Culture tips - Canada Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
The Maritime Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, the Maritimes has a special feeling to it. People are very friendly and generally try to be helpful and there's strong cultural roots still with Germany and Scotland, Ireland. You'll hear a lot of the Irish and Scots influence, especially up in Northern Cape Breton and everything and Newfoundland. And it's just a really wonderful place to definitely take off your shoes when you go into somebody's home. It's a great habit to be in anyway.
Video 2 Transcript
Definitely be very nice, take off your shoes before you enter. Canadians are very polite people, so don't be rude. If you ever meet a Chinese person, say, 我喜欢你的头发, which means I like your hair. It will way start a good conversation, so yeah.
Video 3 Transcript
There's so much culture and diversity in Canada, Montreal. That's one of my favorite things about that city is that it's so diverse and you're going to meet people from all over the world there. It's a melting pot of immigrants and refugees and you're going to meet people with very, very different and contrasting backgrounds and lifestyles. I would suggest trying to learn as much as you can about each one of their individual customs and if you can, pick up some of their language. That's really fun to throw out and they really just appreciate how much you care about them and so that's really cool. Yeah, it's one of my favorite things about the area and embrace it and you will love the people so much.
Video 4 Transcript
Canadian people are very proud to be Canadian, and they should because Canada is a fantastic, I love Canada and I love the people there. But because of that, there is a lot of, they have a lot of issues with Americans being arrogant and prideful. So you just need to be aware. I'm proud to be American, but I also recognize that it's not to be boastful about America to Canadians, because they're irritated by it. They're around us all the time, and we just think that we're amazing, but they're amazing too. And so if you will show respect to them for their country, they'll show respect to you for your country.
Video 5 Transcript
There's a lot of jokes about Newfoundlanders, and a lot of Newfoundlanders tell them. They have a good sense of humor about themselves. I wouldn't take that too seriously or anything though. Simple people don't necessarily mean stupid people at all. Doing things the way that they've been done, tradition, that's a beautiful thing. And you can use that knowledge and build relationships with people that can last a lifetime. I love the Newfoundlanders and all of those people in the Maritimes. Give you the shirt off of their back.
Video 6 Transcript
When you enter an apartment or a house, any residence in Canada, always take your shoes off.
Video 7 Transcript
There are some areas where you'll be surrounded by people from a lot of different cultures. You've got tons of refugees, people from African countries, people from the Middle East, there's a lot of Chinese people and Chinese culture, there's a lot of Filipinos, a lot of Hispanic culture as well, and then of course there's the reserves as well, the First Nations people, their culture is very different. I would say no matter where you are and what opportunities you have to learn about the culture, take it, take every opportunity you can get. I loved the people that were just regular Canadians, that weren't, you know, refugees or from anywhere special, but the main thing is that you learn the culture and you just be respectful.
Video 8 Transcript
Always, always take off your shoes when you go into someone's house. Period. Yeah, there you go. That's, that's probably the most important culture tip I could give you.
Video 9 Transcript
British Columbia is very diverse, especially in the Lower Mainland. If you're in an area called Surrey, the Lower Mainland entirely has the largest Indian population outside of India itself. So you know that, I mean, there are a lot of Indians, there's a lot of Asians as well throughout the Lower Mainland. And for the most part, I mean, you'll get used to the smell of curry, which is great if you love curry, and you'll eat a lot of Chinese food. But the cultures are, for the most part, very accustomed to Canada as well, but they still have their own customs and there are a little bit of barriers, especially with religion. A lot of the Asians are Buddhist and a lot of, and most of the Indians are Sikh.
Video 10 Transcript
The diversity in Vancouver is pretty big. One of the biggest things is learning a few bits of a sentence or two in basically every language that you come across. It helps to break the ice and it helps to build a better connection and definitely try the food out too. The foreign people or non-natives, they're very connected with each other and they're actually very welcoming and some great ideas to get to know their culture or how they act with other people like them is to go to some of their activities or some of their events that they hold. They have quite a lot throughout the year, you just have to know where to find them, know who to ask and just be brave and go to them.
Video 11 Transcript
Canada is definitely a lot like the United States, so there's not going to be a lot of culture shock. However, it is incredibly diverse, and I loved that about Edmonton is that I met people from all around the world, especially India.
Video 12 Transcript
In Quebec, it's extremely French, and the people are called Québécois. They're amazing people. Oftentimes, you will see them plowing snow in short-sleeved shirts. You will see fat men outside smoking, and it's just amazing. They're all nice, not super religious, but very nice. Going along with Canada Day, July 1st is as well something called Moving Day, which is where everyone's lease just ends.
Video 13 Transcript
Culture is very diverse in Quebec. You have many different groups of people from many different countries. You have the Québécois themselves, so those that have been in Quebec for many generations, the French Canadians. Then you have a lot of Africans, a lot of Haitians. There is a huge Latin American culture there as well, and you have a lot of Filipinos as well. And again, so many different cultures, so many different people. With the Québécois themselves, they are, they're jokesters, most of them. They love laughing, they love teasing you, and being able to roll with that and being, kind of be able to give it back a little bit in a polite manner, depending on how well you know them, that's going to go a long way.
Video 14 Transcript
The culture is fairly... It's a combination of European and American, but mostly European in Quebec. So, just be aware that a lot of people will eat dinner later than other people, and that what may be typical for you in America for your schedule is very untypical for Québécois. In addition to that, the Québécois have a very different accent for French than most French speakers do, but they hate it when you call them out on it. And so, kind of what you have to do is you have to learn how to speak regular French in order to talk with most people who speak French, but also learn from the Québécois and learn some of their phrases, because one little phrase can go a long way with them.
