Why Does Quebec speak French?
Canada is an amazing country for so many different reasons. The many different cultural aspects make for a multidimensional area of North America and a place where you can hear just about every different type of language in the world. One of the dominant languages other than English, of course, is French. Quebec is one of the largest provinces in Canada and French is the absolute dominant language in just that area. As large as it is, though, they obviously have a vast variety of different types of the way the language is spoken.
Quebec was historically a French settlement in the colonial times, so over the years that classic culture of language has stuck around and remained the most dominantly spoken language in the area. There are also many different versions of French that is spoken in the area from the normal French that you hear people speaking in the country of France to the older and more contemporary Parisian french which is definitely not as common and was spoken mostly back in those original colonial times.
French is a gorgeous and romantic language that, unfortunately, I never bothered to learn myself. It has often puzzled me why our North American neighbors have stuck with their historical language to such a huge degree, but I am definitely not complaining.
August 7, 2012 6:59 am
Dear Sir or Madam;
As a former resident of Québec and French major at a University, I vehemently disagree with your article, which is biased and completely inaccurate. I respectfully ask you to delete this article because it is full of misinformation and does not answer the question, ‘Why does Québec speak French’.
You claim that most Canadians speak French. This is certainly not true; very few Canadians speak French outside Québec and New Brunswick. You may look up the relevant statistics on this easily on the Statistics Canada website. Québec is the largest province in Canada by geographic area, and second by population. However, your statement that ‘many kinds of French are spoken there’ is basically inaccurate. There is one main Québec French dialect which is universally understood by virtually everyone who lives there.
When you say that it is believed that French will eventually die out; who do you claim to speak for? Québec has been majority French speaking for 400 years. It is a modern and vibrant society, and there’s nothing ‘old-fashioned’ about preserving your culture. In fact, the percentage of French speakers versus English has increased over the last few years, not decreased as you seem to suggest.
In closing, Sir or Madam, I feel that your article is deeply offensive to the French speaking population of Québec, as well as factually inaccurate. Please feel free to email me at samontreal@gmail.com and I will happily explain why Québec speaks French, and why it will continue to do so in the future. Anything less would be a disservice to your readers. I apologize if this seems angrily written, but this is a very sensitive topic and you are completely mistaken, my friend!
Sincerely,
Samuel U.
December 22, 2012 6:22 am
haha what samuel u? maybe if this was written in french you could of understood but at no point did he say french is dying out or that most canadians can speak french. also a very sensitive topic? grow a sack!!