I was in the French-language Ontario school system until the end of Grade 8, and I cannot recall that we ever used the formal “vous”. As in, it wasn’t used (in class or in general in that primarily Francophone town) or taught, and the one time it came up in classwork at some point late in elementary school, it was so abnormal that the teacher had to explain it.
That sounds like typical very formal language everywhere. I have employees calling me sir and it always throws me for a loop. I don’t think I’ve called called someone sir in my entire life. I have used ma’am when trying to get the attention of a woman I don’t know, and that’s about as formal as I’ve been.
I was in the French-language Ontario school system until the end of Grade 8, and I cannot recall that we ever used the formal “vous”. As in, it wasn’t used (in class or in general in that primarily Francophone town) or taught, and the one time it came up in classwork at some point late in elementary school, it was so abnormal that the teacher had to explain it.
That sounds like typical very formal language everywhere. I have employees calling me sir and it always throws me for a loop. I don’t think I’ve called called someone sir in my entire life. I have used ma’am when trying to get the attention of a woman I don’t know, and that’s about as formal as I’ve been.