I am Canadian

[Canada]

I Been on here as a guest for a bit now and have decided to comment on some miss information about french in canada.

I am english and have lived in canada all my life. next with all your information on how french is ruining canadian society there is something you should realize:

first- "the national anthem was first written in 1880 by Calixa Lavallée a well known french composer and was made for "Congrès national des Canadiens-Français" the lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier in french. The first english version or in this case the ****ized version didn't come until 1901 and was revised again in english in 1908 and has been changed in english through the years further ****izing it. "

second - "Canada was first colonized by the french and was called new france in Nova Scotia at port royal."

Thirdly - " the english speaking language is only spoken by 59.3% of all canadians followed by french at 23.2 and other at 17.5 not a very big majority if you ask me."

and another bit of information you should find interesting

1867 Section 133 of the British North American Act (now the Constitution Act) permits the use of either English or French in the debates of Parliament as well as in the proceedings before the federal courts. This section also provides that both languages must be used in the records and journals of Parliament, and that its laws must be enacted and published in both languages.

Just an FYI of some of the facts
I made a new thread of this because the french situation has nothing to do with the current illegal immigrant situation in the United States

 

[Guest]

first- "the national anthem was first written in 1880 by Calixa Lavallée a well known french composer and was made for "Congrès national des Canadiens-Français" the lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier in french. The first english version or in this case the ****ized version didn't come until 1901 and was revised again in english in 1908 and has been changed in english through the years further ****izing it. "

I am very much aware of that little tidbit of information. If anyone with cable has not watched this "Heritage Moment" then they haven't been paying attention. As a further bit of information:
A version written by lawyer and (at the time) Recorder of the City of Montréal Robert Stanley Weir in 1908 gained the most notoriety. It was published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927 and became the accepted version in English-speaking Canada.

On Canada Day July 1, 1980, at a public ceremony held at noon on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the Governor General, His Excellency the Right Honorable Edward Schreyer, proclaimed 'O Canada' as the official symbol of the nation.

Thousands of Canadians attended the ceremony. On the official platform with the Governor General were descendents of both Weir and Routhier, as well as the successor of Robitaille, the Honourable Jean-Pierre Côté

second - "Canada was first colonized by the french and was called new france in Nova Scotia at port royal."

Canada was first settled by the North American Indians.

Thirdly - " the english speaking language is only spoken by 59.3% of all canadians followed by french at 23.2 and other at 17.5 not a very big majority if you ask me."

Right so why the hell do the English who are the majority have to speak French?

1867 Section 133 of the British North American Act (now the Constitution Act) permits the use of either English or French in the debates of Parliament as well as in the proceedings before the federal courts. This section also provides that both languages must be used in the records and journals of Parliament, and that its laws must be enacted and published in both languages.

I'll get back to you on this one!
But, first and foremost the French around here don’t know the first thing about speaking the proper French. Shall we say “educated†French is out of their league.. They spew out chiac!

What is chiac? Well, the word chiac has two meanings, both of which refer to particular vocabulary, accent, sentence structures and idioms spoken byAcadian French inhabitants of south-east New Brunswick, Canada.

The word itself is generally considered a derivation of the name "Shediac," a town in the area. Some have also suggested that it is a derivative of the French word chier, meaning "to ****". (I agree!)

Chiac is a mixture of Acadian French (which includes words from Old French) and English. Chiac uses primarily French syntax with French-English vocabulary and phrase forms It is often deprecated by both French and English speakers as an impure hybrid — either "bad" French or "bad" English. For example:

J'vas parker mon châr. (I'm going to park my car.)

J'schwimmais dans l'ocean et j'tais right soak-an-wet. (I swam in the ocean and got soaking wet.) Like duh!! No joke, Einstein!! Imagine getting wet swimming in the ocean! Helloo!

Just an FYI of some of the facts
I made a new thread of this because the french situation has nothing to do with the current illegal immigrant situation in the United States

[/quote]
Good Idea!

 

[Black Mage]

Canada, QFT man, kudos.

 

[Nightshade200]

That is the worst french I have seen in my life, Anglo, and I am a pretty bad french student.

