… huh?

Non-universal experience, but I’m a zoomer (24) and I’m basically my family’s IT department, my apparent specialty being the wrangling of our unruly printer-scanner. My millennial older brother (who will be 28 this summer) never even thinks to ask google basic troubleshooting stuff when he has a problem. I think it’s less about generation and more about individual inclination to read instructions and look through settings menus, that sort of thing.

Five years, eh? Maybe I’ll make some room and re-install/re-mod Skyrim at some point in the summer. Haven’t touched it in, like, two years, but I’ve been kinda missing it. Or maybe I could try ESO again.

Reddit is deddit.

Here’s their about page. I just kinda skimmed it. Seems to be open to any francophone in the province, as well as newcomers who either speak French or speak neither French nor English and exchange students who speak French.

I would say that it’s because of the grand dérangement that the term acadien is used in the name, so that those who are still here have the right to education in French, not that one necessarily has to be Acadian to go to a CSAP school. There’s also Mi’kmaq immersion in at least some of the schools on reservations, and I believe there’s a Gaelic immersion school somewhere in Cape Breton. Pretty neat that there’s this push for language/cultural reclamation.

I mean it takes a minute to even register, like “oh hey, they’re speaking French over there 👀”

Tl;dr for the following 1 a.m. ramble: most folks only take core French, so yeah, they don’t learn a whole lot. Those of us who go through either early or late immersion generally get a much better handle on the language, but nothing to the extent of a native speaker.

At least in my experience (in NS, you guessed correctly), French class was always pretty easy for me, since it was a lot of learning rules and patterns and I thrived on that sort of thing. Having all the other classes be in French was the really beneficial part of it, in terms of language application. There’s also the French school system in NS (conseil scolaire acadien provincial) that does French from either pre-school or grade primary. I guess I could’ve gone into that system since I’m Acadian, but the French school in my area was right in town, while my family was way the hell out between the suburbs and the sticks.

Based on what I’ve heard from some if my friends who took just core French, where there’s only one French class and you only take it up to grade 10, that’s where you often get a class full of kids who either don’t care or who just don’t quite have the knack for language acquisition. Most people take core French, so you’re right that most people come out of school with pretty well nothing. I’d wager that it’s similar in other provinces.

I’ve got nothing for a catchphrase, but Hawbeeists (hobbyists, Beehaw, y’know?) could be a fun name for us.

In school. Started in grade 4, then did late immersion starting in grade 7 and stuck with it through junior high and high school, took the DELF and got a nice scrap of paper saying I was bilingual. I have tried to keep it up with Duolingo, but it was way too repetitive for me. I basically just read the odd article or book in French now, or occasionally eavesdrop on people from Québec or New Brunswick when I go to the mall in the city.

Hi hawbeeists 😊 (like hobbyists, but Beehaw, get it?)

I came from Reddit. I like plants and animals and occasionally going hiking. I live in Atlantic Canada and am currently displaced by hurricane Fiona (still, after seven months), but the end is in sight and I should be able to go home soon! I have a BSc (major in Env. Sci.) and I like to draw digitally and play with string (crochet, knitting, etc.). I’m providing some 2D art to the upcoming free Steam game Jerma’s Big Adventure 2, which has been an absolute blast to work on. I’ve mainly been playing Sea of Thieves and Diablo III lately. I’m also a lesbian and most likely autistic. She/her.

Edit: je parle français aussi, mais il faut vous dire que mon français est rouillé 😅