is knowledge of french in canada useful?

Question

I am an Indian woman soon going to migrate with open work permit to Canada.
I learnt French in school for about 5 yrs, was pretty good at it.
however we were mostly taught grammar & written French not spoken French.
Will French knowledge help me in anyway, eg. for seeking employment or socially?
I f yes , do I have to pick up spoken French?

will be moving to Alberta, not Quebec

Answer 1

Canada has two official languages: English and French.

Despite the fact that French is spoken mainly in a few provinces, knowledge of this language will be points for you.

Knowledge of languages can never count against you, only work for you.

You know English, have a working knowledge of French, you also speak a third language...more power to you!

Good luck in your job search and welcome to Canada!

Answer 2

Of course it will help. Canada is a tesselation of large and small minorities. I lived in Calgary from '82 to '87, and it was already very compolitan. I learned Hindi there. I spoke Persian every week, and French every day. Imagine what it must be like there now! As an Indian -and French-speaking, yet!- you will be extraordinarily well-suited to employment in the various bureaucracies and public services. The French presence has been denied and suppressed a lot in Alberta, and the anti-French sentiment in Calgary sometimes broke out in the open and received encouragement from public figures on several occasions, but it cannot be ignored in 2007. Brush up your French, you need every +plus+ you can come up with.

Answer 3

It will depend where you are moving to in Canada. If you are moving to Ontario or Quebec, having french knowledge is going to be helpful. I think it would be more helpful to have spoken french rather than written. It will also depend on what kind of job you are applying for.

Answer 4

If you are still in the immigration paperwork process, French (even just written/read) increases your point score.

If you plan on a federal governmental (or New Brunswick provinical) job, French definitely helps significantly. It is mandatory forthe vast majority of jobs in Quebec.

In general, depending on where one lives, one can never need to use French at all. But if you do live in an area with a French minority, it could come in handy.

Answer 5

I had lived in Alberta for 4years and BC for 2years.
I know many Canadians who can't speak French because you don't need to speak French in AB or BC.
I met one French Canadian from Quebec when I was attending an ESL class in Calgary AB.
She was my classmate who was studying English.
She said no one seemed like speak French fluently in Calgary.
Socially, you don't need French in Alberta but for seeking a job it is a benefit but not necessary.
My friend who is a Programmer at big oil company, she can't speak or write French.
But she told me some positions require little knowledge of French.
Now I am living in the USA, I know two Canadians from Quebec.
One guy he can't speak French but he said he can understand, he is from Montreal.
Another guy, he can speak both but he got really thick French accent who is from Quebec city.
By the way,I miss Canada!!!

Answer 6

It would be helpful to know french in Canada.

Answer 7

If you are planning on moving to Quebec, it can be helpful, but you shouldn't have to learn any french if you are moving to somewhere else in canada.

Answer 8

I would say so as it is national language,it certainly would'nt do any harm.