Monday, November 19, 2007

Quebec, me and French


Quebec the second largest province of Canada with a population of 7, 700 807, where French is the official language. In Quebec the French is very important to the French speaking people, manly due to cultural and historical reasons. So far, I have only gotten a small part of what Quebec's history really is about, but is seems quite violent and filled with political disputes. I'm really going to try to learn more, but I don't want to get the information only by reading about it, I want to learn it slowly by people living it. Hopefully this will give me the right idea and the feeling of the hole thing. For curious people out there, check out Quebec on Wikipedia.

One thing though, that strikes me, is the amazingly strange way to work around the French courses and us immigrants. As I've told you already, me and M has been looking around a lot for a French course for immigrants for me, but with no success until this week. Finally someone wants me! But anyway, how come it's so difficult for us immigrants to get the best way possible into the society - learning the main language - while we are applying for permanent residency - which is the time when we aren't aloud to work anyway and we have to much time to spend for our own good. I tried to explain this for myself with the normal Swedish jantelag-excuses; well, since I haven't received permanent residence status, the government can't be sure I will stay in the country and therefor they don't want to spend all this money on me. But hey, then I realized that they are really stupid to not do this, since I'm already here, married and most probably won't leave, and I have all this time learning French while waiting, so they should be fucking HAPPY that I really want to get integrated into their society and when I finally (most probably) will get approved, I will be already speaking their language and can get a job and pay taxes! Hey! What's their problem?! The very, very few that might get a negative response on their immigration application, in worst cases the government has been loosing some money on them. But isn't that ok if they have been able to give a good representation of the country and spread their oh, so precious and important language, that they have fought, and still are fighting so hard for to keep.
It makes me confused...

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