The Great Canadian Practice your French Thread

[FrAnKs]

Sure it could be educational aswell ! .. Sorry I need to go now , but I can answer to any other questions just like Rousseau did.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by rousseau

2. In some sort of clothing shop. It's not too busy. My wife is trying things on. I'm standing there waiting like a good husband. A shop attendant looks bored.

Me: Not very busy today.
Her: No.
Me: So are you Montreal born and raised?
Her: No, I'm from Saguenay originally.
Me: What brought you to the big city?
Her: Adventure. Excitement. An old boyfriend who is now in jail.
Me: Miss him?
Her: No, he was a jerk.
Me: He must have been if he treated you wrongly.

Me: Assez tranquille aujourd'hui (you could also say "pas très occupé aujourd'hui" but the shop attendant would think you are refering to him not being busy while you are refering to the day in general)
Her: Oui
Me: Viens-tu de Montréal? (You can't really say "Es-tu né et élevé à Montréal?", the word "élevé/raised" in French is more commonly used by old people)
Her: Non, je viens de Saguenay
Me: Qu'est-ce qui t'as emmené dans la grande ville?
Her: L'aventure, le dépaysement (excitation would not work here). Un ancien copain/chum qui est maintenant en prison.
Me: Il te manque?
Her: Non, c'était un imbécile
Me: Il devait l'être s'il t'as maltraitée

[rousseau]

Fantastic, thanks very much for the replies! I know for me, personally, I've never learned languages well in a structured setting like a classroom, but much prefer overhearing conversations in public in order to get a handle on what people actually say. A forum like this where you can ask questions or request translations is the next best thing.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

Ok I'll give it a shot for one of them. Keep in mind, this is not intended to be "French class assignment" quality, but rather how a very informal conversation (with some slang) might go between native speakers (which is what I think you were getting at)

Me: Nice day! ................... Belle journée!
Him/her: Sure is.................Met s'en
Me: Long ride? ..................Tu vas loin aujourd'hui? (or "vous allez" if the other person is much older than you)
Him/her: About 50 km........ environ 50 km
Me: Nice!.......................... Ah, c'est bien ça......or simply: Cool!
Him/her: You?...................Et toi?
Me: About the same............ À peu près la même chose
Him/her: See ya.................Salut

Can you explain "met s'en" a little? While I understand that you've given it as the equivalent of "sure is," I don't quite get the reasoning behind it.

[le calmar]

Mets-en is a Quebec-only (and NB, Eastern Ontario too I guess) expression. You can't say that in France, people will give you the weird look since, litteraly speaking, it means nothing. (give me some? put some in?) You can say it with friends or people you are comfortable with, but it is not exactly "polite". You can say mets-en when you totally agree with the person you are talking to, but I would suggest something more formal like "en effet" or "effectivement".

[1ajs]

another issue hows one properly pronounce any of this stuff

[jd3189]

Is Canadian French any different from French spoken in France? I'm learning about the latter in my class so knowing differences would be nice. Il y a un stylo.

[cormiermax]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Is Canadian French any different from French spoken in France? I'm learning about the latter in my class so knowing differences would be nice. Il y a un stylo.

Both are much different, there are even wide verities within Canadian French.

[isaidso]

Is most of the stuff being taught on here 'academic' French or what one would hear on the street in Montreal?

[Copes]

I did two french courses at University. A requirement for one of my degrees. I have to say, the way languages were taught at MUN (and I'm assuming other Universities as well, but I have no experience in that area) was god awful. It just wasn't effective, and I learned far less than I think I would elsewhere. To start, about 90% of your grade in a basic French course is based on how well you write, yet in my opinion, basic communication will be about how well you can hold your own in a conversation. I did far better in any verbal tests, able to describe what I was trying to say, than I ever did in a written test. Plus, getting a single letter wrong resulted in the whole sentence being incorrect. Very frustrating. I'd love to learn french, but not like that.

Having just gotten back from Montreal this weekend, I really do want to learn our second language. It was very neat seeing people effortlessly shift between French and English. My girlfriend spoke french far better than me, and acted a bit like a translator when announcements were on, or we were eavesdropping, or when there was a long posted french message. Made me jealous.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Is Canadian French any different from French spoken in France? I'm learning about the latter in my class so knowing differences would be nice. Il y a un stylo.

Think of English in Texas vs. English in England.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Is most of the stuff being taught on here 'academic' French or what one would hear on the street in Montreal?

Pretty much everything that has been typed here except for "mets-en" would work anywhere in the world where people speak French.

Originally Posted by isaidso

or what one would hear on the street in Montreal??

What you hear on the streets of Montreal these days is a mish mash of styles of French anyway, from working class French Canadians who speak joual to highly educated French Canadians who speak "Radio-Canada" French, local anglos who speak more rigid textbook-style French, immigrants from France who speak Parisian French, immigrants from Africa who speak international French with their own accents, immigrants from the Middle East who do the same.

Everybody ends up understanding one another and the various styles all rub off on the others a bit, but there is no *single* Montreal French these days.

[sonysnob]

J'ai pris un cours de français au travail l'année dernière. Alors que je prenais français à l'école secondaire, je suis loin de parler couramment. Au travail, mon professeur de français étaient originaires d'Afrique. Pour moi, c'était dur apprentissage le français de quelqu'un avec un accent africain.

[1ajs]

http://www.french.hku.hk/starters/malet/chap1.htm << hmm minus well make some use of my current extra time?



now i remember why i had such a hard time sigh

[vid]

I remember when learning French in school, we'd occasionally get the, "but in Quebec, they would say...", follow by the "wait, we're not learning Canadian French?"

Originally Posted by 1ajs

http://www.french.hku.hk/starters/malet/chap1.htm << hmm minus well make some use of my current extra time?



now i remember why i had such a hard time sigh

Might as well finish learning English first. French writing always pissed me off because there are apostrophes and hyphens everywhere. I always remembered how to spell "qu'est-ce que c'est" by saying "cue est sea, kay see est". Although now I know it as well as I know to spell the word "accomplices".

They always said "sometimes French words have silent e" but didn't define the purpose. Basically, if there is no e, you typically don't pronounce the final consonant; if there is an e, you pronounce the final consonant but not the e. Petit is "peh tee", petite is "peh teet". They never explained it like that in school. They just treated it the way we treat English, "some words are fucked up, here is how every thing is, remember it". It is weird because they treat every other aspect of the language like it's math.

[1ajs]

i had a teacher from france that refused to speak any english during class to anyone from g3 to 6 i didn't learn squat i just sat there confused while people through stuff at my head

[SignalHillHiker]

Ce soir, ma mere a visiter moi et ons parler au sujet d'election au Quebec. Ma mere j'aime beaucoup Montreal. C'est sa ville deuxieme favorite, seulement apres NYC. Elle a dit:

"J'espere que Quebec veut etre libre seulement parce-que JE SAIS Air Canada ne peut pas demandez plus gros <<price>> pour allez aux Montreal et je peut allez beaucoup d'autre fois. **** Air Canada, la!"

[vid]

"Ma mere j'aime beaucoup Montreal."

Haha. I once wrote in French class, I think in grade 2 or 3, "J'aime manger mon maman". Poor French teacher couldn't hold in her laugh.

[JHikka]

I can speak french in person but can't really type or write it out.

[flar]

^^Pour moi, c'est le contraire.