English speaking Canadians - do you speak French as well?

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Chris I

English Canadians learn basic French in school but most never become fluent because they don't have much opportunity to use it.

My French is purely conversational and my grammar isn't great but I use it quite often and I've never had a problem.

Karen L

Everyone has to take some French at some point in school. I used to speak pretty good French from what I learned in school but since I live in BC I haven't needed to use it. My accent would still be okay but the vocabulary's gone. I think I've heard French spoken here a half-dozen times in 30 years.

gonetothestore

I speak French poorly. It is mandatory in school (in Ontario anyway) starting in Grade 4 until Grade 8, then in highschool only 1 French credit is necessary to graduate. I learned French for 7 years in school but hardly remember any of it.

Q&A

Its madatory to take french...even in BC but when you get into grade 9 you can choose what language you want to learn. I don't speak french really good i only know basic stuff. People speak french & English in Que'bec

Gene D

It is mandatory in school. I stopped taking French after grade 10, so I don't speak enough to engage in a meaningful conversation.

kenoplayer

Here in Newfoundland, in some of the bigger towns they have French Immersion schools. Meaning that if you want to do your schooling entirely in french, you have that choice. It is not mandatory. However, it is very impressive on your resume when applying for jobs. It can open many doors to some interesting work on a Federal level.

I, myself never did this, but, my sister did. I do have a working knowlege of the French language.

Lina

I am bilingual because I took French from grade 4 until grade 12.
It is mandatory in Ontario to take it from grade 4 until grade 9. After that it is optional.

oceanchica132

i dont speak french. im canadian. i know they teach french in elementary which is mandatory but as for high school i dropped french and took spanish which i cant remember very much of anyways lol.

thinkingtime

I'm bilingual, with a slight accent in french.

~Annabella~

Its not mandatory really. I had a choice to learn it in higher grade at school. I speak it a little. Canada is a multicultural country, alot of people know English and another language, most of the time its french and alot of the time it is not. Even tho we are a bilingual country, you only have to know one to be a citizen :]

J'aime la natation!

Oui! Well yes and no. I can speak a bit but I'm not fluent. It is mandatory to learn French from grade 4-9 in Alberta schools.

Alice L

yes, we start learning french at grade 4 (ontario). and we need one french credit in high school.
But I'm fluent in french and English because I used to live in Quebec, then moved to Ontario.

*ajidamoon* the Eh team

I grew up in Ontario. It is mandatory to take until grade nine, upon which you can either switch to another language, or drop language arts altogether. In Southern Ontario, kids start learning French in grade four. I live in Northern Ontario now, where there is a lot more French influence, and my kids started learning it in kindergarten. I think thats great. I took French right through OAC (the now defunct grade 13) and can get along alright up here. Many jobs require you to be bilingual, and I love having the opportunity to use French. I also speak Spanish, which I took in high school as an interest course, and a bit of Ojibwe, which I never get the opportunity to use.
This summer, we are moving back down to Southern Ontario, and I am enrolling my kids into French Immersion.

mich

In BC, it is mandatory to learn it in grade 4 - 9. Grade 10-12 you can choose between French, Spanish or Mandarin.

Lydia

No. I know a bit, though.
I'm from SK. I took French from Grade 7 to 12 - I can read it, understand a bit, but speaking it is not happening with me.
Taking French in Grade 7 was mandatory at the time.

MasterPython

In Alberta mandatory French classes in elementary schools were cut about fifteen years ago. I am not sure but I doubt they were ever mandatory into junior high.

Kael M

A bit, but real french people speak to fast, my reading and writing of french is alot better than my verbal abilities.

unique, nour hb

i do poorly too but i duno abt skools.. there must b skools without french i gs!

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