Can you imagine the pulling of hair and the gnashing of teeth if this were in the US and the reminder was for English. I do believe that many heads would 'splode.

Yet another desperate and futile measure to save a dying language.

Will the school offer tipping etiquette classes as well?

Oh, merde.

Wow, I thought this was a troll headline, but TFA says it's true.

What is worse is the part of the article that says that 53% of the students have something other than French as a native language.

I knew the Quebecqois were ridiculously fanatical about everything having to accommodate them, but making Anglophone students speak French even when talking amongst each other because it is "good for them" reminds me of various attempts by colonial nations to eradicate native languages over the years.

WEST Springfield? I'm at the wrong school!

Those french canadians are so progressive. *fart*

And yet, if you go to a store in Montreal and want to practice your French but have so much as a hint of an accent the clerks will switch to English even if you don't want them to.

Tabernac!

Some one write a Congressman! We have a stupidity gap! We can't have a bunch Canadians out stupiding us. We used to have the stupid market cornered with stupid policies. How can we allow the stupid gap to get any wider???

We still have the TSA,ATF,DHS,DEA and FDA.
HaHa Canadians are a bunch of pikers.

Et maintenant, le marche comique!

¿Cuál es el problema?

Teknowaffle: I do not understand the desire for people in Quebec to cling to French. You are not French. You are Canadian. No matter how hard you try, the French will not accept you. It is time to just accept it.

Je ne comprends pas le désir de la population québécoise à s'accrocher au français. Vous n'êtes pas français. Vous êtes canadienne. N'importe comment dur vous essayez, le français ne sera pas vous accepter. Il est temps de simplement l'accepter.

What does that have to do with anything?

Trance750: But if we insist the kids in America speak English (at least in school), that's just racist.

Yes. And the administrators that insist on that here are just as bigoted as the Québécoise in the article. Why should any government try to tell individuals what language they are allowed to speak?

annoyed_grunt: Teknowaffle: I do not understand the desire for people in Quebec to cling to French. You are not French. You are Canadian. No matter how hard you try, the French will not accept you. It is time to just accept it.

Je ne comprends pas le désir de la population québécoise à s'accrocher au français. Vous n'êtes pas français. Vous êtes canadienne. N'importe comment dur vous essayez, le français ne sera pas vous accepter. Il est temps de simplement l'accepter.

What does that have to do with anything?

Qu'est-ce que cela a à voir avec quelque chose?

Because forcing students and teenagers to do what you tell them to do ALWAYS create understanding and respect for the values of the community elders.

Always.

Schmidt was acquitted in January 2010 of 19 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which makes it illegal to sell or distribute raw, unpasteurized milk in Canada.

But Judge Peter Tetley overturned the acquittals on 15 of the charges on Sept. 28.

That some justice system you guys have up there...

What ever happened to being bilingual.
English is the second language of almost every country on earth most of Asia and huge chunks of Europe.

Haven't you cannucks built that wall around Quebec yet?

Meh, given the slightest opposition they'll cave.

Franko: ¿Cuál es el problema?

That's spanish

someradicaldude: Can you imagine the pulling of hair and the gnashing of teeth if this were in the US and the reminder was for English. I do believe that many heads would 'splode.

When was the last time you heard about the Ground Zero Mosque?

That's the point. English is the kid's first language, so they are supposed to learn French as a second. RTA

tardigrade: Tabernac!

Calisse!

Posting from southeast Louisiana, where imported New Deal teachers almost exterminated Cajun French as a lingua franca (no pun intended). So I can see why the Quebecois Canucks so vigorously protect the linguistic heritage, even if I do think they take it waaaaay too far.

Do I post serious comment or snarky comment? So hard to decide.

Of course you're going to have a hard time understanding this if your mother tongue is english: You're a linguistic majority. To try to relate, imagine you're in you're american, in your home town and everywhere you go you have to speak Spanish to be understood. That's what is going on in Quebec, and more precisely in Montreal.

You: yeah, but if a language is dying, then let it die. if you have to fight and pass special laws to keep it alive, then it's not worth it

Me: So if Spanish overtakes English in the US in usage we should just let American english die?

You: No! Spanish isn't even the official language of the U.S.

Me: Ah! But French IS one of the official languages of Canada. So it's bad for a Canadian province to pass special legislation to try to preserve one of the country's official languages, but it's GOOD for the U.S. to pass legislation to preserve ITS official language?

--

Whenever an article like this appears on the CBC web site, the comments are always the same: when the English in Quebec aren't properly served, then it's a travesty of human rights. When a Francophone in the rest of Canada isn't properly served in their language, then it's: too bad. French is dying. No special laws for them.

Tingle007: What ever happened to being bilingual.
English is the second language of almost every country on earth most of Asia and huge chunks of Europe.

English does not appear to be one of your prime languages.

Trance750: But if we insist the kids in America speak English (at least in school), that's just racist.

In Canada, French and English are both official languages. In the US, there is no de jure Official language at the Federal level, but the de facto Federal and in many states de jure official language is English. Students are speaking one of the "official" languages, and even if classes are conducted in French, the gripe is that they are trying to regulate what language students speak amongst each other, even though they are also speaking an "official" language.

