--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Arnaud Fournet" <fournet.arnaud@...>
wrote:
> There's a pervading fiction that modern (France) French has no dialect,
> something that is obviously contradicted by reality,
> and the fact I have much trouble understanding somebody from Narbonne,
> not to speak about Quebec French and Creoles.
>
English-speaking Canadians who learn French often complain about
trying to understand Quebec French, because in school we are taught
"International French" which amounts to an idealized version of
Parisian French. Colloquial Québécois French, the "joual", can often
be hard for us to understand, in pronunciation and vocabulary. It
varies by place, though, with enough Montrealers and residents of
Quebec City speaking a more refined French that is similar to what we
learned in school.
Andrew