Todd:

You're right about the French language thing. People in Quebec speak a considerably different dialect of French than the people in France. In fact, people in France call the French spoken in Quebec "Pig French", which is something the people in Quebec don't like to hear.

When I was in high school I had to take French from Grade 9 to Grade 12, and I was actually quite fluent in it until I graduated from high school and forgot all of it. But I still remember one kid in our class arguing that the Course should really be called "Pig French 304" instead of "French 304" because it was the Quebec version of French we were being taught. And, the teacher didn't like even engaging in that discussion.

You get the same thing in English. Someone speaking "English" in Australia sounds significantly different than someone speaking "English" in Scotland. Similarily, a Louisiana Cajun speaking English sounds completely different than someone speaking English in Boston. And all of them sound different than the "English" spoken in Pakistan or India.

PS: That word "Cajun" is derived from the word "Acadian". A long time ago, when the English conquered what is now the Maritime provinces of Canada, (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island) or "Acadia", the French speaking people living there were given the option of swearing allegiance to the King of England and learning English or moving to the French colony of Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The French speaking Acadians that moved to Louisiana rather than swear allegiance to Britain were called "Acadians", which became "Cajuns" over the years, short for "Acadians".