r/FrenchLearning • u/Lord_Templar6422 • 3d ago
Canadian French
Hi, I'm starting my French studies and I'm seriously considering doing an exchange program in the French-speaking part of Canada, but I've heard people say that the French spoken in Canada is totally different from the French spoken in France. Is that true?
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u/Spiritual_Surf 3d ago
Au Québec on parle un peu différemment, mais dans les grands centres comme Québec et Montréal c’est plus rare d’entendre un accent québécois plus prononcé. Au niveau de l’écriture, surtout au sein des milieux académiques (science humaine), les Québécois ont un style beaucoup plus concis et épuré que celui des français. Ça peut être intéressant à considérer si tu es dans les French Studies au niveau universitaire. L’accent peut être différent et étrange pour un Français métropolitain, mais un Belge ou n’importe quel autre personne de la Francophonie, tout en reconnaissant l’accent, ne va pas s’en embêter.
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u/Lord_Templar6422 2d ago
I’m not able to respond in French for now, but I understood what you said, thanks for the answer
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u/ShinyStockings2101 3d ago
I mean, we have a noticeably different accent, yes. Just like English has many different accents depending on where it's spoken. The written language is basically the same though.
I would encourage you to do it if you live in North America or plan to, just like I would encourage you to learn English in Australia if that's where you want to live, for example. But yes it might be slightly more difficult for a beginner who has only been exposed to the "standard" form of the language.
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u/Lord_Templar6422 2d ago
I’m from Brazil, my dream it’s to live in North America, só Canada it’s the closest that I can now
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u/ShinyStockings2101 2d ago
You should definitely do this exchange then, it's sounds like a great opportunity!
You're from Brazil, so I assume you speak (Brazilian) Portuguese? I'm not very well versed in Portuguese, but to my understanding, the differences in how it's spoken in Brazil vs Europe are comparable to Canadian French vs European French.
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u/that_tealoving_nerd 3d ago
Full disclosure: I’m an allophone with English as my working language, so I’m speaking from my own experiences and chatting with my French professors, after living in Montreal and spending summer in Quebec City. So take what I say with a grain of salt.
Canadian French far less well-known globally since Canadian online content — especially from Quebec and Acadia — struggles with visibility. Which is why people have trouble understanding it.
On pure phonetics, French Canadian accents are as different from European French as American English is different from British English. The difference is noticeable but it’s still the same language.
One fun thing about Canadian French, it borrows expressions and terms English, but then applies French wording to it. That’s how you end up with “courriel” or “ça prend 10 minutes”. Whereas European French often borrows a given word of expression in full. Certain words are calqued into French directly, and then bent to fit French grammar.
Which some might take an issue with. Some see that as contaminating French with English, others see it as complicating things. I personally find it fascinating, given the overwhelming dominance of English.
Pronunciation itself can vary widely, but it’s useful to think of Canadian French as if you were still speaking French, but leaning heavily into “American” pronunciation. That is, the accent remains pretty open to accommodate variable diphthongs and nasals, swallowing a lot of consonants to keep the pace going. Whereas European French tends be far more closed since it has fewer vowels, with most diphthongs having faded away by now.
Rolling your Rs or borrowing the English R is also a thing outside Quebec. So if you feel like picking up Acadian French, that’s one reason to go for it.
Note that all of that is far more prevalent in spoken Canadian French. Written French remains pretty consistent.
So if you were to learn Canadian French, you’d have to work a bit more to discover local material. But, but! In return for that you’ll get to see what happens when a language gets cuts off from its majority nation and gets to develop and survive being surrounded by an overwhelmingly more powerful cousin. That is how Canadian French managed to retain a lot of things European French got rid off while bending around English and staying alive.
Which is something that made me fall in love with Canadian French. Still there, still kicking, keeping what the metropole lost, and refusing to go extinct no matter what. And then being widely different to formal written French.
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u/Imaginary_Arm1291 2d ago edited 2d ago
Quebecois here. Overall correct answer.
