bono_man2002
Blue Crack Addict
Nicely put Bonnie!
On another note, I want to properly learn a language, not just fuck around looking at a whole bunch of them, and as far as what I hope of my future goes, either French or Spanish would potentially be equally useful. But I only want to concentrate on one of them. Whaddayou guys think? I already know more Spanish (did it in school, can actually pronounce some of the worlds properly) but French definitely makes it sound like you know your shit, and it will make the ladies and gentlemen swoon. Just say one of them. Ah, go on.
You could probably learn both. There are heaps of similarities between those two and Italian.
I guess it all depends on whether you'd rather go to Eastern Canada or Central America.
I guess it all depends on whether you'd rather go to Eastern Canada or Central America.
Don't know why you've mentioned these two regions specifically but the language in Canada is Québécois French, which does differ in some ways significantly from the "normal" French language.
I took courses for both languages and Spanish is definitely the easier one in my mind - pronunciation can especially be a nightmare in French.
I would also concentrate on one language of the two, since they are relatively similar and can bring a lot of unnecessary confusion in both grammar and vocabulary. I remember when I took a Russian course it pissed me off how I constantly mixed it up with my own native tongue. Similarity isn't necessarily an advantage. However, once you get a handle on one of them, the other one should be easier to grasp in the future.
Don't know why you've mentioned these two regions specifically but the language in Canada is Québécois French, which does differ in some ways significantly from the "normal" French language.
You won't find me in ZS too often, but I do watch quite a lot of movies, and I generally watch other-language films anyway so I was certainly planning on delving deeper into Spanish language cinema. My exposure to telenovelas is limited to parodies, but if you say they work and that they're also excruciatingly bad, you better believe I'm gonna watch them. I'm guessing that asking for recommendations is redundant?
Yeah, I thought as much that Cobbler knew something I didn't. One other point would be that people in Québéc do speak English so you may have trouble advancing your French because of that simple fact. Mexico will certainly be more flexible in this department. Mexican Spanish is more similar to the "usual" form of Spanish that I learned in college than Québécois French is to regular French, so that's another point to consider. But it's all relative in the end and each experience is different, so you never know.
In any case, I don't know if you're a movie fan, but it's also a good thing to watch a lot of Spanish-language films. As you get more confident with the language, Spanish-language films with Spanish subtitles is also a very good approach for some. Basically I learned my English about 80% through film. There are of course tons of great films in both Spanish and French. The way I had a grasp of some Spanish vocabulary even before I did some courses is that, when I was a kid, there were regularly Latin American soap operas on TV called "telenovelas", which featured godawful acting, script and direction. Absolutely perfect for learning a language because they all speak loudly, clearly and slowly, but the content is so excruciatingly bad I deem it now unwatchable since I'm not 8 years old anymore.
¡Buena suerte!
I met a French-Canadian at the Donko festival, who lives and works in Quebec six months a year (as a chef for a millionaire artist, no less). He said that Quebecers are predominately French-speaking, and that it's nigh on impossible to get a job in the town if you don't speak French, and that if you don't try and speak French they'll look down on you. I've heard that from a couple of people. I've never been there though so I don't know.
Now I'm baffled again. Spanish or French. Say a word, guys. I can only make decisions from other people because I'm basically like one of those spineless fishes that looks like a pokemon.
Both. I think Spanish is the easier language to learn (again, subjective) and this would be an excellent basis for French in the future. But I'd wait at least a year, where I would focus on my Spanish, before I would go and learn French seriously.