Poll: Where are you guys from?

[JiiPee]

Tapiola, Espoo, Finland.

 

[Waxx]

I'm sorry, but this statement is misleading at best. And I would even say, wrong, when talking about France (I don't know about others, so cannot tell).

"Regular" French is spoken absolutely everywhere from North to South. There sure are massive variations in accents or local slang. This is one thing, that doesn't prevent people to understand each others. Patois, dialects, and languages are mostly spoken by older people (who also speak "official French" anyway). You will be hard pressed to find younger people speaking, or even understanding Breton or Occitan for example (I'm not saying there is none, but it's very marginal). There is certainly no place where "people don't speak official French" to quote your words.

Absolutely wrong. Unless "very" has a different meaning to you. According to studies, the Breton is spoken by about 230 000 people, and those are also speaking French. Yet, Bretagne counts... 3 300 000 inhabitants, or even 4 800 000 if you include Nantes region. Do the maths.

Nope. French based Créole is not spoken in big parts of Africa. Unless you consider La Réunion or L'île Maurice to be big parts of Africa.

Well, that is a typical Parisian answer, who deny the existance of multiple languages in France. Off course almost (if not everybody) also speak standard french, but local languages are still spoken a lot, certainly in the north and on the countryside. I know Roubaix rather well and Lille a bit, and Chti is still widely spoken there. I know also quiet a few from that region that come to dutch speaking "West Flanders" to learn the old flemish again that is almost lost in their region where it was originally spoken. Idem with Bretagne, where the gaelic is in a strong revival with the youth who try to find back their local identity and don't like the "Snob Parigots" who look down on their culture to quote a friend from there.

And far-linked family i have in Ceret (region or Perpignan) still speaks a language they call aquitan that more sounds like catalan to me than a french dialect... I speak fluent french (Brussels dialect) and live for years in the french speaking part of Belgium, but i don't understand them when they speak aquitan.

It's the same in my region (the region of Ath in Hainaut) of Belgium), the locals here don't speak standard french but their own"Picard" language, that is very close to french, but not the same. And 50km to the east of here they speak a different variation (Wallon), And the cultivation and preservation of those local languages are more and more popular, esepcially among the youth and in France, Belgium and Switzerland (where they also got their own variation) ...

But the Parisians deny that, and think their language (the standard french) is the only one in France...

 

[Deleted member 47224]

Well, that is a typical Parisian answer, who deny the existance of multiple languages in France. Off course almost (if not everybody) also speak standard french, but local languages are still spoken a lot, certainly in the north and on the countryside. I know Roubaix rather well and Lille a bit, and Chti is still widely spoken there. I know also quiet a few from that region that come to dutch speaking "West Flanders" to learn the old flemish again that is almost lost in their region where it was originally spoken. Idem with Bretagne, where the gaelic is in a strong revival with the youth who try to find back their local identity and don't like the "Snob Parigots" who look down on their culture to quote a friend from there.

And far-linked family i have in Ceret (region or Perpignan) still speaks a language they call aquitan that more sounds like catalan to me than a french dialect... I speak fluent french (Brussels dialect) and live for years in the french speaking part of Belgium, but i don't understand them when they speak aquitan.

It's the same in my region (the region of Ath in Hainaut) of Belgium), the locals here don't speak standard french but their own"Picard" language, that is very close to french, but not the same. And 50km to the east of here they speak a different variation (Wallon), And the cultivation and preservation of those local languages are more and more popular, esepcially among the youth and in France, Belgium and Switzerland (where they also got their own variation) ...

But the Parisians deny that, and think their language (the standard french) is the only one in France...

Where do you get the idea that anyone is denying others their language ? Aside from the occasional joke, it never seemed to me that people don't want them to be taught. The Breton is indeed taught in a lot of school and is used on signs, and it is probably done with other already do to a lesser extent. The government certainly is encouraging regional languages as it is a part of France history.
As for me, I often joke about it, but I do like to visit my country and learn about those languages.

 

[Vacceo]

Isn't Occitan still spoken around the south-east? Well, Corsican is alive and well, but islands are islands.

 

[Waxx]

Where do you get the idea that anyone is denying others their language ? Aside from the occasional joke, it never seemed to me that people don't want them to be taught. The Breton is indeed taught in a lot of school and is used on signs, and it is probably done with other already do to a lesser extent. The government certainly is encouraging regional languages as it is a part of France history.
As for me, I often joke about it, but I do like to visit my country and learn about those languages.

