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    Archive for June, 2013

    How Canadian Labeling Laws Can Help You Learn French at the Supermarket

    Even if you don’t live in Canada!

    Canadians, and visitors to Canada, know that products sold in Canada have to be labeled in both English and French. It’s one of the things that Canadian customs checks for when products cross the border.

    French Labeled Squid

    This box of frozen squid, at a supermarket in Hawaii is labeled in English and French.

    What you probably didn’t know is that these Canadian labeling laws make every trip to a Canadian supermarket AND every trip to a US supermarket a chance to learn more French.

    You see, businessmen hate making separate English and French versions of the same thing, so a lot of times, they simply print both English and French labels on the same box so they can sell the same version to the US and Canada.

    Pay Attention to French Labels

    If you live in Canada, turn every trip to the supermarket into a chance to learn a few new French words.

    If you live in the United States, turn every trip to the supermarket into a search for products labeled in both English and French. You will find them!

    When you find one, compare the labels and learn to read the French words.

    Make it a game!

    You’ll turn your shopping time into French study time. What a deal!

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    by Brent Van Arsdell

    Brent is an engineer . . . and a world traveler. When he’s not traveling the world, he’s busy making software to help people Learn Canadian French and other languages.

    Big Differences Between Canadian French and Paris French

    Editor’s Note: This is a controversial article, written by a Dutch author (who spoke good French) based on his travels both in France, which he loved, and Quebec, which he also loved.

    This article is probably incomplete in it’s explanation because it was based on the observations of one traveler, however it IS interesting. Perhaps you’ll remember the story of the blind men and the elephant as you read it.

    We welcome your gentle comments below:

    It is commonly believed that Canadian French and Metropolitan French are pretty much the same, aside from a few pronunciation changes and some colloquial idiom quirks. However, those who learn Canadian French all agree that the difference goes well beyond that. In fact, the differences are so significant that if you are planning to work, live or study in Canada, it might be well worth your effort to learn Canadian French first.

    In a sense, Canadian French is more traditional, for instance when it comes to grammar and idiom, whereas Metropolitan French is more formal. This is noticeable especially in pronunciation. In fact, visitors to Canada who did not learn Canadian French first, often find that Canadians consider Metropolitan French to be quite pompous.

    So What Are the Differences?

    The most striking difference between Metropolitan French and Canadian French for those who already speak French is the idiom. Obviously, both are correct, and if you analyze the different words in either language they both make a lot of sense, if you take into account cultural differences and historic development of each of the two countries.

    Obviously, Canada’s border with the USA has also caused the adoption of English words into Canadian French, including the transliterations that usually go with that.

    Here are some fun examples to show you how you could get seriously confused, or indeed embarrassed, if you go to Canada and you don’t learn Canadian French first:

    • In France, money is ‘argent’. In Canada, they say ‘bacon’.
    • A pencil sharpener is a ‘taille-crayon’, but in Canada it’s called an ‘aiguisoir’.
    • Where throwing up is ‘vomir’ in France, Canadian French borrowed ‘barf’ from US English and made it a verb: ‘barfer’
    • ‘Why’ in French is: ‘pourquoi?’ In Canada it’s: ‘à cause?’
    • In French, kissing or a kiss is: ‘baiser’ or ‘bise’ (bisou). In Canadian French, both are: ‘bec’
    • A bathroom is ‘une toilette’ in France. In Canada you could hear the word ‘bécosse’ and have no idea what is being said. It’s a deformation of the English: ‘backhouse’.
    • A girlfriend in France is ‘copine’ or ‘petite amie’. In Canada it’s common to say: ‘ma blonde’ even if your girlfriend isn’t blonde at all.
    • Underwear is ‘culotte’ in France, in Canada you say: ‘bobettes’
    • Did you ever botch up something? They’ll understand perfectly: ‘botcher’ is the word they use in Canada.

    The list is, of course, endless. What matters is that you realize that the differences are extensive. If you intend to get the most out of your stay in Canada, it’s really worth your trouble to at least learn some of its idiom.

    Will You Understand Canadians With Your Paris French?

    Yes, to some degree. But there will definitely be situations where the differences in pronunciation will leave you confused.

    Some of the vowels sound distinctly different. Furthermore, Canadian French tends to be even faster than Metropolitan French. When you learn Canadian French, you’ll notice that they also seem to swallow words or partial words that in Metropolitan French are indeed supposed to be pronounced. This is also partially the reason why Continental French is often seen as a bit stuck up or pompous in Canada.

