Re: Scandinavia and the Germanic tribes such as Goths, Vandals, Angl

--- On Tue, 11/4/08, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

> From: Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>
> Subject: [tied] Re: Scandinavia and the Germanic tribes such as Goths, Vandals, Angli and Saxones.
> To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 6:44 PM
> --- 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

Dialect/accent is interesting. I have had no problem understanding Spanish anywhere I've ever been and find the differences very minor on the whole. French professors and speakers tell me the same about Quebecois, although to me it sounds more like Polish than French. I lived for a year at the NY, Québec, Ontario border and only received Canadian TV. I could understand the news and science/informational programs perfectly, I had problems with regular TV shows and couldn't get anything at all when I heard call-in and local content. People assured me that they understood my French perfectly but I could barely understand anything they said.
But lots of Americans say the same about Chilean and Cuban Spanish and other forms that I find very easy to understand.
Arnaud: Is Queébecois really that hard?