Posthumane wrote:To keep this discussion productive, does anyone have a link to a phraseology guide in French? There's a chance I may fly through Quebec some day and I'd like to pick up the basic phrases. I suppose I could just translate the English phrases but I'm not sure if it would be exactly what's used. Also, is the phonetic alphabet the same in Fr?
You can get a copy of a good users guide written by a francophone pilot based out of Bromont Que for the EAA Canada Bits and Pieces newsletter. He provides functional translations for things you need to know to operate in Quebec and in particular in a unicom environment. If you're going solo it can't hurt to have a copy in your kneeboard for the occasion. Of course committing it to memory would be better........
Perceptive of you to realize that a literal translation will not be good enough, it's not good enough even for a mother tongue Quebecois who learned to fly in English!
To add my personal anglo flying in Quebec story, I did a trip a few years ago in our C-152 with stops at Riviere du Loup/Trois Riveres/Bromont/Saint Georges. ATC was seamless English (or French if that's your flavour) so no problem there (use flight following) but for unicoms I cheated & had my Quebecois S.O./pilot do the talking, much safer that way.
I can understand the French only in QC. However I recall flying around eastern Ontario (Timmins/Chapleau) and hearing a lot of French on 126.7. It made me pretty uncomfortable because for all I know they could be 1NM away or 30NM away. Out of QC, all uncontrolled calls should be made in English or at least both French and English. If you can't speak coherent English you have no business flying outside of QC.
Looking at the geography you mentioned I'm thinking radio waves are not blocked by a border
Pavese wrote:
You can get a copy of a good users guide written by a francophone pilot based out of Bromont Que for the EAA Canada Bits and Pieces newsletter. He provides functional translations for things you need to know to operate in Quebec and in particular in a unicom environment. If you're going solo it can't hurt to have a copy in your kneeboard for the occasion. Of course committing it to memory would be better........
Perceptive of you to realize that a literal translation will not be good enough, it's not good enough even for a mother tongue Quebecois who learned to fly in English!
To add my personal anglo flying in Quebec story, I did a trip a few years ago in our C-152 with stops at Riviere du Loup/Trois Riveres/Bromont/Saint Georges. ATC was seamless English (or French if that's your flavour) so no problem there (use flight following) but for unicoms I cheated & had my Quebecois S.O./pilot do the talking, much safer that way.
D
Thanks, that looks like an excellent resource! I'll have to print that off and study it before I ever fly east.
One thing that's confusing right away is that thousand (Mille) and Miles (Milles) sound awfully similar. So 3 miles south at 2000' would be "trois milles au sud a deux mille pieds"?
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"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." -George Bernard Shaw
Posthumane wrote:
One thing that's confusing right away is that thousand (Mille) and Miles (Milles) sound awfully similar. So 3 miles south at 2000' would be "trois milles au sud a deux mille pieds"?
My personal Quebecois translator tells me that you pronounce them the same and you know by context which is meant!
Posthumane wrote:
One thing that's confusing right away is that thousand (Mille) and Miles (Milles) sound awfully similar. So 3 miles south at 2000' would be "trois milles au sud a deux mille pieds"?
My personal Quebecois translator tells me that you pronounce them the same and you know by context which is meant!
D
In french we always say pieds to avoid confusion when saying an altitude
timel wrote: Never been an issue. The problem isn't the language, the problem is racist assholes and norrow minded idiots who can't look beyond their villages or borders.
Neither French nor English are races. If you absolutely must acuse someone of being an 'ist' the word you're looking for is tribalist.
Tribalist almost sounds honorable in that particular case, xenophobe would indeed be more accurate.
Where is the airmanship? We all have a commun ground that is a passion for aviation.
Schooner69A wrote:...
I keyed the mike and replied "What you heard is what I know".
The response was prefaced by the sounds of 2 guys busting a gut in the other aircraft and then "It's OK ZXO, we'll hold short of the active until you're down".
Oh, well... I tried! (;>0)
Don't discount the value of making the effort. I've heard from many travellers that if you at least *try* to speak French in Quebec, you'll be met with much more support (and frequently a switch to English) because they (a) appreciate the effort, and (b) don't want to hear any more of the French language garbled. If you just start in English, and get frustrated when nobody will talk to you or answer you in English, they'll just be amused and carry on in French.
AirFrame wrote:
Don't discount the value of making the effort. I've heard from many travellers that if you at least *try* to speak French in Quebec, you'll be met with much more support (and frequently a switch to English) because they (a) appreciate the effort, and (b) don't want to hear any more of the French language garbled. If you just start in English, and get frustrated when nobody will talk to you or answer you in English, they'll just be amused and carry on in French.
lol
"Garbled" is all relative, I suppose. My dear Parisian friend, a professional linguist/translator, is nearly physically ill whenever she hears français québécois uttered aloud. She refuses to acknowledge it as "French", describing it more as - to paraphrase - a regional dialect "excruciatingly painful and assaulting of the ear". (OK, it sounds less mean when said by a tiny blonde Frenchwoman with an impossibly elegant Tours accent).
Just something to remember if someone is amused by your attempts to employ your Mad High School French Skillz.
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I’m still waiting for my white male privilege membership card. Must have gotten lost in the mail.
AirFrame wrote:
Don't discount the value of making the effort. I've heard from many travellers that if you at least *try* to speak French in Quebec, you'll be met with much more support (and frequently a switch to English) because they (a) appreciate the effort, and (b) don't want to hear any more of the French language garbled. If you just start in English, and get frustrated when nobody will talk to you or answer you in English, they'll just be amused and carry on in French.
lol
"Garbled" is all relative, I suppose. My dear Parisian friend, a professional linguist/translator, is nearly physically ill whenever she hears français québécois uttered aloud. She refuses to acknowledge it as "French", describing it more as - to paraphrase - a regional dialect "excruciatingly painful and assaulting of the ear". (OK, it sounds less mean when said by a tiny blonde Frenchwoman with an impossibly elegant Tours accent).
Just something to remember if someone is amused by your attempts to employ your Mad High School French Skillz.
Same can be said for US of A English some have suggested
FADEC wrote:Canada is one of the few places where a language other than English is allowed; it is actually illegal in France.
There is no good reason to have French; it is totally political.
We are doing no favour to permit French; if someone wants to have a career in Aviation, they will have to have "Aviation English" permitting the use of French is holding back everyone and endangering everyone.
However; as it is political, it requires a political solution; something that will not happen.
Lol, French controllers speak French and English.
I flew my fair share north of 60. English French? Never been an issue. The problem isn't the language, the problem is racist assholes and norrow minded idiots who can't look beyond their villages or borders.
French and English are not races, they are languages. People of many different races speak them
complexintentions wrote:Oh, absolutely! Just pointing out, that Québécois being amused by poorly-spoken French is highly ironic.
Kind of like Newfies making fun of how someone else speaks English.
Regional accents are very interesting. I had a bud from Newfoundland that explained the thick accent most outsider think of as newfanise was mostly the Irish folks.
In Scotland there is a distinct dialect in Glasgow and a further sub dialect for the Non Educated Delinquents. Neither would be understood by someone from Glasgow Montana.
As a warning, in regions that are not Montréal or Québec City, there are quite a bunch that can't talk or understand English.
Usually we switch to English when someone else is talking it, but sometimes those that can't understand keep the French.
I sometimes have to step in and translate...
And, even if my English is "good enough", I can't understand Chinese's English.
When they talk on 126.7 I don't even make them repeat and hope they are not in my path.
