I want to talk FRENCH more fluently, where should I GO then? QUEBEC-Canada or FRANCE?

Question

What I really want is to learn French by talking with some native-speaker. Which people have the more beautiful French accents? The Quebec-Canadian or the Native-French?

Anyway, what are the advantages and disadvantages of going to Quebec instead of France? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of going to France instead of Quebec? All to learn Frech language here?

Answer 1

France of course.

I studied French in high school in New York but actually learned to speak conversationally in Montreal during my college days at McGill University (or actually my college nights with my French Canadian girl friend). It was only on my first trip to Paris that I realized that its not really proper French but a patois with both a distinct and identifiable accent and its own idiom.

In forty years I haven't been able to shake the accent. (Although I have learned not to exclaim "Tabernac!" as no one other than Quebecois seem to get it)

I wouldn't say the French were cruel or rude about it but maybe a bit patronizing from time to time.

Most Parisians have actually been rather nice in saying that they found the Quebcois accent "charming." Mind you, they do sometimes seem to giggle when saying so.

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Answer 2

To the extent that it's possible for me to be objective about this (born in France, lived there on and off for a number of years), I would say France. As much as I love Québec, which has its own unique charm and appeal (including the local French dialect, for that matter), I would say that France is likely to be the better choice for a couple of reasons. First of all, most French-speaking people in this world speak a variation of it that is heavily influenced and informed by the way it's spoken in France. Secondly, I would say that the percentage of people who speak English in Québec is significantly higher than it is in France. While that may or may not seem like an advantage in terms of your comfort zone, it's also less conducive to making progress. In France, you're more likely to *HAVE* to speak French in order to communicate, and the odds of someone bailing you out by speaking English are less. I would say that Québec would be better suited to future trips, if brushing up on your French is the goal. Bonne chance et bon courage !

Answer 3

Go to France - French Canadian has a very different accent.  I just spent time in the South of France with a co-worker (for work) from Quebec and the Frenchies made so much fun of her accent.  She even said it's much different and through the nasal.

Answer 4

Better to go to France .... but chose your region well as all of them have their own accent. I guess the easiest to start with would be in the east, as they tend to speak slower.

The south, while being beautiful, is home to the most incomprehenible accent (and I'm a francophone myself) ...

Forget about Quebec ... while I love their accent you just won't understand a thing, and if you learn French there, no French will be able to understand you!

Try Switzerland too! The Swiss speak veryyyyyy slowly and it's a beautiful, safe country.

Belgium is okay too, but the rest of the francophones laugh at them because their Belgian accent makes them sound like idiots.