French language in Canada?

Sparkling   Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:17 pm GMT
French is one of the two official languages in Canada and is the mother tongue of about a quarter of the Canadian population.

1. When do Anglophone students in Canada generally begin to learn French? (In what grade and until when?)

2. Do Anglophone schools in Canada teach European French(Standard French) or Quebec French?

3. In Canada, Anglophones generally speak French better than Francophones speak English. True or False?
Sparkling   Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:14 pm GMT
Then why do you think Canadians are lazy about learning the foreign languages(ie. for Anglophones - French, for Francophones - English) even if the country recognized two official languages?

Many Dutch and Swiss people speak 2~3 languages fluently while Canadians are monolingual just like Americans?
Guest   Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:23 pm GMT
What? Are you telling me there are still monolingual French speakers in Quebec? Unbelievable.
Céline Dion   Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:31 pm GMT
<<What? Are you telling me there are still monolingual French speakers in Quebec? Unbelievable. >>

Of course there are. We don't need to speak English more than Anglophone Canadians need French.
Guest   Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:33 pm GMT
Even the Chinese and Africans feel the need to learn English... The Quebecans actually live in an English speaking country though!
Céline Dion   Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:41 pm GMT
<< The Quebecans actually live in an English speaking country though! >>

I live in Quebec, a Francophone country.
Guest   Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:52 pm GMT
Ha ha ha keep dreaming. You live in a Francophone province, your country is for the most part Anglophone.

It seems Quebecans will not learn English just out of stubborness, which is silly. English speakers on the other hand would probably gladly learn French if they only had the opportunity...
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:17 am GMT
Je pense qui il lengua francais c'est plus important avec le monde. Pour est raison je pense aprende parler il lengua francais. Je pense, qui mon francais pas tre ben en est moment.
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:38 am GMT
<< The Quebecans actually live in an English speaking country though! >>
I live in Quebec, a Francophone country."

Basically it's true.
In a place like Montréal nearly everybody is to some extent bilingual. But in Trois-Rivières, Québec City or on the shores of Lac Saint-Jean it's not rare at all to find people who don't understand any other language than French. Even owners of big businesses! (of course they better hire a bilingual marketing/sales manager if they don't want to be stuck to their local marketplace)

"It seems Quebecans will not learn English just out of stubborness, which is silly. English speakers on the other hand would probably gladly learn French if they only had the opportunity..."
No. Just suppose Europe were like North America, a whole continent speaking only English, and Norway being alone with a language of its own. Most Norwegians would have to learn some English, while very few among their neighbors would feel the urge to learn Norwegian.

""It seems Quebecans will not learn English just out of stubborness"
You have to understand that in Québec most people watch French speaking networks, listen to French speaking FM radios, read French newspapers, use only French at their job while their friendship and family circles are all French speaking. The English language belongs to an outer world, far away abroad. It is absent from everyday life. Remember that Canada is the country of long distances by car!
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:45 am GMT
Why do they even bother being one country then? If there's no interaction between them they're better off separating.
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:56 am GMT
Quebec is a Latin Francophone nation. Deal with it Anglos.
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:08 am GMT
"Why do they even bother being one country then? If there's no interaction between them they're better off separating."

Why not? But there is some psychological interaction though. Canada is like a nasty habit which is not easy to get rid of — I mean, it is still the most convenient way to state "like USA but different". A somewhat easy and comfortable situation. So Canuck, eh?

Furthermore if Québec was to split, other provinces would likely do as well. With oil bbl heading toward 200 USD Alberta gets more value, but Québec's hydro-power gains more competitivity. In the end each province would find good reasons to become independant. All in all Canada is some kinda lesser evil. An independant Republic of Québec makes sense though, more or less... It's not easy to decide. Except for some fanatics nobody has a clear cut opinion on that issue.
guest2   Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:37 am GMT
Francophones in Quebec used to have the highest rate of bilingualism in Canada. Now statistics show that Anglophones in Quebec (most of whom live in the Montreal area) have the highest rate of bilingualism in the country.

As has been mentioned, there is very little contact with French outside of Quebec (and to a certain extent, parts of New Brunswick), and often not much contact with English in Quebec, outside Montreal and the tourist trade. I know--every time I've been up there, I've had to use French (basic and rusty at best) when I was outside Montreal.
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 3:00 am GMT
''You have to understand that in Québec most people watch French speaking networks, listen to French speaking FM radios''

I guess Madonna, Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani are banned on these radios LOL
Guest   Sun Jun 15, 2008 3:03 am GMT
"Madonna, Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani..."

They miss something great :-)