French Speaking?

Last year during my visit to Montreal it more or less felt like the French that everyone was speaking sounded nothing like that which is spoken in Switzerland and France. Even slang and figures of speech aside, the pronunciation seemed very different and largely unintelligible (at least for me).

While watching TV last night I came across a French Canadian program that was playing on TV5 (a French language channel). It was pretty funny to see the subtitles given that for the most part it was simply a transcription -- rather than a translation -- of what was being said.

It's somewhat comforting that native French speakers outside Canada also struggle (at least somewhat) with Quebecois French and benefit from subtitles. I guess this is analogous to an English language program with thick British, Irish or Scottish accents that utilizses subtitles when shown in the U.S.