Bretagne is very different than the rest of France, as it was long de facto independent and has it's own very strong culture. Breton (like it's called in France) is a form of Gaelic, very close to Welsh an Cornisch, as it shares the same origin. It has nothing to do with French.

But other local languages are not thought at school, and only recently the Paris gouverment start to recognise them, it has been different for centuries. Idem in Belgium, where the local languages were (and are largely still) seen as inferior to the standard languages, in Dutch and in French. Chti is still largely seen as a lowlife patois of the north, even in Roubaix and Lille by the higher classes.

My ex comes from the Roubaix underclass but got rich on herself, and when she speak Chti in public in higher class circles she is looked at like she just spit in someones face.. That is still a reality today.

 

[Waxx]

Isn't Occitan still spoken around the south-east? Well, Corsican is alive and well, but islands are islands.

Yes it is, it's even also spoken in some north-west parts of what is now Italy. But not in the big cities or by the higher classes who find it more high standing to talk Parisian (standard) French, or when in Italy, the local northern italian dialects.

 

[Vacceo]

Yes it is, it's even also spoken in some north-west parts of what is now Italy. But not in the big cities or by the higher classes who find it more high standing to talk Parian (standard) French, or when in Italy, the local northern italian dialects.

Quite a paradox considering that Oc was the language of some of the best Middle Ages poets.

 

[SIY]

FWIW, I learned to speak French in a little farming community in the Rhone Valley. I had more than one person in Paris ask, "Where DID you learn French???" Apparently, I was left with a mixture of American and hick country accent which amused the hell out of them.

Also FWIW, the first time I went up to Burgundy with a friend of mine from that community, when we talked to the local older farmers there, my friend told me he could barely understand them. The kids all spoke a standard enough French that even *I* could understand them. It's likely a generational thing like in the US, where accents have been getting smoothed out over the years because of television and other mass media.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Well, that is a typical Parisian answer, who deny the existance of multiple languages in France.

What the...?!
First, I'm not "Parisan" (banlieusard dans le meilleur des cas). Spent half of my lifetime outside Paris and absolutely not originally from there. Like plenty of people in Île de France, if you knew what you were talking about.

Idem with Bretagne, where the gaelic is in a strong revival with the youth who try to find back their local identity and don't like the "Snob Parigots" who look down on their culture to quote a friend from there

There is no such a phenomenon as Gallo nor Breton "strong revival". Look at dialectologie or llinguistique, not at your friend's impressions (I should say whishes...). Every studies show that regional languages (≠patois, stop using Ch'ti as an example) are less and less spoken over the last decades. Period. Not supposed to be a good or bad thing, it just is. Could it turn the other way around? I don't know. No one denied the very existence of regional languages/patois/dialects. I just corrected you claiming such nonsense as "there're places in France where people don't speak French", which is not true at all.

You effectively sound like you've been in Bretagne in vacations (or "know someone who") and think you can explain to me, who actually lived there several years, how things are. How embarrassing...

Yes, that's it: Would you please stop trying to explain to us, French (not "Parisans"), how things work in our country, while looking down at us from Belgium? So let me sum up: You got an ex from Roubaix, a friend from Bretagne, and far-linked family in Ceret. Then, I understand that you've been visiting us quite a few times... wow, good call. I also "think" I know Belgium quite well, but, never, ever, I would be disrespectful that way, trying to explain to a Belgian how it is where he/she lives.

 

[poxymoron]

View attachment 38982

ASR just reached the impressive amount of 7000 members. (Again, congratulations for your work, @amirm!)

I guess, when the forum started 3 years ago, that there were mostly US members (correct me if I'm wrong). Now, the forum has got an international reputation in the audio world.

For now, I'm just curious to know a bit about the cartography of where the members are from (or actually located, for what matters). Some people tends to move a lot, so I let two possible choices. Of course, there is too many possible countries to list, that's why I simplified this poll to the choice of continents.


PS: For my part: Paris area, France, EU.

How many members now @VintageFlanker ?

 

[VintageFlanker]

How many members now @VintageFlanker ?

 

[poxymoron]

Wow, impressive, thanks.

