In Canada, do many people speak French because.....?

Question

... it is common perception here (UK) that most people speak it as their first language. Is this right?, or is English the main mother tongue?
And is French taught in Canadian schools?

Answer 1

In Canada, the only French speaking provinces are Quebec and New Brunswick. The rest of Canada ir predominantly English speaking.

In Quebec, per example, all signs and indications are in French by Law. Sure, you can have them in both languages, as long as the French sign is bigger.

Most of canada, English is the mother tongue, even for Quebec, it depends if you are born into a french or English familly, however, a good percentage of population lear both from a very young age.

If you live in an English speaking Canada, they yes, French is thought in schools. In Quebec, it depeneds. If you go to a French School, then English is though as the 2nd language and vice versa.

Answer 2

I live in Ontario Canada and I can tell you that we are Bilingual here... We learn French in school from grade 4-9 (after grade 9 it's your choice if you want to continue on with it or learn a different language altogether or if you want to just stick to your regular English course credits). Or at least that's how it was when I was going to school (I'm now 27). There are some exceptions...You can go to French Emerson school where you can take French your whole life.... Also it depends where you go... Quebec for example most people speak French (and some refuse to speak English even if they know it). There are parts of Canada, parts in Nova Scotia for sure, that speak French fluently as well.
English is the first language, however second is French here, as I suppose in the states it would Mexican or something like that.

Answer 3

I used to live in Ontario and most people there are NOT bilingual. There are more Italian speaking people than French.

No, most people do not speak French, in fact many people don't care about speaking french, particularly on the west coast - from British Columbia through to Quebec.

Most Canadians consider English as the main language of Canada.

Quebec residents speak french as their law dictates that french comes first, then English. Many companies relocated their head offices to other provinces because of this law.

The bilingualism was put in place as a federal government political move to apease the french (Quebec primarily).

Continuing studies in french (other than schools inside of Quebec) would be necessary to be proficient for business purposes. Most people in Canada don't bother.
The french taught in schools is fairly useless.

I found while travelling that the most useful second languare is Latin American. Many Hispanic people in the US, Mexico, South America, Puerto Rico, and some of the islands.

Answer 4

English and french are both taught in school, as a primary and second language, depending of the school you're going to. The vast majority of the french Canadians are living in Quebec but there's some of them in other provinces too (Ontario, Manitoba, the Maritimes...) Western provinces are mostly english speaking.

There's a lot of english people too in Quebec province, mostly in Montreal since it's the biggest city in Quebec. When you're looking for a job in Montreal, it is highly recommended to speak and write both but I know people who only speak english or french and get along with it very well. J'espère que ça répond bien à votre question!

Answer 5

You are right... the idea of that many Canadians speak French is pretty close to a hoax.

About 75% of Canadians speak fluent English and another 15% speak it in some way.

The proportion of people who speak only French is about 15%, and most of them are elderly and living in tiny rural communities

Answer 6

French is mainly spoken in Quebec, Canada. In my old elementary school in Canada, we just had to sing the French version of the pledge of alliegance.

Answer 7

because France had Nova Scotia and parts of New York. they expanded to Canada and only the east part of Canada knows french well.

not 100% but its something like that.

Answer 8

It's not really French they're speaking; they're really just that drunk.

Answer 9

everyone from ottawa west doesn't, east they do