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.
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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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?
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 rudeness is uncalled for. You can do better.
Yes, because they didn’t go anywhere[1]. They’re not immigrants[1]. How is that difference not obvious?
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.
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.
Québécois are not asking First Nations people to forget their language, you are.
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.
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Thank you for your very civil response.
Earlier you said that it’s okay for millions of immigrants to lose their language, but now you equate that to “your culture being erased”. This means that in your mind culture erasure is fine as long as it only affects immigrants. But now you criticise me for being okay with losing my language? So which side of things are you on?
As I said earlier, I’m on the side that understands that language and culture are distinct, which is obviously true given that a person can learn multiple languages and retain the same knowledge, beliefs, customs, traditions, etc.
Have a great day, sir/madam.