Son Flying in Gaspe Peninsula

[sumdumguy]

Off Topic for sure. Interesting times for a local aerial applicator who went to Gaspe for a month to spray Spruce Budworm. It is totally French there, even TV is French only . He nearly starved to death not knowing how to order food. This is still in Canada. Good experience - now he knows why we take French in school, but really 12 years of French in school and he couldn't understand anything? What kind of French are we getting taught?

[sofa.king]

That's awesome I wish I had a pilots license. On the French language it's hard to speak it when you only learn to write the language because your teachers can't speak French that's how it was when I went to school.

[farmaholic]

Dialects? But there should be enough similarities between them to make communication possible?

I thought I heard once that they just make it awkward!

[sumdumguy]

Even the young guys don't talk English. they must think we are real dum kupfts. The owner of donut shop is about 50-50 and he acts as the translator in town. I have Block 6 from the RCMP training. I got by in France but maybe couldn't in Gaspe. It just seems unimaginable that in Canada, language could be such a barrier. I bet they have to take English in school.

[DaneG]

Depends what area you are in, from the town of Gaspe along the north coast it is mostly French speaking all the way to Quebec City then Gaspe along the south coast towards New Brunswick it is approximately a 50/50 split English French. I was born and raised there went to English school hardly speak any French.

[magnum]

In my opinion, Our system for teaching French is wrong.
We should be teaching Conversational French, rather than grammar.
A child can make themselves understood and they don't know grammar.
We teach them grammar rules, after they can talk.
Hell, I don't know/remember all the English grammar rules or likely use them all correctly,
but I can still carry on conversation.