Moving to Ottawa
#1
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Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 161
Moving to Ottawa
well after 3 years in Calgary and loving it we have to move to Ottawa. Husband has been there for over a year in his job and has been promoted so as, son has graduated, he wants us to be with him. Thanks to Air Canada and WestJet can’t afford him to fly home too often so a move is on the cards. Husband works in Kanata and we need to be near to public transport so any recommendations? Also I have been recommended for a job but French is mandatory and have to pass an oral exam, is it France French or Québécois French? What should I expect from Ottawa? TIA
#2
Re: Moving to Ottawa
Bus service to and from Kanata is OK. We live in north Kanata, where most of the high-tech stuff is, but I get the bus downtown every day. Taxi takes about 40 mins to the airport and is around $60 plus.
Also there are direct flights from Ottawa to London on Air Canada, which we are happy about.
Can't help much with the French language as I don't speak it, but my wife knows euro-French quite well and she has quite a few problems understanding Quebec-French, so I guess it's somewhat different.
Otherwise you're about 4 hours drive / bus / train from Toronto and 2 hours from Montreal. Hope that helps.
Also there are direct flights from Ottawa to London on Air Canada, which we are happy about.
Can't help much with the French language as I don't speak it, but my wife knows euro-French quite well and she has quite a few problems understanding Quebec-French, so I guess it's somewhat different.
Otherwise you're about 4 hours drive / bus / train from Toronto and 2 hours from Montreal. Hope that helps.
#3
Re: Moving to Ottawa
well after 3 years in Calgary and loving it we have to move to Ottawa. Husband has been there for over a year in his job and has been promoted so as, son has graduated, he wants us to be with him. Thanks to Air Canada and WestJet can’t afford him to fly home too often so a move is on the cards. Husband works in Kanata and we need to be near to public transport so any recommendations? Also I have been recommended for a job but French is mandatory and have to pass an oral exam, is it France French or Québécois French? What should I expect from Ottawa? TIA
Quebec French is very hard to understand for me. I learnt Parisian French and my cousins wife from Paris was quite dismissive of it. Words/expressions that haven’t been used in France in a long time.
The other poster mentioned the taxi cost to the airport. Uber is much cheaper.
#4
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Re: Moving to Ottawa
I've been surprised to discover that Ontarian French is the one I have the biggest problem with. Two week vacation to Montreal, Quebec City & Sherbrooke, all done in French, I had problems understanding one single elderly person the entire time. Manitoban French, taking a university module in French including a presentation and a debate with a natively Franco-Manitoban (where I scored 95%, so I'm pretty confident about my abilities), not a problem. Some issues around accents (eg I expected 'juridique' to rhyme with 'leak', not 'pick') but generally fine. One class we had done by two natively Franco-Ontarians, who work in Ottawa (not sure where in ON they were from originally). An accent I'd never conceived of before (suddenly 'etre' no longer rhymed with 'Petra', but with 'Haida'), I could barely pick out a few words in every sentence... that was a painful few hours
#5
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Joined: Sep 2009
Location: Ottineau
Posts: 6,342
Re: Moving to Ottawa
I live in Quebec and even I struggle with the accent. My wife, who is from Quebec struggles with some Quebec accents.
The Ottawa Valley accent is particularly horrible (both English and French).
The Ottawa Valley accent is particularly horrible (both English and French).
#7
Re: Moving to Ottawa
I've been surprised to discover that Ontarian French is the one I have the biggest problem with. Two week vacation to Montreal, Quebec City & Sherbrooke, all done in French, I had problems understanding one single elderly person the entire time. Manitoban French, taking a university module in French including a presentation and a debate with a natively Franco-Manitoban (where I scored 95%, so I'm pretty confident about my abilities), not a problem. Some issues around accents (eg I expected 'juridique' to rhyme with 'leak', not 'pick') but generally fine. One class we had done by two natively Franco-Ontarians, who work in Ottawa (not sure where in ON they were from originally). An accent I'd never conceived of before (suddenly 'etre' no longer rhymed with 'Petra', but with 'Haida'), I could barely pick out a few words in every sentence... that was a painful few hours
#8
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Joined: Apr 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 19,879
Re: Moving to Ottawa
I've moved your thread as the Maple Leaf Forum is for off topic posts - and this post is about moving within Canada
#9
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Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 161
Re: Moving to Ottawa
Thanks Siouxie, guess any job in government is out then as this job was with the health service and I would just about get by with an oral French exam speaking French from France but don’t stand a chance with québécois French even after listening to Habs commentary. I was told that France French is French 2.0 whereas québécois French is peasant French from the 1700s that has never evolved.