 

[Canada]

you just restated my fact about the enthem only you expanded with more detail and further proving that our current ENGLISH anthem is a ****ized version of the french and in response to the english version of 1908 it is not even close to the curent model we have today it's lyrics are :

O Canada! in praise of thee we sing;
From echoing hills our anthems proudly ring.
With fertile plains and mountains grand
With lakes and rivers clear,
Eternal beauty, thos dost stand
Throughout the changing year.
Lord God of Hosts! We now implore
Bless our dear land this day and evermore,
Bless our dear land this day and evermore.

About the North American Indians thing I was hoping you would say that in actuality it was the inuits who were the earliest known settlers to have populated this continent having crossed over via the ice bridge from russia or so modern studies and conjecture would have it. Oh and incase it is brought up i do Know that the norse people as well settled but didn't stay.

I have seen your other arguement on another thread about the supposed shiac of the region. Whether it is proper french or not is not for us english to decide. Next I find it hard to believe that you speak the same english as everyone else in the world let's face it when you break it down we are no where's near proper english. In this country alone let's take a pureblooded newfoundlander and have him talk to someone in Ontario or someone from in new brunswick and put them with someone out in British columbia there will be differences in their english. Your language, accents and phrases are influenced by the society around you.

a French only person in todays society has no more advantages than an english only person it is the bilinguals that have the advantage as well they should because they took the time to learn both languages. In fact unles you are in Quebec there is major downfalls in our society for people who speak only french in an officially bilingual country.

 

[Guest]

The guy didn't have the copy rights on the music or the lyrics so it was fair game, right? Secondly like George Bush so eloquently put it in referring to the illegal Mexicans in the country "If they want to live here then they must learn English!". No Frenchman opposed the adoption of the ENGLISH "O' Canada" and God only knows the bloody french were kicking up their heels in 1980 as a matter of fact they had been warring with the English back in the '60's with their FLQ bull crap in Quebec. So if they had wanted to they could easily have laid claim to "their" music at that time. Too late now.

AS for the proper English, I dare say I feel I have an excellent command of the Queen's English!

 

[Canada]

But the point of the matter was that it was claimed that our anthem was ****ized. I was only pointing it out that the English here in Canada were the ones to have ****ized the anthem. I agree with Bushes statement if you wanted to live in the United States learn english **** right but here in canada thanks to the bit I pointed out if you want to live here you either learn french or english it is in our consitutions act.
And not to sound contrary you don't speak the queens own english
if i was to say these items without you looking it up do you know what they mean and what context they are for.
I was surprised when I found out :
Cashpoint
Tarmac
Dialing code
starter
aerial
Avocado (this one will surprise you)
Medium Wave
Pram or Perambulator
Jacket Potatoe
Biro
Sticking Plaster
fringe

These are just some examples of terms in England right now and i daresay without looking them up I dare you to post what they mean in American/canadian english in this forum.

 

[Black Mage]

I'm just gonna go with what I think I know.
Cashpoint - I'm gonna guess something like a teller, where you pay for stuff.
Tarmac - Large asphalt surface, usually an airplane runway.
Dialing code - Area code, phone number
Starter - no clue. The only thing i can think of would be say, a car starter
Aerial - Well, there's aerial photos, as in from the air. I believe that might also be the spelling for a radio aerial.
Avocado - not a clue outside an acutual avocado.
Medium wave - mmm, good one. Radio?
Pram or Perambulator - My guess would be a train or subway.
Jacket Potatoe - not a clue
Biro - nope, no clue
Sticking Plaster - mmm, bandaid?
Fringe - on the outside edge of. that's all i can think of.

 

[Canada]

You have a couple right will post answers soon. Good Job

 

[Guest]

Cashpoint our version of an ATM

Tarmac – having grown up near an airport this one is simple – the paved surface on an air field.


Dialing code – the numbers used to dial for example I have often called London,England. From where I am located I dial 011 44 20 and then the number. Your first 3 numbers are your international prefix, your second 2 numbers are used for the London area and your last 2 numbers are used to dial London. The rest of the telephone number I am afraid I do not wish to share here!


Starter – not too sure. There is a starter pitcher in baseball; there is a starter motor and if I am going to list examples about something I may say “for starters…†meaning to begin with this, this and this etc.


Aerial – I think of an antenna for example the TV aerial or a radio aerial like the one that the neighbor has attached to his home because he is a CBer and long distance trucker.

Avocado (this one will surprise you) surprise it is a fruit.


Medium Wave – got me there


Pram or Perambulator – again easy; my sister had a pram for her first born. It is the British term for a baby carriage.


