Contactless cards on London Underground

[Ronstar]

That's one of the things I like about visiting Canada; they're much more like Europe than the US.

Yep - The border crossing agent even greeted me in French.

 

[projectmaximus]

None whatsoever which is why I started this thread in the Travel Forum

Not suggesting this is a real benefit, but Chicago's CTA also accepts contactless credit cards. Works identically to the stored value Ventra card (CTA's transit card)

 

[NW-Bound]

Yep - The border crossing agent even greeted me in French.

I read a blog of a Frenchman who visited Quebec. He wrote that he could not understand what the border agent was saying. Perhaps he was joking.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Not suggesting this is a real benefit, but Chicago's CTA also accepts contactless credit cards. Works identically to the stored value Ventra card (CTA's transit card)

Thanks--I'm ditching my Ventra card and app right now. We don't often ride the El anymore and it's always an adventure figuring out how to pay the fare, upgrade the card/app, etc., , considering we started when we bought ten-packs of tokens!

 

[Alan]

I read a blog of a Frenchman who visited Quebec. He wrote that he could not understand what the border agent was saying. Perhaps he was joking.

I can believe it. Many years ago (BC) my wife and I were on vacation in Tunisia and one night shared a dinner table with folks from France, Germany and Alsace. Alsace is in France but over the centuries has switched hands between Germany and France. We found ourselves translating for the benefit of the German and French folks since we had both studied German and French at High School and the language being used by the guy from Alsace was obviously a mix of the 2 languages.

 

[Sunset]

I read a blog of a Frenchman who visited Quebec. He wrote that he could not understand what the border agent was saying. Perhaps he was joking.

There is a difference. I always think of Quebec french as slang french.


https://frenchtogether.com/quebecois-differences/

"“Gosse” seems like a pretty straightforward word, right? Well, it would have been if the Québécois hadn’t gone and given another meaning to it! In France, a “gosse” is simply a child. But, in Québec, “les gosses” are those two things hanging between a guy’s legs."

 

[braumeister]

I have no trouble believing it either.
Portuguese is spoken as the main language in a number of countries. But to listen to the way it's pronounced by natives of those places you could easily think they were different languages.

When I was learning Portuguese at DLI, we had instructors from Portugal, Brazil, and the Azores. All day long, each hour when a different instructor came into the room we had to switch gears mentally and it actually took a couple of minutes before we were in tune with him or her. The grammar was identical, the vocabulary was mostly the same, but the pronunciation and rhythm were miles apart.

 

[NW-Bound]

When I visited Louisbourg Fortress in Nova Scotia, I had a chat with a park worker. He said that the French language spoken there was somewhat frozen in time, and did not evolve like it has been doing in France. Hence they had phrases and words and pronunciations that were from the 18th century. He said that they did not change, but it was the people in France who did.

 

[brett]

I was raised in Quebec. I can understand most French and speak a little, albeit poorly. There are differences between Quebec and France but not quite as many as some would make out. I suspect most of it due to some slang, and some regional accents.

When we visit France it takes me a few days to start thinking and speaking in French without thinking, ie translating. At least in Paris. I do not even notice it but my spouse does. I find mysself speaking to a clerk in a store or a server in a restaurant and I am not even aware that I am doing so. A number of years ago we were in Martinique. My ear picked the accent there with no trouble whatsoever.

I would not really call myself bilingual. My daugher was in French Immersion in high school.....she was very surprised when I started to review her lessons with her or when I had to speak it when we visited Quebec. Just wish I had an even better command of it. I would like to learn Italian or Spanish.

 

[isisdave]

Just got back from New Zealand where everything is "tap" although they call it "Paywave." I was amazed that it took exactly one second to approve a payment on a US card. Now back home, I'm noticing more and more merchants with tap terminals. Haven't had one go through in one second yet, but several were at the two-second mark. What's notable here is that it's noticeably quicker than cash.