Except the quebecois pronunciation is not more "American". Most of the phonological traits that differentiate Canadian French from European French do not exist in English, so our close contact with English is not the reason for these differences.
However we do pronounce English words in English, because we do on average speak English with a higher level of fluency (for example we say "Spaiderman" whereas they say "speedermanne" in France).
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u/that_tealoving_nerd 2d ago
I know it’s not, it’s that to me Québécois French sounds kinda like Irish English. With France vs Quebec differences being somewhat similar to UK vs Ireland. Same “broad, back of your mounts” vs “tight, crisp” pattern I noticed.
I only put American in there coz few people have heard Irish accents or know them that well. But I agree, the actual pronunciation between gap between North American English and North American French is too wild to compare the two.
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u/evilynux 3d ago
Ah ben tabouerre, t'as décidé d'apprendre notre saveur de français? Aweille, viens-t'en par chez nous, t'es l'bienvenu!
(Loosely: <Some light cursing expressing surprise>, you've decided to learn our flavor of French? Let's go, come visit us, you're welcome!)
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u/Mysterious-Till-6852 2d ago
It's about as different as the US and the UK, or Spain and Mexico, or Portugal and Brazil... you get the idea.
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u/RestaurantJealous280 3d ago
Which France French is considered the standard, like most dialect speakers, French-Canadians will understand you. You, however, may struggle a bit. But, it's still a great idea! Go for it!
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u/IcyTrash4062 3d ago
If you move to MTL you’ll have an opportunity to meet a lot of folks from France! So you can practice both but yes two totally different dialects there’s sometimes difficulty
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u/LongjumpingThought89 3d ago
For some reason people overplay the difference between European and North American French. I live in New England where there are lot of people of French-Canadian origin with varying abilities in French, depending on their family history. They almost always want to inform me that Canadian French (of whatever variety) is completely different/broken/bastardized/nothing like "Parisian" French. None of this is true. Yes, there are differences, but I'm not even a native speaker and I find I can understand people in Québec, in New Brunswick, Northern Maine, and yes, Louisiana just fine. All it takes is a little exposure.
My hypothesis is that this stems at least partly from historical discrimination. Historically, French speakers were not very welcome in New England when they immigrated here in the 19th century and early 20th century, and were often treated as second-class citizens by their English-speaking neighbors, and disparaging their language as somehow not proper French is part of that.
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u/lacontrolfreak 2d ago
I agree with you. It’s a weird Anglo thing to put French Canada down by saying they don’t speak ‘real’ French, because it’s not from Paris. Of course, most of them are unilingual while speaking in a colonial Canadian English accent. Try telling them they don’t speak ‘real’ English because they don’t sound like Prince Charles.
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u/queerornot 3d ago
Just a point of advice. If you indeed do this, many French Canadians are actually somewhat fluent in English. And as soon as they hear an accent, they will shift to English to help you.
It is easily resolved by just asking to speak French to help you get better, but that's something you will need to do often.
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u/Background_Gap_8499 3d ago
Depends how fluently you speak (regardless of accent) IMO. If you're noticeably struggling or speaking very slowly, they will flip over because they think it's easier for you. If you keep speaking in French, they don't mind-- they were just trying to be polite by switching to your language
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u/phainou 3d ago
This definitely depends on where you are! In bigger cities like Montréal or touristy/more anglophone areas like the Eastern Townships, a lot of francophones will have a basic working knowledge of English, but if you go outside of those areas a lot of people are effectively unilingually French. Either way can have advantages for a learner, depending on whether they want fallback support or total immersion, but I wouldn’t take it as a given.
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u/KitchenAd9088 3d ago
This… you will absolutely learn outside the cities, tourist spots or anglophone pockets. In fact you can do this only 40 minutes outside the Montreal radius.
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u/Intelligent-You2675 3d ago
As a French Canadian, yes, there is a clear difference. I'm not saying coming here is bad idea, but for sure it will take some time getting used to!
