How to Speak Canadian

[Barton]

Kinda like speaking spanish with someone from Mexico as compared with someone from Cuba (They speak really fast!).

[AndrewBlack]

Did you know that Saskatchewan comes from an old Indian word meaning "Land where no man can leap to his death"?

I didn't know any language had refined that concept down to a four syllable term.

[Wontworry]

I didn't know any language had refined that concept down to a four syllable term.

The English word is Lincolnshire, and that's only 3 syllables.

[ProjectEuropa]

Did you know that Saskatchewan comes from an old Indian word meaning "Land where no man can leap to his death"?

Wasn't it Susan Sarandon in the film Atlantic City who said 'A woman would do just about anything to get out of Red Deer, Saskatchewan!' ?

Obviously she didn't include jumping to her death.

[chromedome11]

Do they not use the translated English idioms in school either? Do they say "de rien" or "il n'y a pas de quoi" instead of 'bien venu"?

The French I learned in school (which I will admit was some time ago) was formal Parisien French. The first time I visited Quebec, I found them very difficult to understand. Even though I always scored in the nineties in high school (including 100 in Grade 10), Quebecois was never easy to understand.

It was always "bienvenue", not "de rien" or "il n'y a pas de quoi". I think partly because it was formal French, and partly they didn't want to confuse us with other forms of the same phrase.

[Xelebes]

I didn't know any language had refined that concept down to a four syllable term.

How is that a four syllable word?

[vistana]

How is that a four syllable word?

Sas-Katch-e-wan. 4 syllables.

[Aeneas]

When the earth was young, I was riding my bike thru the Baja and had a head-on with a thorny bush. When I awakened, I was in a Mexican hospital, and all I could think to say was my first Spanish lesson; "?Que es un futbal?"
The doctor looked at me like I had sustained a brain injury. The policia thought I was a spy or a drug runner or something, surely it had to be a pass code. The answer to the question, for those who want to know is; "El futbal es juente importante." Muy, muy importante.

[Xelebes]

Sas-Katch-e-wan. 4 syllables.

You've obviously never lived there.

Sask - ATCH - wan

[alura]

Right about now, given all the crap going on in our country, Canada sounds like Nirvana to me.

[redbaron45]

*tears up*

Ah, Canada. I've been to several countries around the globe, and out of them all, I'd still pick you.

Seriously, though...we're like Amsterdam West ('specially BC)! The degree of freedom afforded to us is positively wonderful. So to all you Canadians out there:
We may bitch about our politicians, our weather, and just about anything under the sun. But when it comes down to it, would you rather be anywhere else?

[vistana]

You've obviously never lived there.

Sask - ATCH - wan

Nope. Drove through it once.

When I say it I can't quite make that extra syllable go away. My mouth insists there has to be a vowel of some sort in between the ch and the w. But I'm willing to be corrected. I live near Toronto after all. I know how pronunciations get mangled.

[chromedome11]

Ah, Canada. I've been to several countries around the globe, and out of them all, I'd still pick you.

Just don't get sick while you're here. Our health care system sucks.

[BDSM_Tourguide]

Just don't get sick while you're here. Our health care system sucks.

Yes, the Canadian health care system is so bad that my wife's induced pregnancy, eight day hospital stay, food, C-section, room, blood pressure medication, pain medication, anesthesia, pre- and post-natal care, as well as my daughter's jaundice treatments, food, diapers, blankets, and tests were all completely covered at no cost to us.

An equivalent value in the US of somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000 worth of treatment and surgery didn't cost us one penny.

What a horrible health care system.

[vistana]

In some ways it does suck. The free part is excellent, but the waiting lists get ridiculous.

My sister has been on a waiting list to get her tonsils removed for about 2 years now, and it could be atleast another year before it happens. The doctor says that the only way it'll happen sooner is if she gets on the urgent list. As it stands, every time she gets a cold she ends up in the emergency room because her tonsils swell up to the point that she can only breathe with extreme difficulty.
If that's not urgent I don't want to know what is.

