Do you speak Canadian?

There is a directory at my workplace. It has everybody’s extension number, e-mail address and position; and we have to shred it when outdated! ;-) Next to the names of people who speak other languages there are abbreviations saying so. My name is followed by ES and FR (Español and Français). Then there are footnotes explaining what those abbreviations are for.

And then I saw a CA next to the name of a workmate who was born in Toronto, but moved to the US when she was 7. The footnote explains she speaks Canadian. Imagine! I lived 8 years in Canada, and I had no idea they speak Canadian over there. I always heard English, French and a lot of Jouale (not to mention others, but I will talk about multiculturalism another day). But I never heard of anything call the Canadian language.

Unless you add an “Eh” at the end of the sentence? They probably know something I don’t. Or I’m just an obnoxious, self-righteous biotch. ;-)

I guess it bothers me the same as when someone asks me if I speak Colombian or Mexican. Good God… That is the problem with colonies. If we had been invaded by the Greek, it would be a totally different story.

Wow, your site just kicked me for posting too many comments so quickly, so I will try this again.

The company I work for has thousands and thousands of employees, and our directory is web based for easy updating. Sadly it does not tell if an employee has any linguistic skills.

But wondering about your job, are there any folks over their who speak Australian? I could listen to a chick with that accent all day long!

Hrm… I would totally claim the Sparta Heritage!

This Greek thing is kind of interesting… I would carry windex with me for sure.

Do I speak Canadian? For sure, eh!

Going home so I can.

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