Are Quebec's anglophones at risk?

[Techman]

Great example Sap! I often find myself in conversations with people where we switch between both languages without even realizing it. We just use whatever language fits the point we are trying to make. Can be quite amusing for onlookers at times!

Ziggy, I would write a book but unfortunately for some reason I'm not allowed to use pens or pencils...something about sharp objects they tell me. And I can't spend too much time on a keyboard due to repetitive stress injury to my wrist.

Hey everyone...sometimes I get a little carried away when it comes to this type of discussion. For various reasons I won't get into here, it hits close to home. My ethnic cleansing comment may very well have been too extreme for the situation here in Quebec. I won't edit my earlier posts as it would require too many of you to do the same and I did make the comment and I'm willing to take the shots for having done so. When I find a better, more level headed term to express my feelings about the situation I'll let you know.

Techman

 

[eastender]

Commonplace

Here is a sunnier spot in Montréal’s language universe. I finally witnessed a reunion of the two solitudes.

I attended a party this past weekend in NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a predominantly Anglophone area of Montréal, also home of The Gazette building and The Chablis, otherwise known as “Head Office”). Our hostess was Anglophone, she moved from Toronto 18 years ago. I knew from her voicemail greeting she spoke a smattering of French, but that is all.

When I arrived, the party was already in full swing, and I was immediately surprised to hear a hubbub of conversations in both English and French. As the evening progressed, I saw, much to my pleasure, that most of the Anglophones there were more than willing to switch over to French when speaking with me, even though it’s obvious I’m perfectly bilingual. In fact, they seemed to want to. That is something that had yet to happen to me, ever. Anyway, quite apart from being a very nice evening in many other ways, this ray of hope will stay with me for a long time and give me hope that maybe one day Montréal will be pinpointed as the place where the hatchet was finally buried. Wouldn’t that be nice?

What you describe above was/is fairly commonplace in Hochelaga / Maisonneuve, Rosemont and other working class districts.

As Techman stated people just swing back and forth between French and English. The most encouraging part is that it is true for the kids and young adults.