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Across this great nation of ours, there are approximately 30 million speakers of Canadian English. Typically, when we think of Canadian English, we identify it by what it is not: American English (and sometimes British English). However, right here at home, within our 9,984,670 km2 of space, there is a massive assortment of words we use to describe the same thing, and even when we agree on a single term, the pronunciations we employ are sometimes completely different.

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So much so, that it begs the question: What do the words you use say about where you’re from? This week, we’ll try to answer that question by talking to linguistic experts, sharing stories of our own discovery of differences in the language Canadians use and exploring the regional dialects that define us all.

Travelling outside of Quebec, it never takes long for a stranger to compliment my English.

It has become such a common occurrence that I’ve stopped explaining how I grew up speaking English at home and how I went to an English-speaking school. I am bilingual, and as such, I navigate personally and professionally in both Canadian official languages. Nevertheless, by most Quebec standards, I am an anglophone.