The current state of French in Canada
Sunday December 9, 2007
According to the 2006 Canadian language census, there's good news and bad news for French speakers.
About 25% of Canadians are francophone; however, they are concentrated in Québec. Outside of Québec, only 4% of Canadians speak French as a native language. French is studied less and less as a second language, and those who learned it in high school don't tend to remember it. 17.4% of Canadians are bilingual.
Immigrants to Québec are more likely to use or choose French as their primary language, while immigrants to other provinces tend to favor English. Yet for the first time, the number of Francophones in Montréal dropped to less than 50%.
About 25% of Canadians are francophone; however, they are concentrated in Québec. Outside of Québec, only 4% of Canadians speak French as a native language. French is studied less and less as a second language, and those who learned it in high school don't tend to remember it. 17.4% of Canadians are bilingual.
Immigrants to Québec are more likely to use or choose French as their primary language, while immigrants to other provinces tend to favor English. Yet for the first time, the number of Francophones in Montréal dropped to less than 50%.
Comments
And, in Canada, dollars to donuts, the vast majority of the 17.4% of bilingual Canadians have French as their primary language. In New Brunswick, which is the one province that is supposedly bi-lingual, you will meet many many monolingual Anglophones but almost all Francophones are bi-lingual.
It is really two solitudes. A large percentage of Ontario schoolchildren get a bilingual education, but a few years of not using the language soon erodes what they learned. Draconian legislation in Quebec requires all children whose parents were not educated in English to attend a French school. Shops are forbidden to have English signs. All road signs are in French, even STOP is banned and replaced by ARRET, which is not used in France! Its a sad mess.
I got to spend two weeks in Quebec City in 2004. I wasn’t too aware of the schism between English and French Canada. I’m from the south U.S., actually trying to help a friend there, but still I got the cold shoulder from a French clerk because I couldn’t speak French. Quebec flags, not Canadian flags fly everywhere. Snowbirds from Quebec drive near my house on the way south a lot. At a local station, one saw my Laval Université t-shirt (it can be very warm here in the winter… it’s about 77 today, Dec. 11) and seemed absolutely mad that I couldn’t speak French. That was 3 years ago. A month or so ago, I saw an Anglo Canuck at the same station. He seemed absolutely incensed at the Quebecers, and wished they’d go ahead and separate.
I sure hate to see the Canadiens in such a state. I do believe that language is a greater divider than race, moreso than geography.
I am an english speaking canadian, married to a quebecois. Our children only go to francophone schools where, english is not permitted. I fully support this because, after spending time researching french history in Canada, I’m beginning to see how hard it is for them to keep their language and their heritage strong, among a predominantly english society. Why should they have stop signs in english? Before we criticize, we have to take the time to look back in history and try to understand their situation a little better.
I studied and lived in Montreal for a while and while I loved the city and its people, but contrary to the comments above, I found it very difficult to actually use French outside the classroom. I found francophones to launch fully into English at the slightest hint of an anglophone accent. (My French is very good, but I certainly don’t sound local!) In a restaurant I was actually berated for “speaking French when I was English” as the server admonished! I eventually moved to the East of Montreal where English speakers are rare and if you want to immerse yourself in French, that will be your part of town. Otherwise if you find yourself in Centre Ville, the Plateau, etc…you might use the occasion to brush up your English. I’ve often thought of sharing my experience with the Office quebecois de la langue francaise which takes great worry from the seeming dominence of the English language in Quebec. My experience was echoed by my classmates, many of whom gave up all attempts to even try to speak French around town. My theory is that to locals, French is the language of their culture, but English is the language of communication to the greater world.
Warning…this is a long rant:
When Hot Dog becomes ‘Chien Chaud’ and a Smokey (smoked meat sandwich particular to Montreal ; Jewish/Russian immigrants) becomes ‘Viande fumee’ it’s really too much. My wife had a bilingual English/French sign posted on the office door and an inspector made her change it such that French was above the English, and the French had to be written in larger letters. People moved to Montreal in the 50s and 60s…it was the happening place. Company HQ’s were there and lots of action and growth. Many people (& HQs) left in the late 70s esp. to Ontario. The Separatist politicians drove people into split camps of English (mostly Mtrl) vs. French (esp. Mtrl East, rest of Quebec). Esp. the politicians used divisive issues like this to get elected…rationally there is no economic or logical reason to separate. Plenty of protection (excessive) for the French language in Quebec. Like it or not English has become the primary international language (most people’s second language) for a common ground between peoples worldwide, esp. for business/trade/travel. It used to be French in the 1800’s, now it’s English, in the future Chinese? Go with the flow or be broken…
I live in Switzerland, travel all over Europe, Mideast, Asia etc. No one makes it an issue if you speak English EXCEPT in Paris and Quebec.
I speak French, English and German and always try to pick up 5-10 phrases of each country I visit…I do not understand why always the hassle in Paris and Quebec…even in deepest Urals/Russia…no prob with English or German.
By the way…despite this I still LOVE Quebec and Montreal as one of my favourite destinations in the world!
Rant over…
I grew up in Montreal, on the West Island where one could live and die without ever speaking a word of French. The dominance of the Anglo minority in those days (the 50’s and 60’s) was complete and it was only as a young adult that I realized how lopsided and unfair the whole thing was. Of course, the pendulum swung far the other away in the 70’s and 80’s and it was a difficult period for everyone. Lately I’ve noticed that there is more of a middle ground: more acceptance by francophones of the realities of the global dominance of English, and a lot more willingness on the part of anglos to meet the efforts of those who promote the French language halfway. I travel all over Quebec as part of my work and I find that the more effort I make to speak French (one must resist at all costs the lure of speaking English to a francophone who sincerely wants to practice his English!)the more willing people are to help me. In downtown Montreal there is no question that you can speak English wherever you go if you are so inclined. I agree that the language police can be incredibly over-bearing but I understand the need to have a watchdog…without it, English has a natural tendency to dominate. I realized this one day when I asked a young woman with whom I was working what she called a mouse pad in French. “Mais, ben sur, c’est un mouse pad!” she replied. Mais non, c’est un tapis souris…I rest my my case.
In 2007 my husband and I took a driving trip through parts of Canada. In Toronto, a young waitress wondered why we would go to Quebec. She said that in English speaking Canada everything is bilingual, but in Quebec they only have French. She was anxious about driving in Quebec because everything was in French and she didn’t understand French. We were a little nervous after hearing this, but not for long. When we drove into the Province of Quebec we noticed that all the road signs were graphic. For instance, I find it hard to believe a driver would not understand a picture of a figure with a shovel beside a pile of dirt. We encountered no rudeness at all from French speaking people. An English speaking tour guide in Montreal, however, was incensed when I questioned the reasons why Montreal had fallen on hard times since the secession vote. She said all the large banking and other financial groups had moved their home offices to Toronto in fear of Quebec seceding. I questioned whether they had done this to influence the vote. She didn’t like my question. In one restaurant, I was trying to use my rudimentary French and the hostess politely asked me if I would like an English menu. In one small town at a mom and pop motel, the desk clerk was studying English and she was interested to know that we were studying French.