[david henman]

....so far, no one has been able to find two people who can agree on a definition, no matter what side of the debate they support.

in order to qualify, i believe you should have to have a hyphenated name.

:tongue:

-dh

 

[Coustfan'01]

I never heard the word " hyphenated" , and looked it up... What's the difference between a hyphen and a dash ?

I think a quebecois is someone who lives in quebec and speaks french . I don't think someone living in toronto and speaking only spanish is really a canadian either... You have to adapt do where you're living , in my opinion .

By the way , I'm not separatist or anything .

 

[Kamilla Go-Go]

Yeah, someone living in Quebec and speaks french... Maybe some people say that you don't have to speak french? (which is quite... incorrect in my opinion... if you want to continue to speak chinese, spanish, english or whatever as your first langage, what are you doing in Quebec!?)

Not separatist at all neither (does that sentence make sense?). I love Canada.

(By the way, I do have a dash in my name!!... Marie-Pier. Do I get a medal or something?? :tongue: (was it really the point of your last sentence? Oh, anyway... today isn't a good 'english day' for me...))

Anyway, what other definition people gave you?? :confused-smiley-010

 

[ne1roc]

Since I only speak english, does that mean you guys don't want me in Quebec? Even to visit?

 

[Kamilla Go-Go]

Hehe We'd be really glad to have you here in Quebec, I'd even make you a good apple pie (I love to cook). No, seriously, I don't think you would consider me as an Ontarian if I lived there since X years, and still not speak a bit of english... That would really suck, no? Same thing here. If you come to live in Quebec, adapt yourself, and speak french, since it's our langage. Seems logic to me...

For the visiting question, no problem at all with people only speaking english. Most people here understand it, so you can communicate fairly easily with them.

 

[Xanadu]

I never heard the word " hyphenated" , and looked it up... What's the difference between a hyphen and a dash ?

I think a quebecois is someone who lives in quebec and speaks french . I don't think someone living in toronto and speaking only spanish is really a canadian either... You have to adapt do where you're living , in my opinion .

By the way , I'm not separatist or anything .

a "dashated" name would just be stupid:tongue:

 

[ne1roc]

Hehe We'd be really glad to have you here in Quebec, I'd even make you a good apple pie (I love to cook). No, seriously, I don't think you would consider me as an Ontarian if I lived there since X years, and still not speak a bit of english... That would really suck, no? Same thing here. If you come to live in Quebec, adapt yourself, and speak french, since it's our langage. Seems logic to me...

For the visiting question, no problem at all with people only speaking english. Most people here understand it, so you can communicate fairly easily with them.

Apple pie!!! :banana:

 

[nine]

Since I only speak english, does that mean you guys don't want me in Quebec? Even to visit?

Not in Quebec City they don't. Haha. I've never been to a ruder place in Canada. They get pissy with you if you speak English (understandable) but also get pissy with you if you try to speak what little high-shool French you know (wtf is that??). It's too bad, because it's also the most beautiful city I've seen in Canada.

Montreal is another story though. People there are usually very nice, with the occasional jerk.

I've noticed that the press lately has been using the word "Quebecker" a lot. Not sure if I like that one. It looks ugly and a tad vulgar somehow. "Quebecois" is much nicer sounding.

 

[david henman]

Not in Quebec City they don't. Haha. I've never been to a ruder place in Canada. They get pissy with you if you speak English (understandable) but also get pissy with you if you try to speak what little high-shool French you know (wtf is that??). It's too bad, because it's also the most beautiful city I've seen in Canada.
Montreal is another story though. People there are usually very nice, with the occasional jerk.
I've noticed that the press lately has been using the word "Quebecker" a lot. Not sure if I like that one. It looks ugly and a tad vulgar somehow. "Quebecois" is much nicer sounding.

...i have rarely encountered rudeness in quebec (except the drivers, but that's another story entirely).

however, i think it is very, very important to respect the french language and culture. all it requires is a "bonjour", or a "merci". almost all "quebecers" appreciate and respond to this show of respect in kind. at least, that has been my experience.

i have a love affair with quebec and the french people that spans the sixteen years i spent there (1970-86). most of my family now resides there, and i have a grandkid who, at 2 1/2, is already fluently bilingual.

-dh

 

[Milkman]

Not in Quebec City they don't. Haha. I've never been to a ruder place in Canada. They get pissy with you if you speak English (understandable) but also get pissy with you if you try to speak what little high-shool French you know (wtf is that??). It's too bad, because it's also the most beautiful city I've seen in Canada.

Montreal is another story though. People there are usually very nice, with the occasional jerk.

I've noticed that the press lately has been using the word "Quebecker" a lot. Not sure if I like that one. It looks ugly and a tad vulgar somehow. "Quebecois" is much nicer sounding.

The funny thing about Quebec City is that if you show the slightest effort to speak a few French words, they'll meet you half way or better.

Most people who encounter "pi$$y" attitudes in any city or town in Quebec are the author of their own misfortune (they come with a negative attitude). That's no different with any culture.

When I travel abroad or to South America I make a point of learning some basics of the language there. Please, thank you, hello et cetera. It's a sign of respect. If you give it, you'll get it.

 

[nine]

Oh please. I am in no way some ugly tourist. Whether I'm at home or (especially) in another province or country I go out of my way to be courteous and polite to people. I try to live a life filled with holding doors and elevators and being generous with thanking people for helping me. And yet, the only place in the world I've consistently had people be curt and kind of mean to me for no reason is Quebec City. Whenever I'm in Quebec I'm forever trying to speak what little French I know, between constantly apologizing for not knowing more.

Sorry, but your theories on me are wrong. I didn't bring bad treatment on myself in any way.

