differences were actually mistakes of my part. For example, i should have wrote: Dui4buqi3.

hehe, ive only been learning for a few weeks nad i wrote the words above from memory, not using my text books. Hence the fewr mistakes. But, im taking chinese very seriously and learning very fast. i expect to be able to talk basic, but fluent chinese in about 6 months. Tai4 hao3 le!!



NB: Once i begin feeling confortable with spoken chinese (the hardest being to hear the tones from native chinese speakers), i will begin learning hanzi.

 

[Machjo]

Excellent.