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
#10
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 468
Re: Moving to Ottawa
Thanks Siouxie, guess any job in government is out then as this job was with the health service and I would just about get by with an oral French exam speaking French from France but don’t stand a chance with québécois French even after listening to Habs commentary. I was told that France French is French 2.0 whereas québécois French is peasant French from the 1700s that has never evolved.
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
I speak, write and comprehend Parisian French fluently. I sometimes struggle to understand some Quebecois colleagues but I get by just fine. I just show that I didn't catch what they are trying to say and they either use different words to explain it or say it again in English. In the dept where I work, I speak more French than English.
Kanata isn't bad at all. I live in Barrhaven which is 15 mins from Kanata
#11
Re: Moving to Ottawa
Excellent summary of quebecois French. The vast majority of the emigration from France to Quebec had ended by the late 1800's in the pre-airplane/pre-internet/pre-telephone era so communication with France and the French language was difficult and the French language in Canada remained quite stagnant. Quebec has a whole sub-culture of celebrities in TV/music/movies/media that are home grown that don't have any following in France or english Canada.
#12
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Joined: Sep 2009
Location: Ottineau
Posts: 6,342
Re: Moving to Ottawa
Thanks Siouxie, guess any job in government is out then as this job was with the health service and I would just about get by with an oral French exam speaking French from France but don’t stand a chance with québécois French even after listening to Habs commentary. I was told that France French is French 2.0 whereas québécois French is peasant French from the 1700s that has never evolved.
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
Pleased to hear Kanata is pretty well connected transit wise. I’ll be honest not looking forward to moving, I don’t like the sound of the weather for starters but I guess if I want to stay married move I must
Most of the original settlers came from Normandy and brought their language with them. It wasn't until later that Louis XIV and Cardinal Richelieu imposed Modern French (ie Parisian French).
By contrast, Acadians (and Creole) generally trace back to SW France and speak very differently. My wife has difficulty understanding Acadians.
#13
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Posts: 3,874
Re: Moving to Ottawa
OH was visiting with some scientists in Ontario many years ago. He learnt Parisian French in England and has kept it up.
But the others at a BBQ were ....... 1 Acadian, 1 Quebecois, 1 Manitoban French, and 1 New Brunswicker
He said they all managed to make themselves understood, but had a great deal of fun comparing the different words and pronunciations.
I think the free flowing alcohol may also have helped / hindered!
But the others at a BBQ were ....... 1 Acadian, 1 Quebecois, 1 Manitoban French, and 1 New Brunswicker
He said they all managed to make themselves understood, but had a great deal of fun comparing the different words and pronunciations.
I think the free flowing alcohol may also have helped / hindered!
#14
Re: Moving to Ottawa
At my children's, francophone, school, there was a pyramid of linguistic snobbery. One was not to sound as if one came from Canada and at, no cost, should one sound like a franco-Ontarian. They are, of course, franco-Ontarians but I rarely point that out.
#15
Re: Moving to Ottawa
True stories!
My buddy is French Canadian (brought up in Montreal). Of course I teased him that the French would not understand his accent in France, he of course thought he would be received with open arms as a long lost cousin!
First occasion, he was delighted that an old French lady thought he was from Marsaille - he was so happy until I pointed out that the French think that the Marsaille accent is in the French what Geordie is to English!
Second occasion, he was talking to two French guys in a bar on Bordeaux in what he thought was French. I noticed that one of the guys was muttering to the other guy after everything my buddy said. It dawned on me that he was 'translating' from Quebeqoius to true French - biddy very unhappy!
My buddy is French Canadian (brought up in Montreal). Of course I teased him that the French would not understand his accent in France, he of course thought he would be received with open arms as a long lost cousin!
First occasion, he was delighted that an old French lady thought he was from Marsaille - he was so happy until I pointed out that the French think that the Marsaille accent is in the French what Geordie is to English!
Second occasion, he was talking to two French guys in a bar on Bordeaux in what he thought was French. I noticed that one of the guys was muttering to the other guy after everything my buddy said. It dawned on me that he was 'translating' from Quebeqoius to true French - biddy very unhappy!