The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #80582 Message #1469860
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
25-Apr-05 - 12:52 AM
Thread Name: Review: RECORDINGS, 78s, Mostly French
Subject: RE: Review: RECORDINGS, 78s, Mostly French
G'day, Bob! The Québec government and its arms, including the Bibliothèque nationale, is francophone. Some relationships in Canada, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) - Radio-Canada are most peculiar. The CBC broadcasts in English, its twin(?) in French. The CBC puts out a catalogue of their emissions (cds, dvds, etc.) in English (and, I believe, in French). Radio-Canada puts out a catalogue of their cds, etc., in French; no English version. They have some good stuff; I want one of their collections of marine songs, and have written to the posted email address (in English since I can't write or speak French adequately) for information and pricing, but no answer has been forthcoming.
A mis-conception about the Quebec attitude towards bilinguality. The government of Québec has publicly spurned B-L. They say that francophones (a word not in my Collins French dictionary) outside of K-bec in anglophone (English-speaking) provinces must fend for themselves, and French must be the language of business, etc. etc, in Quebec. The Canadian Government is trying to at least get signs in both languages The Canadian government tries to promote B-L in the Civil Service, National Parks, etc. (Lord help you if you encounter a recently transferred francophone who is supposedly B-L, and you are anglophone only, in a government office). Oh, well, I suppose a francophone who approaches a supposedly B-L anglophone is in the same position.
A previous link by Masato to a 78 recording of the song "Plaisir d'amour" (see thread) on a Canadian Gov't website has disappeared; it is now on the French site posted here. Jockeying going on?