Jacket Potatoe – eaten it many times! Love mine with sour cream and bacon bits. Does baked potato seem more familiar? PS. Your “pototoe†is misspelled!


Biro – nope although I have a sneaky suspicion it has something to do with a ball point pen company.


Sticking Plaster – grew up around medical professionals – adhesive tape.


Fringe – Tom Cruise’s new baby “Surrey†with a fringe on top! LOL Aw yes Oklahoma! Alfred Drake sang this popular Rodgers and Hammerstein’s magnificent number in “Oklahoma†a wonderful musical that brings back fond memories of group singing at one of the local Irish bars in Oakland!

Canada, no offense but I don't believe that not speaking French is going to have any bearing on what position you current hold or will hold in the future.

 

[Canada]

Cashpoint -- atm
Tarmac - asphalt
Dialing code - area code
starter - appetizer
aerial - antenna
Avocado (this one will surprise you) --- alligator
Medium Wave -- am radio
Pram or Perambulator - stroller
Jacket Potatoe -- baked potatoe
Biro - ball point pen
Sticking Plaster - band aid
fringe -- a persons bangs

none taken and no offense whether you do or not speak shiac or any other form of french will not have any bearing on what position you currently hold or will hold in the future.

 

[Guest]

none taken and no offense whether you do or not speak shiac or any other form of french will not have any bearing on what position you currently hold or will hold in the future.

It is apparent that you are out of the realm of reality when it comes to employment opportunities in the New Brunswick area. It is also obvious that the job positions that you will aspire to will more likely than not require you to not even speak let alone spell correctly.

Being out of the mainstream of "educated" employment would naturally lead you to believe that being bilingual is not a necessity to hold a white collar position in the Maritimes. It is understandable that you would be ill informed regarding policy and procedure regarding hiring practices and you are not being held in fault for your misinformation.

I might suggest that you perhaps check on a variety of employment opportunities available for those currently holding university degrees, however, it would be an exercise in futility, so can that idea. I will suggest that you investigate your information regarding the French-English issue in Canada especially in and around the Maritimes before you falsely report that language has no bearing on hiring practices here.

And just as a side note there is an excellent spell check on this site. All it takes is one click of the mouse!

 

[Canada]

Wow I must have struck a nerve with you with what you quoted. Might as well have not said no offense. You like to side step the arguments and attack me personally instead of actually coming up with valid points to my arguments. Please if you want to attack my spelling and grammar take it to pet peeves or start a new thread. I thank you for the personal attacks and prefer not to respond in kind.

Now lets look at your current statements.

My career does make me have to talk with quite a Lot of people from all over the world ( thank you for your assumption that I could not have aspired to be an educated Professional within this fine province or country).

We now seem to be straying from factual information.
So just to bring more facts into play the unemployment rate in Canada for last quarter fell by a percent so there must be jobs out there for English people considering that 59% of Canadians are English.

So I just looked at the current job bank a lot of the jobs request for someone to speak French and English some say must but no where does it say you have to be ethnic French. So under this assumption if an English person who spoke French applied they may (if qualified) get the position.

I beat out lots of bilingual people for my current job by my skills, experience and education.

I must know what position do you currently hold in New Brunswick.

or Maybe you are so bitter towards French people because one now has your job or one that you had applied for.

People create heir own opportunities

 

[Canada]

sorry had to edit your wonderful spell checker deleted half my post or maybe it didn't like my spelling either.

 

[Guest]

Might as well have not said no offense. You like to side step the arguments and attack me personally instead of actually coming up with valid points to my arguments.

Just what argument are you referring to specifically. It seems I did answer you questions. I must admit I didn't see your add on from last night but I believe I addressed your issues and answered correctly your little quiz.

Please if you want to attack my spelling and grammar take it to pet peeves or start a new thread.

Not attacking your spelling, Canada, just pointing out that the site does have a spell check.

I thank you for the personal attacks

Don't mention it, my pleasure; not a problem.

My career does make me have to talk with quite a Lot of people from all over the world ( thank you for your assumption that I could not have aspired to be an educated Professional within this fine province or country).

:D

So just to bring more facts into play the unemployment rate in Canada for last quarter fell by a percent so there must be jobs out there for English people considering that 59% of Canadians are English.

