Canadian French as a separate language Thread poster: Jacques DP
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Jacques DP 
Switzerland
Local time: 13:46
English to French
Hi everyone,
I translate exclusively from English to French, and I have no mastery of the specifically Canadian form of French. More and more, however, I am receiving job notifications for "Canadian French". Which I delete the moment I see the word "Canadian".
Since more and more people seem to ask specifically for Canadian French, why don't you consider it as a separate language?
Translators can then specify such skill as an additional language pair, and i... See more Hi everyone,
I translate exclusively from English to French, and I have no mastery of the specifically Canadian form of French. More and more, however, I am receiving job notifications for "Canadian French". Which I delete the moment I see the word "Canadian".
Since more and more people seem to ask specifically for Canadian French, why don't you consider it as a separate language?
Translators can then specify such skill as an additional language pair, and if they don't, they won't receive those useless notifications.
Thanks,
Jacques ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It's not a separate language | Jan 20, 2006 |
But it's different from French in France because of the expressions. Orally, the accent is quite different too. It's like comparing the English spoken and written in USA and England.
There was an "interesting" article in the newspaper th... See more But it's different from French in France because of the expressions. Orally, the accent is quite different too. It's like comparing the English spoken and written in USA and England.
There was an "interesting" article in the newspaper this week.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060115/CPACTUALITES/601150968&SearchID=73233133535656
Yesterday, a journalist answered to this author's "insults" about rench in Quebec, but the reply is not yet online.
Nina ▲ Collapse
| | | | Fred Neild (X)
English to Spanish
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Please do the same thing for Portuguese, Portugal & Brazil. I get a lot of PT-PT job notifications.
There must be a simple way to change this.
Thanks
Fred
| | | | Richard Creech
United States
Local time: 07:46
French to English
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| Begs the Question | Jan 20, 2006 |
Nina Khmielnitzky wrote:
It's not a seperate language
Nina
What does it mean to be a language, then? Whether something is called a "language" or not, and what that language is called, is a political, not a linguistic issue.
It would not seem inappropriate to distinguish between European and American forms of French -- and Spanish, Portuguese and English for that matter, as there are significant differences in each language between the "colonial" form and that of the historical motherland. This easily opens up a can of worms, however. Should there be separate classifications for the French of France and that of Switzerland, Belgium and Italy? There was a recent forum where Dutch-speakers were discussing the division of their "language" into "Dutch/the Netherlands" and "Dutch/Belgium."
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Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Local time: 07:46
| If you follow this route... | Jan 20, 2006 |
...soon we will have
Canadian French
French French
Swiss French
Cote d'Ivoire French
Haiti French
Not to mention...
US English
British English
Canadian English
Australian English
and...
Castillian Spanish
Mexican Spanish
Guatemalan Spanish
Colombian Spanish
Venezuelan Spanish
Chilean Spanish
Argentinean Spanish
etc.
And I believe it would become a mess... If someone offers me... See more ...soon we will have
Canadian French
French French
Swiss French
Cote d'Ivoire French
Haiti French
Not to mention...
US English
British English
Canadian English
Australian English
and...
Castillian Spanish
Mexican Spanish
Guatemalan Spanish
Colombian Spanish
Venezuelan Spanish
Chilean Spanish
Argentinean Spanish
etc.
And I believe it would become a mess... If someone offers me to translate a text from English to "Chilean Spanish", I have two options: decline, or translate it, and have it proofread by a Chilean translator. And many colleagues I know, do the same when translating to English or French.
[Edited at 2006-01-20 15:39] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jacques DP
Switzerland
Local time: 13:46
English to French
TOPIC STARTER | Adaptation to the market | Jan 20, 2006 |
There is no need to multiply languages by countries; we can simply accomodate the market by distinguishing variations on one language when there is ample specific demand for the less common ones, as is the case for Canadian French.
The fact is, I receive all those notifications which are of no value to me. It's not a matter of linguistic theory.
Thanks,
Jacques
| | | | Richard Creech
United States
Local time: 07:46
French to English
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| History and the Marketplace | Jan 20, 2006 |
Rosa Maria Duenas Rios wrote:
If you follow this route ...soon we will have
Canadian French
French French
Swiss French ...
Yes this is the problem that one encounters. But this is nothing new. An originally common language that is dispersed geographically, over time, will grow into several different languages (Latin spawned French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, and the other Romance languages of France, Spain and Italy (Provenal, Catalan, and Veneto, for example). It is a question of degree, of course, and where change has become significant enough that a large body of people regard a language as separate and demand such recogition in the marketplace, as is the case with American versus European forms of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, it seems appropriate to accomodate them.
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 05:46
Dutch to English
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| Simple solution | Jan 20, 2006 |
Jacques Du Paquier wrote:
There is no need to multiply languages by countries; we can simply accomodate the market by distinguishing variations on one language when there is ample specific demand for the less common ones, as is the case for Canadian French.
The fact is, I receive all those notifications which are of no value to me. It's not a matter of linguistic theory.
Thanks,
Jacques
The simple solution is to turn off your job notifications and go to the Proz.com website once a day or so, to see if there is anything that interests you.
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RHELLER
United States
Local time: 05:46
French to English
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