What are the minority language policies in your country?

Mussolini and Petain were gone in 1948 but their policies did not go away. Many, many of political leaders in France and Italy after the war were colaborators before the war and had the same ideology. This was forget conveniently by everyone who wish to forget that many people in Italy and France support Nazi regimes.

I mean not the well know colaboration leaders but the grand bureaucrats who worked for them and hold all the real power

I live in California, and Spanish and English are both prevalent here. Many things are available in both English and Spanish. For example, there are several Spanish TV channels, although the number of English channels exceeds trhe number of Spanish channels by far. I find it amusing that this is so in a state that has English as its sole official language. In schools, Spnaish is learned most commonly.

I live in Los Angeles, and on my cable line-up there are 23 Spanish-language channels on both basic and premium service, plus 7 Spanish-language music channels. I would say that that's more than "several."

Also, more often than not, billboard ads and storefront signs all around my neighborhood are strictly in Spanish. When my cousin came to visit from Vancouver, he said such a thing would not be permitted in Canada. Over there, if something is printed in French, an English translation must also be provided (and vice versa). BTW, I live in an area where the Latino population is roughly 54%.

Your cousin is wrong about the signs. Apart from Quebec, which does have sign language laws, people can put signs up in any language. In Vancouver's Chinatown area (which is very large and where I once lived) there are many chinese only language signs. In Toronto, where I now live, I see signs in Greek, Arabic, Urdu, Italian, etc. every day... most of these also include English words but that's done to attract extra customers.

We have multiple TV services in every language, including many spanish services from the U.S. The Canadian government does limit the number of TV services that can be carried on TV here, but that is done mostly to ensure that domestic TV channels are not swamped by foreign ones.



Canada does limit the amount of television services

I don't know how many Spanish channels are on TV here, but there are several. I haven't seen any Spanish-only billboards, but I've seen quite a bit of bilingual advertising, and a lot of local businesses have "Hablamos Espanol" on their signs.

For obvious reasons, there are only a few spanish language channels plus several spanish music channels here in MN. But I have seen all spanish billboards in Latino majority neighborhoods in Los Angeles and San Diego.

The anti-english and anti-anyone who is not french or who doesn't have a french surname in Quebec, Canada never ceases. There's been a shortage of nurses in the province for a long time and they're making it difficult for english and non-french nurses to keep their jobs --some have had their jobs for as long as 15 years-- or to even get a job by making the french written grammar tests so ridiculous and very difficult to pass, one has to pass with near perfect marks too. These trained nurses are without a doubt fluent in french. This absurd criteria is not upheld in the rest of Canada whether one speaks french or english.The french nurses or would-be nurses are not required to take the tests even though some admit they could never pass the test that are given to non-francophones. Many speak only french and couldn't speak english to save a life. People who are in other occupations in Quebec or own a business but weren't born a francophone are also picked on. Clearly, in Quebec, the powers that be are trying to weed out non-french citizens on every level --unfair and un-democratic.

Unfortunately, Quebec is a bit different from the rest of Canada. What I don't understand is why the people who live there - who are much more progressive on a whole range of issues than the rest of Canada - would allow their society to step on minorities and deny their language rights?

That province is an enigma.

"I live in Los Angeles, and on my cable line-up there are 23 Spanish-language channels on both basic and premium service, plus 7 Spanish-language music channels. I would say that that's more than "several." "

Well, I don't live in the city of LA. On basic cable here, there are no more than 6 or 7. I don't know if there are any on premium cable, since I don't watch it much.

I am not against the French in any way, but everything the French and French-speakers do is strange. In France, Quebec, and anywhere else they refuse to even bother with English (or the English when at all possible) and go against all minorities, just because they're not French. I will never understand them.

Do we as English speakers ever bother with French? I'd say not...

I have also noticed that the nature of many French and French speakers is to be intolerant toward the non-french minorities. They shouldn't step on people to keep their language alive. They're just attracting even more resentful people. If people want their culture and language to stay alive then it should be at their own will and not at the expense of everyone else rights, whether they live in France, Quebec, or wherever.

That is just not true. The attitudes of French people are no different than anyone else's attitudes.

Americans haven't exactly been tollerant to THEIR minorities. In the U.S. English is clearly the dominant language but still state after state feels the need to make English the ONLY official language... are they that threatened by Hispanics?

Britain was the same with Gaelic and Cornish and Irish and Welsh and and and. That doesn't even include all the colonial languages they felt the need to supress.

Please don't get on your high horse about the French. At least their language is actually being threatened by someone else's.

Good points. But the both France and Quebecs virulently defend their own majority languages against inroads by English but have absolutely no sympathy for people who want to preserve minority language within France and Quebec.

I'm not talking about English here, I'm talking about Montagnais, Innu, Cree and other aboriginal languages in Canada. Quebec doesn't even care whether French language minority communities continue to exist in other Canadian provinces.

That being said, I agree that people from Britain, the U.S. and English Canada have no reason to be smug given their own linguistic records.