And similar things happen all the time, lots of common surgeries and specialty doctors have ridiculous waiting lists.
I will admit that this could possibly be where in Canada I'm from, and it might be much better if you move to major population centers, but that's my experience with out health care system.

[BDSM_Tourguide]

The free part is excellent, but the waiting lists get ridiculous.

Here's how to prevent that nasty wait:

Move to any small town in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Alberta. The longest we've ever waited for a clinic visit is about an hour. And for FF's induced labor, we were in the same day.

[vistana]

Here's how to prevent that nasty wait:

Move to any small town in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Alberta. The longest we've ever waited for a clinic visit is about an hour. And for FF's induced labor, we were in the same day.

Clinics aren't so bad. I do live in a part of the country suffering a doctor shortage, but it's mostly 'non-urgent' surgeries etc. that end up with terrible waiting lists. And we just got a new medical school, so hopefuly in a few years those lines will be much more reasonable.

[Xelebes]

I haven't had much problems with the healthcare system in Canada. I presume it is very bad in the more densely populated centres where it is a strain to meet the weight of such density on said infrastructure. Waterloo is in said densely populated area so it is quite conceivable that they would have difficulties dealing with the population - despite the fact that it is 'rural'.

[chromedome11]

Yes, the Canadian health care system is so bad that my wife's induced pregnancy, eight day hospital stay, food, C-section, room, blood pressure medication, pain medication, anesthesia, pre- and post-natal care, as well as my daughter's jaundice treatments, food, diapers, blankets, and tests were all completely covered at no cost to us.

An equivalent value in the US of somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000 worth of treatment and surgery didn't cost us one penny.

What a horrible health care system.

I'm glad to hear you were well taken care of. But, you would have been treated equally as well in any other developed country.

As others have pointed out, the big failure of our health system is the waiting lists. This situation is completely foreign to most European countries. France, for example, provides a level of care at least equal to ours without waiting lists. Why are we so pig-headed that we won't learn from other countries which do it better than we do?

[vistana]

I haven't had much problems with the healthcare system in Canada. I presume it is very bad in the more densely populated centres where it is a strain to meet the weight of such density on said infrastructure. Waterloo is in said densely populated area so it is quite conceivable that they would have difficulties dealing with the population - despite the fact that it is 'rural'.

Actually, my experience is really much more rural than Waterloo. Waterloo is where I go to school, but I grew up in Thunder Bay. Considerably more isolated, and is the largest town for quite a distance, so most of the population of northwestern Ontario goes there for more than basic medical care.
At school I've been terribly impressed by health services. There's a clinic on campus and a waiting list of only a day or two for an appointment, compared to the month it takes me to get in to see my family doctor at home.

[allalone46]

I'm glad to hear you were well taken care of. But, you would have been treated equally as well in any other developed country.

As others have pointed out, the big failure of our health system is the waiting lists. This situation is completely foreign to most European countries. France, for example, provides a level of care at least equal to ours without waiting lists. Why are we so pig-headed that we won't learn from other countries which do it better than we do?

I don't think that you have checked the health care systems out to wel in France Italy or England. From what I have fond out unless yu have a private health insurance like found in the US you have to waite days weeks and even years for the basic of things that you can get to the same day in the US.But than that is untill senator Clinton gets her way.

[fluff]

After reading the main joke...bash the Yanks!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

*S*

[Langewappe]

I don't think that you have checked the health care systems out to wel in France Italy or England. From what I have fond out unless yu have a private health insurance like found in the US you have to waite days weeks and even years for the basic of things that you can get to the same day in the US.But than that is untill senator Clinton gets her way.

I am interested in how you found out what, because it does not correspond with my experience in continental Western Europe (No experience in the UK) at all. We were staying with friends and my six year old son got his digestive system thoroughly messed up with too much rich and strange but deliscious local food. After watching the kid's misery for a day and a night my friend placed a telephone call. A couple of hours later the doctor made a housecall.
I reimbursed my friend $16 for the housecall and a prescription.