 

[Vacceo]

FWIW, I learned to speak French in a little farming community in the Rhone Valley. I had more than one person in Paris ask, "Where DID you learn French???" Apparently, I was left with a mixture of American and hick country accent which amused the hell out of them.

Also FWIW, the first time I went up to Burgundy with a friend of mine from that community, when we talked to the local older farmers there, my friend told me he could barely understand them. The kids all spoke a standard enough French that even *I* could understand them. It's likely a generational thing like in the US, where accents have been getting smoothed out over the years because of television and other mass media.

Burgundian accent is awesome among awesome! People in Dijon, Auxerre and Beanue sound like they´re singing French when they speak.

Plus, you can visit some incredible Romanesque buildings over there next to the charolais cows, that wear a very fashionable fringe.

 

[EJ3]

FWIW, I learned to speak French in a little farming community in the Rhone Valley. I had more than one person in Paris ask, "Where DID you learn French???" Apparently, I was left with a mixture of American and hick country accent which amused the hell out of them.

Also FWIW, the first time I went up to Burgundy with a friend of mine from that community, when we talked to the local older farmers there, my friend told me he could barely understand them. The kids all spoke a standard enough French that even *I* could understand them. It's likely a generational thing like in the US, where accents have been getting smoothed out over the years because of television and other mass media.

US concieved, Austrian born, Southerner here & (considering that Austria is southern to Germany): Regional colloquial languages & idioms are much more fun & colorful that the "Government Approved" versions.
Unfortunately, some governments want to homogenize the languages of some of the people: such as in recent years (since 2004 or so) the ROK (Republic of Korea)'s battle to soften the southerners (in Korea) language that seems to have started with a journalist from Seoul who came to Pusan complaining in a news paper article that the people in the south of Korea always sound angry, that they are talking like machine guns and I have trouble understanding them. During the years after that the Korean government has been trying to soften the language by doing things like changing the spellings of city's on maps (Pusan became Busan, Tegu became Degu) and many other ways of slowly getting the southerness speech out of the southerner. Yes, it will take a long time (generations, perhaps) but it is an unatural changing of the languages colloquial & regional qualities that is government ordained.

 

[fpitas]

Virginia, west of DC
Mid-Atlantic USA

 

[Sal1950]

Yes, it will take a long time (generations, perhaps) but it is an unatural changing of the languages colloquial & regional qualities that is government ordained.

Damn communists!

 

[Deleted member 47224]

Bretagne is very different than the rest of France, as it was long de facto independent and has it's own very strong culture. Breton (like it's called in France) is a form of Gaelic, very close to Welsh an Cornisch, as it shares the same origin. It has nothing to do with French.

But other local languages are not thought at school, and only recently the Paris gouverment start to recognise them, it has been different for centuries. Idem in Belgium, where the local languages were (and are largely still) seen as inferior to the standard languages, in Dutch and in French. Chti is still largely seen as a lowlife patois of the north, even in Roubaix and Lille by the higher classes.

My ex comes from the Roubaix underclass but got rich on herself, and when she speak Chti in public in higher class circles she is looked at like she just spit in someones face.. That is still a reality today.

As VintageFlanker said, there are differences between languages (breton, corse, catalan, basque), dialect (or regional languages such as Oc and Oil) and patois (derived from dialects, such as Chti, but there are many others). There are some school who teach languages outside of Bretagne, just a lot less.

The first World War made French a requirement : they needed to make regiment from different region because people couldn't understand each other and/or their superiors... Before that, the French was indeed pushed a lot, but after the wars, government always recognised languages/dialect/patois as part of France. And even more so recently.

But I have to agree sometimes "higher class", if there is any, will mock people speaking their language, but they are surely not the majority.

 

[Darvis]

It's the same in my region (the region of Ath in Hainaut) of Belgium), the locals here don't speak standard french but their own"Picard" language, that is very close to french, but not the same. And 50km to the east of here they speak a different variation (Wallon), And the cultivation and preservation of those local languages are more and more popular, esepcially among the youth and in France, Belgium and Switzerland (where they also got their own variation) ...

But the Parisians deny that, and think their language (the standard french) is the only one in France...

I've lived all my life in Wallonia and Brussels and this is a complete invention. No one speaks regional languages in everyday life. No one. They're as dead as the dead sea.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Heaven help us if anyone brings up Welsh language areas; it’ll be a bloodbath.

 

[CapMan]

I’m Cornish, now living in Surrey, England.