Jeezuz peezuz it's so annoying. All the products in the grocery market is in french and english, all the fast food places have to put french and on everything. And the beauty products is a nightmare. The directions are all squished onto the back of the bottle or whatever it is, to make room for the french and you can barely read it since it's so small. And it MUST be the same size as the english as well.
And when you go to Quebec . . . EVERYTHING is in french. no english to be seen. SOME products have to have the french and english in quebec grocery stores, but the english is allowed to be smaller, about 10x smaller, if not left out all together.
I don't live in Canada, but I have family there and I've visited a couple times. Was in Toronto for 2 weeks in summer, and gosh it reallly bugged me! But that's besides the point . . . does it annoy you?
2006-09-23 18:44:53 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Canada ➔ Other - Canada
Why would that annoy me? Are you that ignorant to think that maybe not everyone in the world speaks English? You know that we do have two official languages up here, so there is a logical reason for our "annoyance". And you know why everything in Quebec is french? Yep! It's their official language! So, sorry if I sound kinda rude, but if you don't like it, tough! Deal with a world that will not bow down to your every want and desire.
2006-09-24 07:04:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
As a French Canadian, no, it doesn't annoy me. What annoys me is some people pretending that 9 million French-speaking Canadians doesn't qualify as more than an ethnic minority and thus should have no rights.
Canada being bilingual doesn't mean that one part of the population is shoving a language down the throats of the other part of the population, or that everybody should be bilingual. It means that you have two significant languages spoken in the country, and that you should have the freedom and the ability to live your life in the language you prefer, anywhere in the country. And btw, I'd like to note that the English-language community in Quebec seems to have no problem whatsoever (two universities, about 10 colleges, schools in every region...) doing just that.
And as for Quebec being almost entirely French... well, since 90 percent of the population of the province speaks French, that would explain why everything is in French. We French Canadians know that when we go to Toronto everything will be in English and we can't expect to get service in French. We don't make a big case about it.
Finally... one should note that Canada being more and more of a multicultural country, our future will be defined by how well we treat our minorities. If we can't even guarantee 9 million French speakers (who have been in the country since 1604!) the ability to live in their language, I think we're headed for disaster, big time.
2006-09-24 10:40:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Then you don't want to visit California - we have English and Spanish all over the place. Not only that, look at a lot of the products you use and count the number of languages on the packaging and instructions.
Canada is fortunate enough to have TWO official languages while the US has none. Quebec has laws that put French as it's official provincial language. When you visit another country, you have to be ready to experience their customs. Don't tell me you expect everything in Germany to be in English. I'd be more than happy to start explaining linguistic duality to you if you'd like to take the time for a history, language, and sociology lesson.
Not everyone speaks English, you know.
2006-09-24 10:29:03 · answer #3 · answered by Church Music Girl 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
In the past I have found the French very annoying. Strangely enough it has never had anything to do with the packaging. I spent some of my formative years with Quebec wanting to separate and all of the French laws. Canada was accomodating and in some cases shoving it down the throats of English Canadians in Ontario. I gave up French in High School when I first got a chance...I was also very bad at the subject due to a move and changing of schools (whole other problem). I like my packaging to have just the two languages. It is easier than the multinational corporations merchandise with information in 8 - 10 languages. It has helped me on my trips to Quebec. I think they even made me feel better about Quebec and the French language. If you want annoying, try reading packaging that has English much smaller on the packaging or non existant like in Chinatown. Toronto being very multicultural (to the extreme at times) can make you feel like you are in a foreign country while being at home.
2006-09-24 01:59:40 · answer #4 · answered by David Y 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
i'm an Anglophone (interior sight English speaker) living in Montreal. Canada is techincally bilingual whether Quebec is French. You somewhat could make an important attempt to learn a minimum of clever French. you will get some jobs conversing purely English-- there are a number of call middle/cellular earnings jobs (some are lame, some are sufficient), and instruction manual labor jobs available to persons who're no longer waiting to chat French. There are some extra English places- west of "the widely used" (St-laurent street) in neighborhoods like NDG, you are going to discover an much less complicated time getting to be responsive to jobs as an Anglo at a eating place or something. whether, your options are constrained and that is unreasonable to return decrease back to a predominantly French city and now no longer learn any French. once you're suitable here and likewise you want to learn, you are going to wish up fundamentals rapidly, and with a purpose to be adequate to assist you get quite a number of distinctive jobs-- many jobs you're able to be ready to chat (say at a coffee keep or a grocery save) whether you do no longer could be fluent.
2016-10-01 07:30:59 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All products are packaged the same across Canada; products in Quebec have the same size English as French.
Store signs in Quebec are a different matter--they do have to have English no more than 1/2 the size, and are allowed to leave it out altogether. BUT I think you will find that in most of the rest of Canada store signs are ALL in English.
Doesn't normally bother me although sometimes the Sign Police are ridiculous, and sometimes very inconsistent.
2006-09-24 02:36:30 · answer #6 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm sick of being in Ottawa Ontario (English) and to get a good paying job you must speak French and English. The latest thing now is they are gonna sudsidize daycare for the Francophones(French speakers) here while the Anglophones have no subsidy, they also get an $8 million Francophone only centre French only rec services, what next french only buses
2006-09-26 05:05:51 · answer #7 · answered by moglie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, I quite like it. It's a chance to brush up on my french. If I get stuck, I can always turn over to the english side. Quite often we get products from the US that are also bi-lingual, but the two languages are spanish and english, so there is a third panel added for Canada. It's quite a hoot trying to figure out the spanish, but I'm gradually getting the hang of it.
2006-09-24 17:18:53 · answer #8 · answered by old lady 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Surprisingly I find this totally normal. I grew up in Montreal (and no... I'm not french), and have never has a problem getting around. Most stores in the downtown area will speak english, and a lot of the larger chain stores will have english signs. Yes, the english is smaller, but it's still there. Yes, I tooke 15 years of french courses, which does help, but I know plenty of people who don't speak any french who have no problem getting around.
2006-09-24 04:43:25 · answer #9 · answered by TubaGirl 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, I can understand the french as well as the english... we are taught french in school so really it doesnt bother me. As far as Quebec leaving out the english on thier products, thats because they can make thier own laws etc and they choose to not be truly bi-lingual... I am proud we are gracious enough to include both languages here in Ontario it makes us better people because we embrace diversity instead of rejecting it... we are not a Province of just english speakers, we have many french people and room enough for both languages.
2006-09-24 17:39:43 · answer #10 · answered by Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