Why is it in a country where..?

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SteveN

In today's global economy, it is important that you do not shut ANY doors that may be available to you. Knowing both English and French gives you more opportunities for business, employment, and travel than just knowing one language, whether it be English or French.

Personally, since Canada has two official languages, I would love to see English and French be mandatory for all product labelling, signs, and government services across Canada, not just in the francophone provinces.

When I was in New Brunswick last fall, I found it great that you could use both languages or either language, and you did not have someone forcing you to use one or the other. There did not seem to be any resentment of either culture, and they lived side by side amicably.

There was a time (in the Duplessis era and prior to Bill 101) when the French were treated poorly in Quebec. They were often discriminated against for managerial positions and would be paid less than an anglophone doing the same job. However, it seems that in the 70's and continuing to today, the reverse has become true, and you have the separatist movement and francophones that look down upon the English. In the 1980's, my father even lost his job because the small company he worked for was sold to a francophone owner, and they wanted a francophone manager instead of a perfectly bilingual anglophone.

All I can say to my fellow Quebecers is this: Ce n'est pas nÃ©cessaire de rejetez les droits des anglais tout en favorisant les droits des franÃ§aises. On peut vivre ensemble dans ce pays. It is not necessary to restrict the rights of the English in order to promote the rights of the French. We can share the country together.

To the rest of Canada, I say show tolerance, try to learn more about the French culture and if visiting Quebec, follow the "When in Rome..." motto and do your best to speak French if you can.

cely

Why can't we just get along. I agree with the first response, Montreal is very bilingual. Schools in Montreal have mandatory English classes.

This is a subject that will forever be debated. I don't like when we say bad things about each other, when we generalize; we shouldn't judge an entire group of people because of one person or a bad experience. I mean there are exceptions to every rule. It makes me angry because some people say disciminating stuff because they don't know what it's like to live here and to live in this environment. I come from Montreal and I believe its people, its citizens are very open minded when it comes to speaking English or French. I was lucky enough to have an English father and a French mother and so learning was much easier for me and I saw both sides.

I can go on and on about this but I won't; I will end with this I'm proud to be QuÃ©bÃ©cois and to be French but at the same time I am proud to be Canadian and English. I embrace both sides of my heritage. Thanks for your time.

itssoeasy

Montreal is the most bilingual city in North America jte fait remarquer.

NikkiMâ™¥BTB 08/29/09â™¥

Oh I'd say 99% of them KNOW english, but just don't use it cause they think the rest of the world should know french. I agree that when in a french city it is polite to attempt french, but they shouldn't expect everyone to be fluent. If i walk in and say "Bon Jour, Parlez Vous Anglais?" That should be enough for them to say "oh yes, how can I help you" and not be jerks about it.

The funniest thing is I was there with a friend from France, and the one waitress bitched us out for using english so my friend starts talking in French and the waitress bitched at her for not using "real" french. BAHAHA! SHE'S FROM FRANCE! it IS real french, I don't know what quebec is protecting anymore, they're french language is so butchered with english it shouldn't be allowed to be called French. My friend got so mad she was up on a chair screaming at the waitress (in french) for being so dimwitted and rude. lol

jaccar1990

Some quebecer say its the "Real" french , because it's the same french as the first french settlers (jacques cartier, etc). and we still speak that very same dialect. In France, french evolved and changed, and they believe their french is the "real". They're both french! just different dialects.

We are very protective about our French, because we do not want to be assimilated by the english. But most people living in montreal, are bilingual and understand both english and french. We are the North American city with the most bilingual people. If it were for the laws protecting french, all the immigrant who move to montreal would rather study in english and not french(more people speak english, and it's easier to learn), and so there would be fewer and fewer french speak people until eventualy all the french would die out.

Dangermanmi6

it is so they can protect their little fiefdom from the 21st century the more you limit peoples choices the more they will go along with any extremist view.

The French are still trying to recapture the heady days of the Norman conquest where French was the language spoken by the ruling classes. Well it seems to have come about here in New France to get anywhere in government you have to speak French and it doesn't matter how crappy your English is you will get promoted.

I wish that just one of the political parties federal or provincial would stand up for my rights to speak English. Not everyone has an appitude for another language even as children.

Michael H

The french were in Canada long before the English. Then the English came over, and tried to assimilate the french. If you visit Montreal, you will notice a lot of people actually speak both French and English, but in the smaller towns, they only speak French.

Vive les QuÃ©becois.
Nous sommes les meilleurs.

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