I know that apparently, some American travelers put Canadian flags on their luggage or carry on then claiming they’re from Canada (the dead giveaway on debunking this is their passport, since how can you be “Canadian” when you have US citizenship unless you’re a dual citizen in possession of both nationalities) since some of them have hatred towards the US or feel ashamed of the country due to its internal affairs.
Very few US Americans seem to visit Europe these days. Even at the big tourist attractions you don’t hear or see them much. Some Canadian flags are visible - my personal conclusion is that US Americans are (finally) trying to blend in more: dressing better, keeping their voices down. Their usual loud bravado is gone. To distinguish between a Canadian and US American doesn’t require asking for their passports: just ask a question in French, most Canadians will understand at least a bit of French.
Easiest way to spot an American posing as a Canadian is to just ask what part of Canada they’re from. The only Canadian city Americans know is Toronto, so that’s what they’ll say. If they pronounce it ToronTO, they’re American. Nobody in Canada pronounces the second T in Toronto.
Tranna
Most Canadians would probably perk up at “Comment ça va?” pretty quickly, even if they didn’t respond in French
“Ça va bien, et voooooouuuuuussssss”
You can’t go around triggering automatic responses like that lol
Comme ci, comme ça.
Je “tu, toi” frequemment. Lol
You used toi with your French teacher??? Ostie les enfants sont vraiment sauvage!
I guess a lot of people were, lol: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/vous-or-tu-quebec-launches-new-civility-policy-in-schools/
No, not in school. But now, I do, tout le monde me dit d’etre moin serieux.
Oh, okay. The automatic response I was referring to was the start of every French class from grades 1-8, the class answering in unison.
“Bonjour les enfants!”
“Bonjour Mme. X”
“Comment ça va?”
“Ça va bien, et vous?”
“Oui, ça va bien aussi!”
Oh for sure we had that all the time in school
I’d perk up at hearing French but i would have no clue what thetbarr saying. I hear it so seldom here. I grew up in BC and took it for 5+ years. I could read a news paper then but 40 years layer and all I remember are a few swear words. Also the Quebec accent is so different from what I was taught in the 80s. Totally different language.
I live in Ontario, 3 hours from the Quebec border
This is it really good description of Quebec french.
That’s a tricky one, as US Americans may also answer, eg “I ain’t from Santa Fe, I’m from this here Ketchum, Idaho, our steaks are the biggest in the WOLRD, OMG”. 😝
We take French in school. Like half of us do.
Who knew my social anxiety and overly polite nature helped me masquerade so well when traveling internationally?!?!