[Tman1]

Who here is Bilingual and what do you think it's significance is in the rest of Canada? Whoop, guess it is now..Nevermind.

[xerxes]

I'm bilingual, but my second language is German not French. What does it mean? That I can retain some my cultural heritage while still being a citizen of Canada.

[Bouboumaster]

I understand english, but I'm not ble to write it rightly...


I speak and understand and wrote french

[michou]

Je suis bilingue et ma langue maternelle est le français. Ma culture, mes racines, mon histoire sont Québécoises et mon pays s'appelle le Québec. Ma deuxième langue est l’anglais. Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? Ça veut dire que le Québec est une nation sans état et qu’il lui reste une étape à franchir, celle de l’indépendance et la reconnaissance de son existence.

I am bilingual and my mother tongue is French. My culture, my roots, my history are Québécer and my country is called Québec. My second language is English. What does it mean ? It means Québec is a nation without a state and there is one more milestone left for it to cross over, independence and recognition of its reality.

[RUEZ]

michou michou:

I am bilingual and my mother tongue is French. My culture, my roots, my history are Québécer and my country is called Québec. .

I hate to break it to you, but Quebec isn't a country. It never was, never will be.

[michou]

In response to the above, Canada was not always a nation either and it took its state's name from the French who had been here centuries before and who called themselves Canadiens. So in truth, Québécers's are the true and original Canadiens, they speak French and they have their own culture and history.

More than 35 new nations have joined the international roster of national recognition in the past 40 years and Québec will be joining them before the end of the decade.

But have no worry, Québécers are a graceful people and will allow Canadians to keep their adopted namesake though an independent Québec could pertain to intellectual and historical property over its original appellation.

[-Mario-]

RUEZ RUEZ:

michou michou:

I am bilingual and my mother tongue is French. My culture, my roots, my history are Québécer and my country is called Québec. .

I hate to break it to you, but Quebec isn't a country. It never was, never will be.

Je suis avec Ruez sur celle là... Not a Country, and never will be.

PS: If you manage to become a separate country, Montreal and all Aboriginal land will stay Canadian.

Back to the topic... I am too.

[RUEZ]

michou michou:

In response to the above, Canada was not always a nation either and it took its state's name from the French who had been here centuries before and who called themselves Canadiens. So in truth, Québécers's are the true and original Canadiens, they speak French and they have their own culture and history.

More than 35 new nations have joined the international roster of national recognition in the past 40 years and Québec will be joining them before the end of the decade.

But have no worry, Québécers are a graceful people and will allow Canadians to keep their adopted namesake though an independent Québec could pertain to intellectual and historical property over its original appellation.

Ok, I'd be willing to put money on it not happening.

[Pimpbrewski]

Le Québec n’est pas une nation:

c’est une province

[RoyalHighlander]

I speak english, French, and have an understanding of maybe 3 more languages... I would like to point out that the qiestion aksed if you were bilingual, that means 2 langauges.. maybe it shoud have read multi lingual instead, any ways intersting thread if people will stay on topic that is...

[Erinites]

Speak , read and write French and English.

Can speak some Spanish.

[MustangJay]

Sorry I'm from Ontario, I only speak high school French....vous avez, tu ez, bonjour, salute.

LOL.

In all honesty I used to know a great deal of french but honesty, unless your actually living in Quebec there's very little chance of using it. A second language is one of those things where its either use it or lose it. As a young person, I'm more far-sighted and like to think other languages, such as Chinese or Spanish, will serve more important then French in my career. There are statistical figures showing French's declinign status, not only in Canada, but in the world, to back that up. Sorry if this all seems a bit candit but it's honestly how I feel. I admire the Quebec resolution for maintaining heritage but most other Canadians don't see the importance of learning a language spoken by just under 7 million people on a continent of over 300 million English speakers. Furthermore, as Canada's population becomes more and more diverse through immigration, this gap between those bilingual in English-French and those English-something else will only grow larger.

Thats my two cents.

[JayRoc]

I agree, I find no use for French, French is nothing more to alot of us than two sets of instructions included in everything you purchase......Oh and having to listen to every recorded message twice on my damn cell phone, sure eats up the airtime.

[QuebecSpock]

Pimpbrewski Pimpbrewski:

Le Québec n’est pas une nation:

c’est une province

Non, les deux réponses sont bonnes!

Bon, je sais que Tman ne sera jamais d'accord avec moi sur ce point (une vieille discussion entre nous ), mais ca dépend de quelle façon on interprète le mot nation.

$1:

Dictionnaire Le Petit Larousse

Nation:

1. grande communauté humaine, le plus souvent installée sur un même territoire et qui possède une unité historique, linguistique, culturelle, économique plus ou moins forte. <> Canada. Les Premières Nations : les Amérindiens et les Inuits.

2. DR. Communauté politique distincte des individus qui la composent et titulaire de la souveraineté.

Donc, le Québec est une nation selon la 1re définition (qui ne nécessite pas nécessairement que le Québec ait le statut de pays souverain... tout comme les Premières Nations ne sont pas des pays souverains). Comme l'a dit michou, le Québec est "une nation sans état".

De plus, de par son statut actuel dans le Canada, le Québec est aussi une province, plutôt distincte des autres par sa langue, sa culture,ses coutumes et son organisation politique, mais c'est bien une province.

C'est quoi qui est compliqué?

---


Back to the main topic, I'm not perfectly bilingual (French-English), but I consider my English quite good (written : very good, oral : good), and I will have to improve it.

[Pimpbrewski]

QuebecSpock QuebecSpock:

Pimpbrewski Pimpbrewski:

Le Québec n’est pas une nation:

c’est une province

Non, les deux réponses sont bonnes!

I know what you are getting at. The word in French means distinct people while as in English it means a ``country``. Quebec is not a country by definition. I take the latter to explain that Quebec is a province within the country of Canada.

Also, another little factor to add in this conversation. Could it be the fact that Quebec, being the only French province/state, feels oppressed by being surrounded by Anglophones in North America? That's probably why there are measures (like the Bill 101) implemented in Quebec, in order to preserve the language.

The ``pur & dur`` separatists, for the most part, are the ones that do not know any English and have never traveled outside the province. They are the ones that will soon have to realize that English is needed in order to compete in today's global market. I am not criticizing the French language in any way, au contraire, only stating the ``Nation`` of Canada is a bilingual country, therefore it's nice to have both language utilized. Also, this what makes Canada unique in this part of the world. Again, I am not sure how much French is used in the western provinces, therefore it would not be fair for me to comment on that particular matter.