    All in all, it is a really good idea to learn Canadian French if you plan to spend any length of time there. And even if it’s just for a holiday, you will feel so much more at ease when talking to Canadians. And an added benefit? Canadians will really appreciate it if you show that you’ve tried to learn Canadian French instead of thinking: ‘Well, I speak French, they’ll understand me just fine!’. And they’ll show you, and your holidays will be that much more fun!

    If you would like to try our Canadian French demo, then click on Canadian French and then click on the big “Try It” button.

    Why Canadian French is Different From Paris French

    On July 3, 1608, a young descendant of a family of mariners by the name of Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec. With that, the French language was established on the North American continent.

    He brought with him, obviously, the French commonly spoken in France. As the years rolled on, the two versions of the language became quite distinct. People often think that the difference is similar to American vs. UK English, but Canadian French and Paris French are much more different that that.

    When you start to learn Canadian French, you might be surprised by how much it really differs from Paris French, also known as Metropolitan French. The two languages developed in very different ways and for different reasons.

    It will be fairly easy to recognize the influence of English when you learn Canadian French, but did you realize that Canadian French is actually much closer to Classic French as it was spoken before the French Revolution?

    Major Changes

    Two things happened that caused modern Continental French and Canadian French to be two very distinct beasts.

    First, France ceded Canada to England in 1763. Because of this, the following era saw a greatly reduced amount of cultural and business contact between France and Canada. It also caused English to gain a much broader coverage throughout Canada.

    But the main event that caused the modern difference had to do with the French Revolution, which took place between 1789 and 1799. Up until then, the French language was quite similar to the root-version of Canadian French. But when the revolution ended, the French of the Parisian bourgeoisie became the official language of the nation – a radical divergence from the previous format of the language.

    French is a very adaptable language. It moves and grows and it develops along with its culture fluently. At the same time, French in France tends to be conservative, for want of a better word. I still remember marveling in school when I heard that a computer in French isn’t called ‘un computeur’ but ‘un ordenateur. As my teacher said at the time: “If the French can avoid importing a foreign word into their language, they darn well will.”

    As such, both Canadian French and Paris French both evolved and developed in their own distinct ways. That’s why,  if you learn Canadian French, you’ll actually be speaking the language of kings and nobility. Well, with some English thrown into the mix, of course.

    Why not have a go and see for yourself what Canadian French is like?

    Click here to try our free Canadian French lesson today.

    How to Tell if Someone is Russian – So You Can Practice Russian

    When you are starting to learn Russian, it’s a lot of fun to meet Russians and try to talk to them in Russian. This is usually a very pleasant way to make new friends.

    However, when you are just starting out, it’s really hard to tell the difference between a Russian accent and a French or German accent. Even after you are fluent in Russian, it might still be hard to tell the difference between someone speaking English with a Russian accent or a Polish accent.

    Say You Like Their Accent

    You need to do something to let people know you are friendly. People whose native language is Russian can be a little bit afraid to tell you where they originally were from because immigrants and travelers sometimes aren’t treated very well. To reassure them that you mean well, here’s what to do.

    Say something like, “I like your accent; where are you from?” This lets them know you are friendly, and it lets them know that they should tell you about growing up in Moscow, not about the apartment where they now live in New York City.

    This Works in a Lot of Places

    I’ve used this method to meet Russians everywhere from Hawaii to New Zealand to London. It’s disarming, and it’s a good way to switch to talking in Russian.

    Of Course You are Being Honest

    Can you honestly say that you like their accent? Of course, you can. You will soon be speaking Russian with an accent (at least at first), and it’s high time that you develop a love for interesting accents. It’s a great way to meet Russians outside of Russia.

    Would You Like to Learn Russian?

    If you think you would like to learn Russian, it’s a good idea to test out several different programs to see which one works for you.

    I tell my friends that they should try two different programs for 30 minutes each, and then buy the one where they can remember more Russian several days later.

    Click here to try my favorite program for learning Russian.

    The Most Overlooked Tool for Beginners Learning Russian

    When you speak Italian, you need to open your mouth wide. When you speak American English, you need to open your mouth about halfway. But when you speak Russian, you need to keep your mouth mostly closed.

    One of the most important pieces of advice I can give you when you are learning Russian is to keep you mouth closed! If you are a native speaker of English, it turns out to be very hard to keep your mouth closed enough to easily say Russian words. Here’s how to make it easier.

