加拿大是个双从官方语言的国家（dual official language）,英语,也就是所谓的加拿大英语是主要的语言,大约有85%的加拿大人都会说英语,其它一个官方语言是法语,绝大多数说法语的加拿大人都在魁北克省（Quebec）.所有的加拿大联邦政府发表的刊物都是有英法双语的,法律规定在加拿大市场销售的商品也都要有英法双语标志,所有的机场和一般大城市的路标指示牌也都有英法双语.加拿大英语常常被描述成是一种美国英语、英国英语和魁北克法语的结合,一个独有的「加拿大主义」（Canadianism).总的来说,加拿大英语和美国英语最接近,一般不留意去听或者对英语不熟的人都分别不了加拿大英语和美国英语.\x0dA simplistic way of characterizing Canadian English is as a hybrid of British English and American English (plus a bit of French influence from the province of Quebec).Canadians tend to use a mixture of English terms and American terms.For example,Canadians drive trucks,not lorries [卡车],but a Canadian who is pissed is intoxicated [陶醉],and not (necessarily) angry [气愤].Canadians use British spellings like labour [人工],colour [颜色],and cheque [支票],but American spellings like plow [犁],draft [草稿],and program [程序].There are also some uniquely Canadian terms,such as chesterfield [沙发],not sofa or couch as Americans call it.Another thing that I find different is that Canadians refer to a soft drink like Coke Cola as a pop,while most Americans call it a soda.Pop is probably a short form for Popular Drink because soft drinks like Coke and 7UP were considered trendy drinks when they first came on the market.When it comes to the the letter Z,Canadians,like their British cousins,pronounce it Zed.Another term that always gets me personally confused is when I ask an American where is the washroom [洗手间],and they look at me funny because it seems most Americans,at least the ones I met,prefer to say restroom [休息室] or bathroom [洗澡间].The British of course say WC (for washing closet) or toilet [厕所].Americans take vacations [休假] and British take holidays [假日],but Canadians take both vacations and holidays.\x0dOne of the interesting facts is that despite the size of Canada (it is the second largest country in terms of land mass in the world),there are surprisingly little geographical differences in terms of how they speak English between Canadians (excluding the Province of Quebec of course because they speak French there) from coast to coast.Unlike in America where there are a lot of different English accents,like New York accent,Texas accent,Southern accent,Boston accent and so on,native English-speaking Canadians from all over the country more or less speak with the same accent.It is even more amazing when you consider in China which is smaller than Canada area-wise,there are so many different dialects and languages.Some have compared the Canadian accent to a mid-western and western US accent which is supposedly the most similar to the so-called Hollywood accent.This is perhaps why there have been many Canadian actors and TV News Announcers who seem to speak perfect “broadcasting-English” (ABC TV's Peter Jennings and Kevin Newman for example).I find that Canadian accent is very similar to northwestern accent here in Portland.
