August 20, 2001

10:31 PM

Classes for immigrants on how to ditch the accentwere offered in the early part of the last century. It provides proof that Quebec's recent initiative to create citizenship for immigrants new to the PROVINCE is not a new idea. Might not be a good idea. But hardly original.
posted by daddyray (7 comments total)

Also in the late part of the last century, and the early part of this one. They're generally called "accent reduction classes" and are widely available in urban areas.

You probably should have provided a link to something on the Quebec situation you're referring to. And when you mean "citizenship" I assume you're speaking of intangibles such as pride and patriotism, rather than the legal status.
posted by dhartung at 3:37 AM on August 21, 2001

Toronto Star: Report calls for separate Quebec citizenship
posted by todd at 4:13 AM on August 21, 2001

Quebec is funny.
posted by aramaic at 5:53 AM on August 21, 2001

I find the language laws in Quebec ridiculous. There have been calls from the PQ youth to get rid of english on signs entirely. Quebec wants the rest of Canada to treat them nicely and give them money because they're different but they won't treat different people in their own province with same respect.

Quebec is trying to remove themselves from Canada and be recognized as a country. A great way to alienate the rest of the world is to try and preserve your own culture by getting rid of the language of trade and commerce. As far as reactions to preservation of culture, take a look at the Taliban, they're just trying to preserve their culture.
posted by dave at 6:31 AM on August 21, 2001

if they want to separate, they can take their share of the canadian national debt with them.

and it's a big piece.

personally, i wish they'd just shut the hell up. the canada i grew up in included quebec. most people i've ever met from there were not separatists.
posted by bwg at 7:19 AM on August 21, 2001

Maureen Dowd, the sychophant of all things Republican, could definitely use a class like this. Hell, she could use some class period!
How a girl from New Jersey ends up with such a fake "upper crust" accent is beyond even the powers of the WSJ to explain.
But then, she does represent the hypocrisy of the WSJ and her chosen political party well with such pretension.
posted by nofundy at 11:09 AM on August 21, 2001

I can't recall the individual schools doing so, but some universities offer courses in this and American culture to students from other countries. They assist with pronunciations of common words, learning some slang, as well as detailing some of the culture these students might encounter while in school.
posted by valerie at 9:22 AM on August 23, 2001