Are you aware that when unemployment benefits run out those who still do not acquire a job are not counted in the stats for those unemployed? So if the unemployment rate fell was it because these people are now collecting welfare?

no where does it say you have to be ethnic French. So under this assumption if an English person who spoke French applied they may (if qualified) get the position.

Never said you have to be ethnic French now did I? I said unless you SPEAK FRENCH then forget about furthering your career in NB.

I beat out lots of bilingual people for my current job by my skills, experience and education

. And you don't speak French? Sounds like a call center position.

I must know what position do you currently hold in New Brunswick

.
Seeing as there is no question mark, I am not sure - are you asking my profession?

or Maybe you are so bitter towards French people because one now has your job or one that you had applied for

.


Today, no Frenchman has my job, no Frenchman could do my job and no French has taken any job I may have had. Bitter toward the French? No; disgusted at the Province and the Nation selling out to the French? No question about it!

People create heir own opportunities

And I most definitely have created mine. Perhaps I should thank the French for that.:applaus: They certainly are motivators!:eusa_ange

 

[Canada]

working in a call center in some cases can be a great career and currently is what New Brunswick seems to be concentrating on bringing to the province.

I have done call center Work both outbound and inbound and it definitly can be a challenging role and fullfilling, I do not work in a call center now. I work as a professional with a Bachelors degree that even though all the educated bilingual people out there have all the advantages. I was able to find a position in my field. I refer to them as bilinguals not french people because lets face it most french people know english or at least enough to get by.

Against your arguement about them all heading to welfare: overall the jobs available in canada increased by 51000 new jobs.

I find it funny that you claim canada is going to hell because of the french and then claim you are not bitter towards them or against canada for selling out. WHich is hard for canada to do when before canada was even formed they adopted a bilingual stance. Plus once we became our own country adopted the same principals as our forefathers.

So if no one can fill that job what does it happen to be? notice the question mark this time.
Yes we should all thank the French for helping to motivate you and others as well. People could learn from them. They have fought for what is guaranteed them from the start and are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

 

[Guest]

Original posted by ANGLOIRISH

Bitter toward the French? No; disgusted at the Province and the Nation selling out to the French? No question about it!

You sayriginally posted by Canada:

I find it funny that you claim canada is going to hell because of the french and then claim you are not bitter towards them or against canada for selling out.

I have been disgusted with Canada for several decades. I never envisioned that the Government would sell out the English. The numbers of young University educated people who have had to leave the Province and the Country to seek employment because they were unable to obtain employment in their field is staggering. Those who do not speak French don't stand a chance.

Canada reports:

lets face it most french people know english or at least enough to get by.

Give your head a shake. Just yesterday I walked into the take out section of a popular local restaurant because I felt like "chicken, tonight!" HA! The young man behind the counter who was French said he would be right with me since he was filling someone's order. I have dealt with him before and he is an excellent worker. At that moment a young girl came to the counter and asked me in French if she could take my order. (I don't speak the language, however, I understand most of it.) I told her in English. She turned to the young man and asked him in French what I just said. He told her in French and I said "Never mind" and left. Now tell me that even in the fast food industry that the French are not pushing out English jobs. This girl couldn't speak ENGLISH for God's sake.

Canada states:

Against your arguement about them all heading to welfare: overall the jobs available in canada increased by 51000 new jobs.

Since you love numbers, how about posting the number of new jobs in the Maritimes?

My position: I freelance in the media. You may have seen me on TV, heard me on the radio, read my articles in the newspaper or attended my author signing at Chapters or Cole's Bookstore. (I believe Cole's is now closed in the local area, however.) I am a writer and an author. I was educated in the United States and I have a double major - Science and Criminology.

As for the French fighting for what is rightfully theirs, no they are fighting not to work along side the English; they are working toward eliminating the English language. Check the book by JV Andrew "Bilingual Today; French Tomorrow".

 

[GoingNova]

A Candian Fight Eh! How did I miss this one! :laughing7

Welcome to the site Canada. :toothy10:

 

[Guest]

I don't know if I would call it a fight, Nova. I am merely addressing an issue that yet another ill-informed monolingual Canadian ( at least I assume from his or her comments that he/she is not bilingual) is in total denial and refusing to accept the gravity of the French situation in Canada.

 

[melba toast]

For reasons that Anglo has stated,many people have left the Maritimes.They stand a better chance at a job.It's a **** shame,considering how beautiful it is there.