say the restaurant owner is a Parisian woman, a native French who prefers to speak French more than English. after you ask her a few questions in French about the items on the menu, she suddenly changes topic and makes the comment %26quot;oh, you must be Canadian%26quot;. what would your reaction be to that? would you get embarrassed about your French, offended by her remark or shrug it off as harmless small talk?
Canadian french speakers, do you get this a lot: when you go to a French restaurant owned by a French person?
I don't think I would be insulted or embarassed. I would assume that the lady picked up on an accent that I had or a certain way of saying things, and that she picked up on this.
I may be curious and say %26quot;Yes I am Canadian, how did you know? Is it something I said that gave you a clue to my origins?%26quot;
Most of the French in Europe are very happy to serve Canadians, especially the older folks who remember the sacrifices of WWII. They are taught history in school and are familiar with how so many Canadians died at the landings in Normandy, Vimy Ridge, and elsewhere, and are respectful of our heritage to honour our fathers or grandfathers who may be war veterans.
So if someone from France asks if you are Canadian, they may be commenting on your accent, or they may be pleased to help a French %26quot;cousin%26quot; from across the Atlantic.
Canadian french speakers, do you get this a lot: when you go to a French restaurant owned by a French person?
depending on the circumstances this may be small talk, or just a remark that they have noticed the difference in your French. Canadian (like Cajun) French is still very much more rooted in 'old French'. It can sound a bit arcane to someone from France. If she is at all a decent businesswoman, she is only making conversation, because your $$ are the same as anyone's and in this day and time she can't be too picky.
I'd be a bit insulted if it took her a few utterances before she identified my accent as Canadian, because I presume that before that point she was identifying it as %26quot;bad%26quot;. (I'm an anglo from Quebec)
My husband, francophone Swiss/Canadian gets offended when French people say his French is good, but he'd be fine with them saying he must be Canadian.
I can identify a pure French Canadian accent within seconds and often go up to the people (here in Europe) to say hi. I'm not as confident doing that in English with possible English Canadians. (Some are American)
noooo
don't be offended... when I speak to a Canadian (ROC (rest of canada except for Quebec)), people make the comment ''Oh! you're a Quebecker!'' (I usually correct them, the right term being Qu茅becoise) or '' you're from Qu茅bec''
she probably just doesn't know good manners or something
