Topaz Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 WOW! I thought if you worked for the Feds you had to speak French and English and the DND is Federal. Maybe they could teach French to the Taliban and al Quaida and then we could communicate peace! http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/firm+tea...8748/story.html Quote
Wild Bill Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 WOW! I thought if you worked for the Feds you had to speak French and English and the DND is Federal. Maybe they could teach French to the Taliban and al Quaida and then we could communicate peace! http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/firm+tea...8748/story.html Same old, same old. I'm not that upset on the idea of using a local firm to teach our soldiers in Colorado. Why pay to fly in Canadian teachers? However, I AM upset that a US firm is likely to be teaching them European French! I have eternally regretted that this Anglo was taught in school to sound like a European rather than given Canadian French. Later in life I worked remotely for a sales office in Pointe Claire. When I spoke to them in my schoolboy French I sounded to them as if they spoke English to me by imitating Winston Churchill! I've never been given a good explanation as to why this is so, or how such a thing was good for Canadian unity! It's as if at the official levels everyone is ashamed of a French-Canadian accent. I've always found that French Canadians tend to be friendly folks who know how to party! On the other hand, I've found many European French to be rather snobby. I don't get enough opportunity anymore to speak with Canadian francophones and improve my Canadian French. I guess I'll be cursed to sound like a foreigner forever when I speak la belle langue. Quote "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." -- George Bernard Shaw "There is no point in being difficult when, with a little extra effort, you can be completely impossible."
M.Dancer Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 plans to hire a U.S. company to give French lessons to Canadian Forces personnel stationed in Colorado Would you rather a Canadian compnay be paid to travel to Colorado and have their airfares and hotel expenses paid for by Ottawa? Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
M.Dancer Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 However, I AM upset that a US firm is likely to be teaching them European French! Other than accent and colloquialisms, there's no difference. Think of it like the French Government paying Newfoundlanders to teach them English. Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
Wild Bill Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 Other than accent and colloquialisms, there's no difference.Think of it like the French Government paying Newfoundlanders to teach them English. Yet it's the accent and colloquialisms that make it Canadian! I feel no connection at all to France. Les Quebecois are my fellow citizens. If I'm going to speak French, why shouldn't I sound like a fellow Canadien instead of a foreigner? Quote "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." -- George Bernard Shaw "There is no point in being difficult when, with a little extra effort, you can be completely impossible."
M.Dancer Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 If I'm going to speak French, why shouldn't I sound like a fellow Canadien instead of a foreigner? Trust me, I'm from Montreal, learned french in school and on the street and I don't sound like a Canadien so there's little chance someone from Kamloops will sound like they're from Lachine.Best you can hope for is they sound like they are from Hampstead. Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
Guest TrueMetis Posted September 30, 2009 Report Posted September 30, 2009 Yet it's the accent and colloquialisms that make it Canadian! I feel no connection at all to France. Les Quebecois are my fellow citizens. If I'm going to speak French, why shouldn't I sound like a fellow Canadien instead of a foreigner? Agreed Canadians should learn Canadian French not France French. Quote
Army Guy Posted October 2, 2009 Report Posted October 2, 2009 Guys....it's really not such a big deal...Colorado is home to NORAD HQ's you know the big bomb shelter....anyways the contract set in place so a few hundrd at most can still carry out thier french training while posted there....not all the few hundrd are taking french maybe a dozen or so at anyone given time....Still think it's worth the money to fly down instructors from quebec, and the end qustion would be will these people be able to talk french to any french speaking person in the world ...yes, including Quebec....i think so....Atleast DND is trying to comply with our language requirements.... Quote We, the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have now done so much for so long with so little, we are now capable of doing anything with nothing.
Argus Posted October 2, 2009 Report Posted October 2, 2009 However, I AM upset that a US firm is likely to be teaching them European French! I have eternally regretted that this Anglo was taught in school to sound like a European rather than given Canadian French. When I took French in college, I had a variety of teachers. I think maybe 1 of them was from Quebec. Mosf of the others were from France, Algeria, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. Our books were printed in France. When the feds started offering us some French we went to a variety of local companies, and every book I ever saw was printed in France. Now the company our agency has a contact with (absolutely awful people) come to our buildings, and again, the books are printed in France. I have never seen a French book - that is, for teaching French to Anglos - printed in Canada. Quote "A liberal is someone who claims to be open to all points of view — and then is surprised and offended to find there are other points of view.” William F Buckley
M.Dancer Posted October 2, 2009 Report Posted October 2, 2009 I have never seen a French book - that is, for teaching French to Anglos - printed in Canada. My daughter's are. Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
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