    Get a Mirror Then Do This

    1. Put a fingernail (not your entire finger, just the nail) between your front teeth and lightly bite down on it. That’s about the most your mouth should open when speaking Russian.

    2. Get a mirror and watch yourself in it to make sure you are keeping your mouth closed. It’s a lot of fun to practice with a mirror as long as you have a good attitude. You can feel like a kid again!

    3. Try biting down on a toothpick and saying your Russian words with the toothpick between your back teeth. This will keep your jaw in the right position. With the toothpick between your teeth, try to practice your Russian words. Focus on moving your lips and your tongue to make the sounds come out right.

    After you get the idea of how to keep your jaw closed, it will be okay to move your jaw a little when you are speaking Russian. However, Russian is mostly a “mouth closed” language.

    Learning Russian is a lot of fun! Get started with us today.

    The Russian Alphabet Makes Learning Russian Easier


    If you are just starting to study Russian, you should know that the Russian alphabet will make learning Russian easier, not harder. It’s fun, and it’s not hard to learn.

    However, I don’t recommend that you start learning Russian by learning the alphabet. That’s not a good place to start. First learn to speak and understand Russian fairly well, and then learning to read it will be easy.

    To understand the Cyrillic alphabet, you need to know what an alphabet is.

    An alphabet is a method for writing sounds on paper. That’s all it is—nothing more, nothing less.

    How good the alphabet is can be measured in part by how consistently a particular symbol represents a particular sound. If your alphabet has very few exceptions, it’s a very good alphabet. If it has a lot of exceptions with one symbol sometimes making many different sounds, then it’s not such a good alphabet.

    However, there is one big problem that gets worse as time goes by. All living languages evolve by importing foreign words. Dead languages (like Latin) don’t import new words. No one speaks Latin anymore.

    Living languages all import foreign words, and when they do, they have rules for how they import words. That’s not something you are likely to have thought about unless you are a student of languages. English has the following rule for importing foreign words. If the word is coming from a language that uses basically the same alphabet as English (the Latin alphabet), English keeps the foreign word’s spelling and tries to copy the foreign pronunciation.

    This rule results in the English language becoming less and less phonetic with every passing year. However, if you think English is bad, French is far worse. Modern French is essentially two different languages: spoken French and written French. English is also quickly evolving to become two different languages.

    Other languages that have their own alphabet (like Russian) have a different rule for importing foreign words. Their rule is to try to copy the sound of the foreign word, then spell the word phonetically with their own alphabet. The result is that these languages stay phonetic, while languages that use an alphabet that is common to many other languages do NOT stay phonetic.

    The Russian alphabet keeps the language phonetic. The fact that you, as a student of Russian, must learn a different alphabet (which is really easy) keeps the Russian language one simple language. A little bit more effort up front saves a lot of effort learning to read later.

    Do you know how English language dictionaries have words marked in funny characters that tell you how to pronounce the word? Well, Russian is so phonetic that they don’t really need special characters to tell you how to say the words. In fact, most Russian dictionaries don’t have special phonetic markings to tell you how to pronounce the word like English dictionaries do.

    Which language will be easier to learn to read and understand: Czech or Russian? Czech uses the Latin alphabet (more or less) while Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. For most people Russian would be easier to learn because it’s more phonetic. The Russian alphabet is easy to learn.

    Another thing that makes learning Russian easier is that the Cyrillic alphabet is optimized for Russian. Think of it as a special-purpose tool instead of a one-size-fits-all tool.

    Why Russians Don’t Have What We Call “Fun”

    Before you start studying foreign languages, you tend to think that every language has a way of saying the things that you currently say in your language. However, this really isn’t the case. What you will find when you learn another language, like Russian, is that it has ways of saying some things that simply cannot be expressed in English, and also that it lacks ways of saying things that we commonly say in English.

    This affects how people behave. If you have a word for something, you can encourage it, promote it, and even write songs about it. You see, words are tools that we use for thinking, just like a hammers are tools that we use for pounding nails. If your language lacks a word for something, it is very difficult to make whatever that is a big part of your life.

    So what is the Russian word for fun? Well, there really isn’t one. There is a word for pleasant and a word for interesting, but there really isn’t a Russian word for fun. Now Russians do know how to have fun; for example, Russian parties are generally a lot more fun than the typical American party, but since they don’t have a word for fun, fun isn’t something that their society focuses on, and it isn’t as big a part of their lives.

    So when you learn Russian and/or travel to Russia, you will probably have a lot of fun, but there is no Russian word that exactly describes it.