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I just did French and English Grammar and Spelling tests...
English was no surprise (95%)
And I've decided that everyone that has ever told me that my French is sloppy or imperfect can kiss my ass.
It wasn't perfect, but it was 80%.
English was no surprise (95%)
And I've decided that everyone that has ever told me that my French is sloppy or imperfect can kiss my ass.
It wasn't perfect, but it was 80%.
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Of course this pretty much rules out a career in the public service....
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I am fed up with what the champions of the French language in this country get away with. I am dismayed daily at the realization that despite the fact that hard core french speakers make up perhaps 20% of the total population of this country and yet it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent job in the government, public service or (in the case of my city) the Chief of Police without being fluent in that language. Or worse yet, you'll get sent on course at the public's time and expense..to learn a language hardly anyone speaks in this country...
And I have worked around the public service long enough to know that it isn't 'bilingual' they want, it's French. Pur Laine = promotion and that makes me fuckin sick.
So yeah, I don't have nice things to say about this and am unlikely to say anything nice about it in the future....Ogre I be I guess.
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I believe that we (Canada) should continue to offer government services in French, but not that every person there should have to be able to communicate in it as a job requirement.
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And now I'm going to get all sexist on your ass. There are a great deal of men working in the government and I would safely say there are currently more than women in almost every department I've seen (being a temp placed in several government offices a year). There are some exceptions (ie Nursing), but for the most part, it's still very male-dominated, especially in higher positions. By observing so many women on the bus, you are actually observing the result of a different issue.
Women are more likely to take the bus to save money than men. Also, in single car households, it is typically the man that gets to drive it to work, and if carpooling isn't feasible, the Mrs. gets to ride the bus.. Among single women, whose earning potential still does not match that of men's, they just plain can't afford a car.
And as a footnote... my "school french" was not Quebec French as I did not learn French in Ottawa, I moved to Ottawa to practice French. While some of it was Quebec French, I also learned Parisian French, Southern France French and Vietnamese French.
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As for sexism, I avoided jumping to a conclusion because I knew that my evidence was hardly conclusive. In general, I suspect that you may well be right (although I haven't the data to draw conclusions), but I have a quibble: pay equity in the government is, afaik based on a family full of government employees, pretty good, so the argument that "single women['s] earning potential still does not match ... men's, they just plain can't afford a car" doesn't apply in the particular case of government workers (although it likely applies in the broader context, and I won't deny that gender distribution probably hasn't had time yet to filter all the way up the organizational pyramids.) If I were awake, I would find a way to make the previous sentence less painful.
Even in Quebec, I don't recall being taught the informal converational French used on the street.
Were the various flavors of French specifically taught, or are these things that you've picked up?
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I had to learn the Ottawa accent when I moved here.
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Well, except ironically. Ironic expletive use has a satisfaction all its own.
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As for a PS career, I don't see you going that way anyhow, French or no French.
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That's my plan. FYI, I can't speak French and I have a damned good reason for it. I like to think I can read French decently though.
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I do have limited patience for snobs in any area, and French language has its share... and they can baiser mon cul.
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And as for the "dying language" bit...
I'm a girl who bothered to learn Latin. As Magistrar Claves (Mr. Keys) always said "Latin is not dead; the people who speak it are."
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He, and you, are right: Latin is all over the place, tarted up as French, Italian, Spanish, and scientific and literary English. I can read it somewhat, but I haven't got the grammar to write or speak it.
Greek is everywhere too, but it's less obvious because of the alphabet difference.
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It is also the foundation of a number of languages, and if you learn Latin, you have a leg up on learning them.
The French you're taught in school/formaly is generally spoken by a currently thinning intellectual class in one province in this country. Many 'Franco's' don't even speak that French and would indeed ridicule you if you did.
So yeah, one thing t'aint the other IMO.
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Well, we're agreed here. Vide supra, my comment on French snobbery. To borrow a phrase from Churchill, "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I shall not put."