la st-jean, le francais ..

[pedepy]

ahh ce temps de l'annee, ou il est presque impossible de ne pas entendre parler d'une controverse linguistique, ou une autre ..

 

en fesant une recherche rapide pour confirmer le nom de deux restaurants de philadelphie pour repondre a une thread, je suis tombe sur ce petit item que j'ai trouver cocasse, et de circonstance:

 

 

cette affiche est sur le restaurant geno's, a philadephie. apres avoir ete poursuivi par la ville ou qqchose comme ca, ils ont finalement eu gain de cause et l'affiche demeure. le fait cocasse la dedans, c'est que si j'ai bien compris, elle a ete apposee par le pere du proprietaire actuel, lui meme immigrant qui a du apprendre l'anglais a son arrive au etat-unis!

 

je pense que c'est de circonstance car, alors que nous celebrons notre identite propre et notre langue a travers notre fete nationale, les voix de discordent vont assurement se faire entendre. il est bon alors, selon moi, de realiser a travers de tels examples que le quebec n'est pas seul dans cette ardeur a vouloir defendre une langue locale, et en meme temps de saisir l'occasion de prendre un regard de recul sur ces questions, en voyant comment les choses se passent a l'exterieur..

 

comme quoi, c'est partout pareil ....... alors qu'on se sente pas trop mal...

[Maisonneuve]

A few U.S. states are starting to get defensive over the English language because of the increase in Hispanics.

[TomOfBoston]

I have heard some people say "We don't want an American Quebec in the Southwest!

[Habsfan]

I have heard some people say "We don't want an American Quebec in the Southwest!

 

 

Care to elaborate a little more?

 

Thanks!

[TomOfBoston]

Some Americans are afraid that there will eventually be states with a Spanish speaking majority and that they will seek to have Spanish established as an official language.

 

They feel that America has enough problems without the linguistic battles that exist in Canada.

 

Certainly not mainstream thought but it raises some hackles here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztlan

 

"Use by the Chicano movement

Main article: Chicano movement

 

The unofficial flag of Aztlán, used by Chicano nationalists in San Diego and Denver during the Chicano movementThe concept of Aztlán as the place of origin of the pre-Columbian Mexican civilization has become a symbol for various Mexican nationalist and indigenous movements.

 

The name Aztlán was first taken up by a group of Chicano independence activists led by Oscar Zeta Acosta during the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s. They used the name Aztlán to refer to the lands of Northern Mexico that were annexed by the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War. Combined with the claim of some historical linguists and anthropologists that the original homeland of the Aztecan peoples was located in the southwestern United States, Aztlán, in this sense, became a symbol for mestizo activists who believe they have a legal and primordial right to the land. In order to exercise this right, some members of the Chicano movement propose that a new nation be created, a Republica del Norte.[7]

 

Groups who have used the name Aztlán in this manner include Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, "Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán"), and the Nation of Aztlán (NOA).

 

Many in the Chicano movement attribute poet Alurista for popularizing the term Aztlán in a poem presented during the Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado, in March 1969.[8]

 

Despite this, the idea of an Aztlan is opposed by the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic-American civil rights organization. The group has also stated that pro-Aztlan advocacy is outside the political mainstream of the modern Chicano movement.[9]

[Habsfan]

Thanks! I didn't know this was a concern in the southwest!

[TomOfBoston]

Not a big concern, but in the increasingly heated debate about illiegal immigration, it has surfaced.

 

Keep in mind that most Americans couldn't place Quebec, or any province, correctly on a map of North America.

 

Some "in the know" have dredged up the Canadian language situation to boost their position against immigration. Sort of "Don't let this happen here".

[SPQR]

Funny thing is, ask an average mexican what the nation of aztlan is and they won't have any idea, actually chicano is a despective term here in mexico.

[TomOfBoston]

Chicano was the "in" term for Mexican Americans in the 60's and 70's. UCLA even had a Department of Chicano Studies back then. Terms come and terms go I guess.

[SPQR]

That's why I said in mexico, I'm sure in the US it has another meaning.