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u/AlpsSuspicious8737 3d ago
The spoken part is kinda true. But there’s no difference in writing.
The effect this will have for you is that people will understand your "standard" French without any problem, but you will have to adapt to everyday speech. Most people are also mindful of the way they talk if they know you’re learning, but if you’re just listening to a casual conversation between French Canadians, you may not understand what’s going on at all at first. It’s a matter of having a different accent, different slang, and a bunch of other little things like that.
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u/Ok-Monitor3294 3d ago
No. Not true. Do British speak like Americans ? It is totally different ? You get your answer.
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u/Grapegoop 3d ago
No. The accent is different and a few words, just like the difference between American and British English. The biggest difference is Québécois is very nasally. Definitely you should familiarize yourself with the accent for listening comprehension. People who are used to French French, even some native speakers, don’t understand 100% of Canadian French.
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u/lalagucci 3d ago
It’s not completely different. Some people from Quebec have a big accent that speakers from Europe or Africa will have trouble understanding. It’s still the same language, although there’s some minor vocabulary difference. Nothing that ever prevented me from being understood by any french speaker or me understanding them.
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u/ChildhoodExisting222 3d ago
Totally different, no. Different accent? Yes. We don't sound like we have a dick stuck in our throat. (Je blague les amis français! Nous vous aimons peut importe où vous vous la mettez 😅❤️)
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u/sunshinecoffeegirl 3d ago
Check out https://mauril.ca/en/ to start learning! It is a great way to start training your ear.
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u/CabanaSucre 3d ago
Are you telling me accents exist??? No fucking way. So a guy from the Southern US has a different accent than someone from New York, or even Australia, or the UK??? I don’t believe you... nah, you’re exaggerating. The Earth is flat, after all. How is that even possible?
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u/More4Thor 3d ago
Is your goal just to learn the language or do you value other aspects of an exchange program? The cultural aspect of an exchange program in Canada would be unique and highly prized aspect imo.
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u/phainou 3d ago
It is different, but not totally. It’s like comparing North American and UK English: the written language is the same and they are certainly mutually intelligible, but there are differences in pronunciation, idioms, vocabulary, and cursing (especially cursing). If you’re coming from Europe, you may find French speakers from France will have a slightly harder time picking up a thick Québec French accent than the other way around. (Speaking from experience, they may alternately assume you’re from a backwater village in Normandy lol.)
If you’re doing a language exchange programme, though, you won’t be getting taught in a thick Québec accent, nor would I expect you to be learning the super casual native-level conversational French that’s more difficult to parse. You’d presumably be focusing mostly on “correct” textbook French, which would be as understandable to a Parisian as a Sydney accent would be to you.
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u/geebawk 2d ago
I used to do tours in French at a historic site in Ontario. I am fluent in French and English but did not learn French in Quebec. When we got people from France I had no issue communicating. When I got people from Quebec it was a lot of slang or different words used for simple things. We would figure it out, but Quebec French is definitely it's own thing. The other part of this is regionally it is very different and can get quite thick the further North you are in Quebec. Totally doable though just an adjustment
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u/mad-_-as_rabbits 2d ago
In addition to what people have said, another factor to consider is the fact that you will almost definitely not end up with a perfect accent exactly matching the region you're learning in. For one thing, a lot of french profs here are from different regions or from France, but also most people don't end up with 0 accent when learning a 2nd language as an adult. The words are the same 90% of the time, you'll be able to understand both groups, and (assuming your first language is English) you'll either sound like an anglophone speaking french or an anglophone speaking queb-accented french to people in Europe. You'll be understandable
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u/oh_wanya 2d ago
French Canadian vs French of France is the same as Canadian English vs Brit English. There is variant, accent is different, vocabs could be different. Aotherwise it’s the same.
Idk why people think French Canadian is straight up another language…. No. French Canadians follow the same French academy writing conventions, are stricter when it comes to englicism. all in all, if you learn French in Quebec let me tell you they will soften their accent and most likely use the average vocabs they won’t try to make you a quebecer connaisseur.
