this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023

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'Fed up' with decline of French, Quebec seeks tuition hike for out-of-province students at English universities (montreal.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/canada

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The Quebec government is proposing an increase in tuition fees for international and out-of-province students attending English-language universities as a way to protect the French language.

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[–] frostbiker 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As an immigrant, something I like about Canada is how regardless of where we came from we all make an effort to speak to each other in the common language so that we can learn and understand each other. And then there is Quebec sulking because we don't speak their language, instead of following everybody else.

I didn't lose my culture just because I use English as a vehicular language. I gained all sorts of stuff from other people, which I wouldn't have if I or they refused to speak the common language. So, please, Quebecois, do share your beautiful culture with us -- in the language we all understand.

[+] villasv -3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] frostbiker 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

If your native language is not English, it shouldn’t be hard to empathize with francophones living in Montreal aren’t happy that their children speak more English than French in a French speaking city because this means that a few generations later French is just going to disappear

My children speak my native language, but my grandchildren won't. That's how it works. Somehow millions of immigrants are expected to understand and accept this, but Francophones somehow feel special?

Quececois aren’t resisting the sharing their culture, they just want to keep it alive. You asking them to share their culture in the language you understand is just glossing over the fact that the language is a part of the culture

It really isn't. My culture, my traditions, my way of thinking doesn't automatically change when I switch to English or any other language. A language is nothing but a tool to communicate ideas, and a multiplicity of languages only serves as a barrier that stops people from understanding each other. I'm all for a universal language to facilitate the free interchange of ideas.

That’s a shit take

That rudeness is uncalled for. You can do better.

[–] villasv -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Somehow millions of immigrants are expected to understand and accept this, but Francophones somehow feel special?

Yes, because they didn’t go anywhere[1]. They’re not immigrants[1]. How is that difference not obvious?

It really isn’t.

K, that’s just ignorance at this point.

[1] PS. Obviously they immigrated as colonizers at some point, but the language they’re being assimilated into isn’t First Nations. If it were, that’d would be a different story.

[–] frostbiker -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, because they didn’t go anywhere

Neither did First Nations people, and I don't see the majority of Quebecois speaking any of those languages either. And thank goodness we don't have each municipality speaking their indigenous tongues -- it would be impossible to talk to each other!

So let's all be practical and discuss our differences and our commonalities in a common language, rather than constructing language ghettos around us out of fear.

[–] villasv -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Neither did First Nations people, and I don’t see the majority of Quebecois speaking any of those languages either.

Québécois are not asking First Nations people to forget their language, you are.

[–] frostbiker 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not asking anybody to forget anything. I'm saying that speaking a common language is highly beneficial to communication, and thus should be promoted.

I'm also saying that it is hypocritical for people who expect immigrants to integrate, yet at the same time refuse to integrate themselves. Like it or not, English is the lingua franca since at least WW2, and even more so since the advent of the Internet.

You and I would not even be having this conversation if it wasn't for our ability to speak fluent English.