Re: Canadian French Translation

[Fabien Vais <phantoms -at- POP -dot- TOTAL -dot- NET>]

Replying to Wayne's comments:

As I said in an earlier post to this list, the French language issue in
Quebec is a sensitive one, and NO ONE here jokes about it - not the
francophones, not the anglophones, not even the immigrants who come to
settle here. The only ones who find it necessary to snicker at the situation
are often Americans, such as Wayne Douglass.

For the past 30-50 years, Quebec has been trying very hard to clean up their
language. The situation is much better today than it has ever been. Of
course there are still, and there always will be, regionalisms, expressions,
dialects, patois, jargon, whatever you want to call what is spoken here. But
all in all, very few people actually speak the way Wayne is describing
("sprinkled with swear words").

Why are you so surprised that "street talk" is sprinkled with swear words?
Is it any different in Brooklyn, or in L.A., or even in London? In addition,
Quebec has had to contend with the fact that there are roughly 4-5 million
people who speak French here, and trying to preserve their language,
surrounded by about 300 million people whose primary language is English.
This is not easy.

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT a separatist. I am against Quebec independence.
I believe there is a better future in the Canadian Confederation. But I
understand what the québécois are trying to achieve. Having said this, I am
perfectly bilingual (French and English), and I write, translate, and teach
in both languages. Believe me, it is a richness, not a burden.

So, I don't always agree with the means used to achieve the goals of
separatists, but I understand. Which is probably more than what Wayne can say...

Just my opinion...

Fabien Vais

At 10:51 AM 7/22/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Robert Frick wrote:
>>Much obliged to all who took the time to respond. You've been very helpful.
>>Any other comments would be appreciated as well.
>
>Things may have changed since I grew up in northern Vermont in the 50s, but
>a random sprinkling of the expressions "bateme" and "maudit Christ" through
>the text  will nicely capture the unique Quebecois flavor you are looking for.
>
>--Wayne
>---------------------------------------------
>Wayne Douglass        phone: 408-542-2139
>Verity, Inc.            FAX: 408-542-2040
>894 Ross Road        mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
>Sunnyvale, CA 94089    http://www.verity.com
>---------------------------------------------
>
>
>===========================================================================
>
>
>
>
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Fabien Vais - Documentation Analyst (Analyste en documentation)
Technical Writing, Technical Translation/Globalization, Editing, Publishing,
Teaching, Training
Rédaction technique, Traduction/globalisation technique, Révision, Mise en
Page, Enseignement, Formation

e-mail: phantoms -at- total -dot- net
Mailing address (Adresse postale): 38 Elderidge, D.D.O. (Montreal), Quebec,
H9A 2P4
Phone/Fax: (514) 685-4752


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