Is it bad for me to learn Canadian french as a way of improving my european french which i learn in school?

Question

also if anyone knows any books which show different idioms between the canadian french and european french id greetly apreciate if you could name them=)

or any book explaining the differences between french canadian and european french.

Answer 1

Canadian French is NOT all that different from European French; most Quebeckers speak it intelligibly from a European standpoint. It is only when they speak "Joual" will a European French speaker need "subtitles".

Here is a brief essay on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_lang...

The biggest differences that are immediately noticeable and may cause confusion in a non-native speaker are the pronunciation of the syllables tu, du, ti and di. In Quebec they are pronounced tsu, dzu, tsi and dzi. There are some vocabulary differences, but these are relatively minor. If you listen to a Canadian French-language radio or television news program, you should have no trouble at all with it (or at least no more trouble than you would with a program from France). It's a beautiful language and a great place to visit.

Answer 2

It would be bad for you to learn Canadian French SLANG, but not the standard version. Just make sure you can make a clear distinction between how people speak in informal situations (among themselves) and how you're expected to speak in any formal situations (at work, school, etc.). Standard Canadian French is not any different from European French, except for the pronunciation and a few minor differences in vocabulary.

I always recommend reading the Wikipedia article on Quebec French, it is as concise and complete an article as you can possibly get if you're looking for something informative.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Fren...

As for books, there are plenty but I don't have any titles off the top of my head, but the Wikipedia article honestly covers everything you need to know.

Just bear in mind there are two variations: colloquial Canadian French and Standard Canadian French, and you need to learn the latter.

Answer 3

Yes they are not the same. Even the Canadian French, Maine french and LA french are all different.

Answer 4

Canadian french is NOTHING like European french. Not even close. If you want to improve your European French, don't confuse yourself with a language that has the same name but isn't even close.

Answer 5

I'm a French, living in France. Quebec's written French is very similar to ours, in fact in most texts you'll have to look for details to tell for sure if a text is French or French-Canadian. Pronunciation, however, is very different. If you plan on improving your writing skills, you can do so in Canada but if your goal is to get a good accent, I think it is a bad idea.  

Answer 6

Informal Canadian French (Joual) should be a bad influence for an international speaker. But standard Canadian French, as it is used on media, is almost the same as European French, the difference is mostly the accent, but the French should be no problem understanding it.

I use both Canadian and European media to learn French, my accent is influenced by both, and I think it sounds nice.

At any rate, if Canadian is your goal, your European French background won't be a trouble at all.