Canadian vs. Parisian French

greg   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 03:39 GMT
Jacobo Sunday, March 20, 2005, 18:18 GMT

The differences between the European and American varities of say English, Spanish and Portuguese are well-known. Does anybody know how the Canadian and Parisian varieties of French compare? Are they mutually intelligible?
Mxsmanic   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 04:57 GMT
They are mutually intelligible without any problem, but Canadian French sounds very strange to Parisian ears. I heard a fine example of Quebecois French yesterday and it was painful, although I had no trouble understanding it. I'd say the magnitude of the difference is similar to that between American English and RP.
Kazoo   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 05:12 GMT
When you say 'painful', what do you mean?
Brennus   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 06:09 GMT
The differences between Canadian and standard European French are analagous to the differences between American and British English or the Swedish of Sweden and the Swedish of Finland. They are mutually intelligible but there are some interesting diffrences. A few are:

Canada: gadoue - slush, wet snow / France: névasse
Canada: goéland - sea gull / France: mouette
Canada: pavillon de ski - ski lodge / France: chalet
Canada: lampadaires de rue - street lights / France: réverbères
Canada: totem - totem pole / France: mât totémique
Canada: L'otarie - The harp seal / France: le phoque
Canada: magasiner - to shop / France: faire les courses
Canada: (1) carcajou - wolverine / France; glouton
Canada: kayakisme - kayaking / France: kayaking
Canada: (2) carcajou - snake root plant / France: no equivalent.
Canada attelage de chien - dog team / France: traîneau à chien
Canada: poudrière - wind blown snow / France: no equivalent
Canada: paua - pow wow , an Indian meeting / France: no equivalent
Canada: autobus scolaire - school bus / France: no real equivalent?
Fred   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 06:19 GMT
It depends on the register of Canadian French used. Standard Canadian French like that heard in news broadcasts doesn't pose a problem to Parisians.

But street Joual is normally incomprehensible to Parisians. From what I've seen, this mode of communication is very common in informal speech, with it's clitics and contractions creating havoc for outsiders.
JJM   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 07:01 GMT
"Canadian French sounds very strange to Parisian ears. I heard a fine example of Quebecois French yesterday and it was painful, although I had no trouble understanding it."

And French French - particularly the so-called "Parisian" variety, sounds uppity and "un peu snob" to French Canadians. French as spoken by television announcers in Canada, is often jokingly referred to as "le français de Radio-Canada." I do note that announcers and commentators in Canada are becoming much more "natural" in their speech. Years ago, it was often unintentionally hilarious listening to a TV interviewer chatting with say, a hockey player. The contrast between the hocker player's honest, Canadian accent and the announcer's starchy French was quite comic.

"But street Joual is normally incomprehensible to Parisians."

Yes indeed. But guess what? It can be pretty incomprehensible to other French Canadians as well!
JJM   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 07:05 GMT
Canadian French has much in common with the French of Normandy (where many French Canadian families originated).

This being the 60th Anniversary of the end of WWII and close to D-Day, it's interesting to recall how flabbergasted the people of Normandy were when they were liberated by "British tommies" who spoke "rustic" French!

Those were, of course, Canadian soldiers.
JJM   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 09:10 GMT
"Canada: L'otarie - The harp seal / France: le phoque"

"Phoque" is certainly the general term for "seal" in Canada as well.

Of course, this word inevitably illicits giggles from English Canadian students when they hear it for the first time in French class!
Mandy   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 10:16 GMT
I've heard Canadian French sitcoms were shown with subtitles on French TV station. Immagine British subtitling '"Friends'' or ''Will & Grace''
Louis   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 11:13 GMT
When I watch French-Canadian programmes on TV5, I always walk away with this impression that Canadian French is just basically French spoken with an american accent.

To my ears, I have quite a bit of difficulty understanding spoken Canadian French, discounting the one spoken by news broadcasters.
JJM   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 12:54 GMT
On the subject of dubbing, one of the best shows for this was the animated cartoon "Les Pierres à Feu" (The Flintstones). For the longest time, very standard French voices were always used in dubbing English-language shows into French, even in Canada. But in this case, they got a group of Québécois TV and radio personalities together to provide voices.

The overall effect of having strong Montréalais voices for Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty was quite impressive and a much better fit for the North American suburban society the show caricatured.

By the way, I HAVE seen English shows dubbed for North American audiences - particularly where very strong accents and dialects are involved.
Paul   Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 18:01 GMT
The movie "The Acid House" is a good example ^^^