During my time in Ottawa it became very obvious very quickly that there is a lot more French-English bilingual interaction than I am used to. Going through the Douglas College program, the only spoken language we were exposed to was English. We have been trained to work from ASL-English. Being in Vancouver, BC we are one of the farthest cities in Canada from Quebec. Therefore, there is limited, if any, French being used in Vancouver. It was a harsh realization when I moved back to Ottawa, essentially the closest city to Quebec, just how much French would be involved in spoken language communication.
I have not lived in Ottawa since 2015, while it is my hometown I did forget the challenges people who do not speak French face. If you do not speak French you are absolutely able to communicate with almost anybody in the city and socially it does not hold you back, professionally however, French is almost a must. Due to the fact that Ottawa is very much a government city, a lot of the interpreting work for ASL is in relation to the government. Therefore, French is very much present. This meant that when I was in a government environment there was a lot of spoken French present as well as English. While my French is sub-par to say the least I do have a some understanding of the language. The other aspect of Ottawa being so close to Quebec and so immersed in the French language, is that a lot of the spoken English is spoken by individuals whose first language is actually French, so the Quebec native English accent can be very strong. Again, this is something I became very used to living in Ottawa but due to the fact that I have been out of the city for several years I forgot how challenging it can be.
Communicating with people who speak English but with a Quebec French accent is difficult, especially when we are interpreting. Certain words and phrases sound very different in English when spoken by a Quebec native French speaker. Phrases such as “close the lights” meaning to turn off the lights is a common phrase that occasionally throws people off. “Close the lights” being an almost word for word translation of the French phrase “ferme les lumières”. Also consonant sounds in English are not always what we would expect coming from a Quebec native French speaker. For example, the “th” sound we have in words like “theatre” or “both” often have a “t” or “d” sound to them. This means that “theatre” may sound more the “tee-atre” or “both” may sound like “boat”, which can be very confusing and lead to misunderstandings.
The French-English bilingualism in Ottawa is challenging but having spent nearly two and a half months in Ottawa I am starting to refresh my memory and have a much better grasp on the Quebec native French speaker’s accent in English and hope to continue to improve on my comprehension and communication skills going forward.
Chris Chiarelli - An INTR Journey 