Welcome to our first issue of the Language Exepress!

So, here I am, 2,983 miles away from Exeter, in the incredible Ville de Québec. A bustling French speaking city that is only thirty minutes from waterfalls and mountains but also has the charm of old cobbled streets and the amazing Château Frontenac.  

This year, I have been placed as a language assistant at a primary school in Québec City. You would assume that everything would be fairly simple working with eight to twelve year-olds and that a third-year French student would understand what is happening. However, after the first lesson on clothes, I was lost. After seven years of learning French, surely I should know this vocabulary by now.

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I was asked repeatedly, “Un chandail - c’est quoi en anglais?” I replied with a blank expression, je n’en sais rien. They shook their heads. Apparently, a “chandail” is a jumper. What was ever wrong with a good old fashioned “pull”? People in France have been quite happy with it, so why aren’t you? Voilà, mon introduction au monde fascinant du français québécois.

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Although it has taken a little while for my French to adapt, it has definitely been worth it. There are really only a few language differences to explore. For instance, le tutoiement is a lot more common here and they speak a lot faster than the French, often joining words together. What’s more, sometimes l’article défini, ‘le’, is added onto the end of a sentence because, why not? For example, “Qu’est-ce qu’on fait-le?”

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Another noticeable difference is the use of Anglicisms, which is understandable considering the surrounding Anglophone nations. Here is a list of a few common Anglicisms, plus some good old Québécois expressions, just for good measure.

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Le vrai défi: adapting to the accent. I’ve been lucky to be placed in the capital of the province where the accent is quickly understandable. On the other hand, there are other British Council assistants placed in more rural areas such as St. Georges de Beauce and Gaspé who have had to adapt to very particular accents, for instance one assistant heard someone pronounce ‘St. Georges’ as ‘Sant Jowrge’ (a sound similar to coughing on poutine.)

 

Finally, whilst the French here may be different and a little confusing, it is definitely something that the Québécois should be, and are, proud of and is something worth immersing yourself in. En plus, si t’connais pas un mot, t’peux toujours ajouter un mot anglais – bieeen, c’est le fun.