 

[Milkman]

Oh please. I am in no way some ugly tourist. Whether I'm at home or (especially) in another province or country I go out of my way to be courteous and polite to people. I try to live a life filled with holding doors and elevators and being generous with thanking people for helping me. And yet, the only place in the world I've consistently had people be curt and kind of mean to me for no reason is Quebec City. Whenever I'm in Quebec I'm forever trying to speak what little French I know, between constantly apologizing for not knowing more.

Sorry, but your theories on me are wrong. I didn't bring bad treatment on myself in any way.

Well, if you say so. I can only tell you that I have visited Quebec City many times and have never had the negative experience you describe. Maybe it's a matter of perception. It's possible that people were completely rude to me and I didn't notice, LOL.

I go with a fondness for Quebec and am never disappointed.


Funny but I find Toronto to have more rudeness than any other city in Canada. It's becoming more like an American city all the time.

 

[nine]

Oh yeah, and here's an interesting observation I've made on my visits to Quebec. I get treated a lot better when people know my last name, because it's French (due to the fact that my dad's side of the family is French). Once people see or hear it, they open up a bit and start acting a little warmer. That always gets a giggle out of me but at the same time I find it kind of sad. Like all of a sudden, because I have a super french last name, I'm worthy of some respect.

I don't know. Maybe in my trips to Quebec City I encountered the 30 or so really anti-English people in the whole city? Doubtful. I'm pretty sure there are quite a few people in Canada who have had the same experience as me.

 

[Milkman]

Oh yeah, and here's an interesting observation I've made on my visits to Quebec. I get treated a lot better when people know my last name, because it's French (due to the fact that my dad's side of the family is French). Once people see or hear it, they open up a bit and start acting a little warmer. That always gets a giggle out of me but at the same time I find it kind of sad. Like all of a sudden, because I have a super french last name, I'm worthy of some respect.

I don't know. Maybe in my trips to Quebec City I encountered the 30 or so really anti-English people in the whole city? Doubtful. I'm pretty sure there are quite a few people in Canada who have had the same experience as me.

Well, my advice is, don't go there.


Of course you'll be missing out on one of the most beautiful cities in the world and French Cuisine that in my humble opinion is as good or better than the food I enjoyed in France. Then there's the culture and music.

But hey, if I was consistantly being treated rudely I wouldn't go there either.


Fortunately for me, I have always been treated very nicely there.

 

[nine]

Well, my advice is, don't go there.

I don't anymore.

Montreal is awesome though. We go every year to the F1 race and have a great time. It's always a bit of a madhouse that weekend, but that's just part of what makes it fun.

 

[GuitarsCanada]

Well, if you say so. I can only tell you that I have visited Quebec City many times and have never had the negative experience you describe. Maybe it's a matter of perception. It's possible that people were completely rude to me and I didn't notice, LOL.

I go with a fondness for Quebec and am never disappointed.


Funny but I find Toronto to have more rudeness than any other city in Canada. It's becoming more like an American city all the time.

Your not suggesting that all American cities are full of ignorant and rude people are you? Thats never been my experience. Any mega city (especially downtown) can have that feeling. Just a lot of congestion.

 

[nine]

Milkman, I find it interesting that you have the nerve to question my experiences in Quebec City (and go as far to say that it's my fault, despite not knowing at thing about me), yet think it's perfectly acceptable to state that Toronto is unfriendly.

 

[Wild Bill]

Imho

I have a lot of friends in Pointe Claire who gave me their impression of terms like "Quebecois" and "pur laine". They never laugh at my high school french and it's surprising how a few beer always improved my francais... http://guitarscanada.com/Board/images/smilies/tongue.gif
:tongue:

That being said, they themselves had a problem with the term "Quebecois". They were mostly 3rd or 4th generation Italian, Irish or Portugese extraction. Even though french was their 1st language and also their parent's 1st language in some quarters that wasn't good enough. There's a streak in the Quebec separatist movement that seems to feel that the only true Quebecois is one whose family came here from France several centuries ago. They told me that they've been made to feel discriminated against many times as they were growing up.

Watching the Quebec premier on tv the night they lost the last referendum I heard him blame the loss on "money and ethnics". He obviously had had a bit too much to drink but "in vino veritas", as they say.

I'm not at all suggesting that anyone who considers himself Quebecois is some kind of racist but I am saying that there are some who are expressing a racist based view, perhaps without realising it. Anytime you start sorting people out by "tribes" you leave yourself open a bit to the "Dark Side". Today we often hear "our people", "our culture", "our country". Nothing wrong at all with patriotism but we must continually guard against those who pervert such feeling into "Ein Volk" or "Ein Faterland".

I'm just an old Trekker who gets uncomfortable with movements that may not always seem inclusive for everyone, I guess. My biggest fear is that if Quebec were to leave I would have a harder time finding "Chambly" bier...

 

[Milkman]

Milkman, I find it interesting that you have the nerve to question my experiences in Quebec City (and go as far to say that it's my fault, despite not knowing at thing about me), yet think it's perfectly acceptable to state that Toronto is unfriendly.

LOL, I have all the nerve in the world man. I get weary of all the French bashing and am merely stating that my experiences of Quebec City are very positive. I used to go every year for carnival, but sadly have not visited as often over the past fifteen or twenty years. I'm lucky to go every two or three years.

Toronto is a beautiful city, but I finbd people serving the public are generally cold and unfriendly, yes.

 

[Milkman]

Your not suggesting that all American cities are full of ignorant and rude people are you? Thats never been my experience. Any mega city (especially downtown) can have that feeling. Just a lot of congestion.

I'm in the states every month and travel to various cities. Ever been to Detroit? Chicago?

I don't recall using the word "ignorant", but rude? Oh yeah.

Funny thing is, the farther south I go the friendlier the people get.
Nashville and Atlanta are great.