Also, the gripe in the US is not so much that we insist the kids speak English, it's that we want them to be able to communicate with everyone else. When they want to immigrate to this country but keep speaking their own language and have public school classes taught in their old language, it's not helping them integrate into US culture. Canada has anglophonic and francophonic populations and both languages are "official", so telling students they can't speak one of the "official" languages amongst each other is ridiculous.

Imagine the outrage if a school in Alberta tried to tell pupils they couldn't speak French amongst themselves at recess. They'd be screaming over that.

What you really need is a Académie française du Canada to make impotent rules regarding the usage of french in a desperate attempt to keep the language relevant.

Seriously they try to french-ify everything. eg E-mail = courriel, software = logiciel

They're going to get ALESR pointers and give us a slide show.

/Amplification de lumière par émission stimulée de radiations

"There will be no language police," she said. Instead, monitors who overhear children using their mother tongue during recess will simply remind them of the rules.

...

THOSE ARE LANGUAGE POLICE.

Quebec, Canada's Florida.

Good. I'll be the rude arsehole American who will speak English everywhere as I did in Paris. What's next, getting arrested for speaking English? Even the Canadians outside of Quebec don't want put up this crap unless they can speak French.

The whole English-French language is still a sensitive issue in Canada. The October Crisis is highly controversial as my Canadian friends don't want me to talk about it.

Franko: Whenever an article like this appears on the CBC web site, the comments are always the same: when the English in Quebec aren't properly served, then it's a travesty of human rights. When a Francophone in the rest of Canada isn't properly served in their language, then it's: too bad. French is dying. No special laws for them.

If some teacher in Edmonton Alberta told some kid to stop speaking french on the playground at recess you can bet your ass people would be up in arms.

[img src="http://someserver.com/canadian_bacon_truck_grafiti.jpg"]

Sorry, couldn't find an actual image from the movie for some reason.

Boomhauer: Schmidt was acquitted in January 2010 of 19 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which makes it illegal to sell or distribute raw, unpasteurized milk in Canada.

But Judge Peter Tetley overturned the acquittals on 15 of the charges on Sept. 28.

That some justice system you guys have up there...

Well. abuse of that concept in British justice (which the Canadian system emerged from) was the reason why the Double Jeopardy clause was even placed in the US Constitution, to ensure that once you were found Not Guilty you could not be re-tried No Matter What. If you'll remember, British Colonial authorities kept trying rebellious colonists for political crimes, they were acquitted (Jury Nullification, for the win!), so they kept re-trying until they got a conviction (or just hauled them back to England for trial, conviction and execution).

It also makes prosecutors take their job a little more seriously because they only get one shot at a conviction, so they have to build up a case instead of trying over and over again.

Honestly, many of the Rights of the Accused in US Jurisprudence came as a response to British shenanigans in the mid-late 18th century.

Silverstaff: Boomhauer: Schmidt was acquitted in January 2010 of 19 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which makes it illegal to sell or distribute raw, unpasteurized milk in Canada.

But Judge Peter Tetley overturned the acquittals on 15 of the charges on Sept. 28.

That some justice system you guys have up there...

Well. abuse of that concept in British justice (which the Canadian system emerged from) was the reason why the Double Jeopardy clause was even placed in the US Constitution, to ensure that once you were found Not Guilty you could not be re-tried No Matter What. If you'll remember, British Colonial authorities kept trying rebellious colonists for political crimes, they were acquitted (Jury Nullification, for the win!), so they kept re-trying until they got a conviction (or just hauled them back to England for trial, conviction and execution).

It also makes prosecutors take their job a little more seriously because they only get one shot at a conviction, so they have to build up a case instead of trying over and over again.

Honestly, many of the Rights of the Accused in US Jurisprudence came as a response to British shenanigans in the mid-late 18th century.

um....... wrong thread, guys?

Funk Brothers: The whole English-French language is still a sensitive issue in Canada. The October Crisis is highly controversial as my Canadian friends don't want me to talk about it.

Your Canadian friends or your French Canadian friends?

Lots of people love talking about the october crisis. That was some f'ed up stuff! -- Its like Canada own patriot act period... AND the guys behind it all never ended up spending all that much time in prison and atleast one of the bombers lives in quebec now...

The sovereigntist bastards should still be ashamed of themselves.

Sass-O-Rev: um....... wrong thread, guys?

DOH! I thought I was in the "milk" thread. Mea culpa...

Just like the Latin police

farking French-Canadian elitists.

(Note that that does not imply that all French-Canadians are elitist)

You want to preserve your culture? Make it worth preserving. You don't get to legislate what people farking speak, assholes.

Yea, French land canaduh has trained their little turds to want to separate at some point. But they no want to separate if they can not keep Canadian currency, plus also continue to receive welfare from Canada(other peoples tax money), plus keeping all those big corporations that got set up via other provinces money.

/Oh and the Natives(Indians) land will be allowed to stay as part of Canada(along with the Saint Larry Seaway), resulting in the separated quebec to being just quebec city.
//It's mostly just hot pountine air from them french peoples.