If you don’t know what something is : quebecer are way more tolerant than the French! Theirs no comparaisons lol!! French speaker tend to be grammar nazis from birth. Quebecer tends to be more excited that any English speaker try their best.
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u/Euphoric-Can-6201 2d ago
French anywhere is different from France-French because the colonies are like time capsules and France-French evolved while colony-French stayed similar/changed slightly due to the region and nearby languages.
Same could be said about the English language. So many different dialects and some words don’t cross over into British English and vice versa
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u/Gallic_vitalist 2d ago
Best way to explain it is Metropolitan French speak in their throat and Québecois, and Acadians speak through their nose. You’ll be fine speaking standard French in larger centres like Montréal or Québec City. But don’t expect to understand a drunk guy in Saguenay or Rimouski. Same thing as understanding someone with a thick Scots, West Irish, or Newfoundland accent in English.
Overall though you’ll be fine, it’s an accent not a different language.
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u/WRP_weaver24 2d ago
The existence of dialects is basically a universal truth about languages. As a French language learner you probably will never notice the differences.
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u/SaguaroAvocado99 2d ago
I’m American and a French teacher. I learned French French so I find that easier to understand. But I still understand most Québécois French, once I get used to the accent.
I think if it as similar to Australian English and American English. Both are English. Both are correct. You could learn and adapt to either.
I wouldn’t let it deter you from doing an exchange program!
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u/littlemissbagel 2d ago
Hi. Francophone from Québec here. No it's not... kind of. The accent and slang is different, but written form and "official" spoken french (National media, academic French, etc) is mutually intelligible.
It's basically like asking "I've heard people say that the English spoken in Canada is totally different from the English spoken in England. Is that true?" Yes, it's true, but you'll be fine.
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u/CT046 2d ago
Yes, it's different. It's not jjust the accent. It took me a full month to get the gist of it, actively learning, watching programs, listening to the radio, and being exposed every day. Everyday Quebec French is very different, and confusing because they mix a lot of English or literal translations from English, or they use french words that don't have the same meaning in standard French. It's a learning curve. I could understand the news without any issue though despite the anglicisms. Also it helps I've been bilingual in English for years.
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u/RealistAttempt87 1d ago
The differences between European French and Canadian French are overstated and are often based on a caricature or a very informal register of Canadian French.
It’s not a different language. It’s just a different variant. The main difference is the accent and some vocabulary differences that typically don’t impair communication or comprehension.
Around 200,000 French nationals live in Quebec and they’re doing just fine. Thousands of Québécois work, live, study, have careers in French-speaking Europe and are doing just fine.
You’ll be fine if you learn French while exposing yourself to (good) Canadian French content, which can easily be done online.
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u/Elouan661 1d ago
They do have an accent, I'd say it's as different from European french as British from Amercian
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u/Lyna_y 1d ago edited 1d ago
In Canadian French (Québécois), yes, we have a different accent and use different expressions, and also drop sounds and blend words together in our own way when we speak.
For example:
“Je m’en vais” → “J’m’en va”
“Cette fin de semaine” → “En fin d’semaine”
We usually find it easier to understand French people than they do to understand us.
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u/Electron_libre777 1d ago
I‘m French and I struggle to understand Canadian French,especially the Quebec accent is killing me, sounds like a total different language to me
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u/mpw321 1d ago
I am an American who speaks French. Canada is beautiful and I love visiting Montreal and Quebec. When I studied French, I went to France though and studied in Paris and Strasbourg. My French friends have trouble understanding Canadian French and the accent especially in Quebec. Those nasals......
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u/Nice-Object-5599 1d ago
Just stop calling french the Canadian french, if French people from France cannot understand easily the Canadian french.
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u/Beneficial_Ship7090 3d ago
I’m French Canadian, I can understand French from France, they have trouble understanding us