# Quebec: English shall never pass my lips? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256 "2004-10-08T20:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/1 "2004-10-08T20:01:22Z")
I just got a letter addressed to “Docteur” Jackmannii from a hospital in Quebec. It’s an anatomic pathology report on a case I had awhile back. The patient wound up in Quebec seeing a physician there, and is customary they wanted a local review of the pathology. As a courtesy and to permit quality assurance documentation, the outside reviewer generally sends a copy of his report back to the original pathologist. So I open the letter and the entire report is in French. O.K, there are two copies, so they have to have provided one in English. Nope, both in French. As it happens, I have retained enough rudimentary French to be able to figure out the jist of the report (they agree with me). But wouldn’t you figure there’s somebody at this joint who could supply an English summary of a medical report that’s being sent to an American hospital? Is it mandatory now in Quebec to avoid use of English at all costs? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/2 "2004-10-09T00:51:34Z")
IIRC, French is the only official language of Quebec. Given that, I’d say the burden of translation lies on the part of the reciever - much like if you’d requested a medical document from, say, Germany, you’d probably be expecting it in German. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/3 "2004-10-09T01:07:36Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > IIRC, French is the only official language of Quebec. Given that, I’d say the burden of translation lies on the part of the reciever - much like if you’d requested a medical document from, say, Germany, you’d probably be expecting it in German. Unless I’m reading the OP wrong, though, it sounds like the Quebecois doctor contacted **Jackmanii** , not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/4 "2004-10-09T01:29:32Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I just got a letter addressed to “Docteur” Jackmannii from a hospital in Quebec. From where from in Quebec ? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/5 "2004-10-09T01:33:02Z")
I don’t know about any rules saying everything has to be in French. In Montreal there are several English hospitals whose paperwork is in English. Maybe your patient ended up in one of the French hospitals in the province. If this was a government-type report he filled out, and sent you copies, there’s a chance that it had to be in French. Also, depending on where he was, there may not have been many people with enough knowledge of English to translate it properly. Once you’re out of the Montreal area, English-speakers can be hard to find. The nurses at my local hospital had a hard time understanding my English. Yes I speak French, but it disappeared when I was in pain. Although the French swearing skills remained intact 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/6 "2004-10-09T01:34:16Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Yes I speak French, but it disappeared when I was in pain. Although the French swearing skills remained intact 🙂 . At least you remembered the important parts ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/7 "2004-10-09T18:47:46Z")
> [@detop](#): > > From where from in Quebec ? Without getting too specific, this evidently came from a large university hospital. It’s not that I expect everyone around the world to automatically communicate in English, or that it really ticked me off (it was sort of a fun break in the routine, and I think I’ve been able to translate all the important stuff accurately). There _is_ something of importance in a communication of this type, apart from confirming the diagnosis for the patient. At our end, we need to know if they found something we missed. It gets more difficult when the message is in a foreign language, and you’d expect that a major Canadian hospital wouldn’t have trouble at least providing a short summary in English. Seems like there must be political pressure to avoid the contamination of English at all costs, which in this case was unnecessary and silly. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/8 "2004-10-09T19:09:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Seems like there must be political pressure to avoid the contamination of English at all costs, which in this case was unnecessary and silly. From my limited experience with the Quebequois, I have found that the opening attitude is one of “I’m willing to try _if you are._” I would guess that if you sent a letter to them in French requesting an English translation of the document you would likely get one. I travelled to some fairly remote locations in Quebec, and as long as I started any conversation with my broken French, the response would be in broken English. The conversation usually settled quickly into whichever language was being butchered the least. That being said, there are still some language nazis there who will never communicate in any language but French. Except (oddly enough, in my limited experience, YMMV, etc.) if you are Australian. The guy I was travelling with was Australian and wherever we went, whomever we dealt with, if he started with his brutal, limited French, there would be responses in English. Everyone loved his ass for just being there! ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/9 "2004-10-09T19:51:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Without getting too specific, this evidently came from a large university hospital. Like **Antigen** said earlier, if it doesn’t come frome Montreal, there is a high probability, that they didn’t have translation servicex or Engkish forms available. > [@](#): > > There _is_ something of importance in a communication of this type, apart from confirming the diagnosis for the patient. At our end, we need to know if they found something we missed. It gets more difficult when the message is in a foreign language, and you’d expect that a major Canadian hospital wouldn’t have trouble at least providing a short summary in English. Up here, health is a **provincial** juridiction, and the official language of Quebec **is** French, so by default most forms readily available are in French. Although, a mistake could have been made and they put two French forms in the same envelope and sent the English version to Quebec city 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/10 "2004-10-09T19:55:17Z")
Someone from Canada can correct me if I’m wrong, but based on a trip into Canada several years ago, I seem to recall that in all provinces **except** Quebec, highway signs, product labels, printed documents, etc. were required to be in both English and French, but in Quebec only French was required. Is this the case, or am i misrembering? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/11 "2004-10-09T21:17:29Z")
At the hospital I work, an English one, everything (pretty much) is available in English and French versions. I suspect that at French hospitals, unless you especially request English, whatever you receive will be in French. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/12 "2004-10-10T03:33:15Z")
> [@Fat Bald Guy](#): > > Someone from Canada can correct me if I’m wrong, but based on a trip into Canada several years ago, I seem to recall that in all provinces **except** Quebec, highway signs, product labels, printed documents, etc. were required to be in both English and French, but in Quebec only French was required. Is this the case, or am i misrembering? You are misremembering. With respect to highway signage, of the other nine provinces, either are unlingually English and generally post highway signs only in English. I live in the Toronto area and I can’t think of any French on signs at all here. You get some of that in eastern Ontario where you have more Francophones, but generally speaking it’s English all the way. With respect to product labels, most are bilingual throughout the country, including Quebec. That’s a federal bailiwick. With respect to “documents,” do you mean government documents? Federal docs are bilingual. Quebec docs don’t have to be in English, though they often are. Most other provinces don’t have to have docs in French, but again, they often are. The only formally bilingual province is New Brunswick. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/13 "2004-10-10T03:50:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You are misremembering. > > With respect to highway signage, of the other nine provinces, either are unlingually English and generally post highway signs only in English. I live in the Toronto area and I can’t think of any French on signs at all here. You get some of that in eastern Ontario where you have more Francophones, but generally speaking it’s English all the way. Hmmm… I went from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont to Quebec City last summer, and the French highway signs started right outside of Sault Ste. Marie. Mr. Athena and I had great fun trying to figure them out by refusing to read the English part of the sign. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/14 "2004-10-10T03:58:36Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Hmmm… I went from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont to Quebec City last summer, and the French highway signs started right outside of Sault Ste. Marie. Mr. Athena and I had great fun trying to figure them out by refusing to read the English part of the sign. Northern and Eastern Ontario, the parts you would have gone through, have pretty large Franco-Ontarian contingents. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/15 "2004-10-10T13:55:33Z")
> [@](#): > > I live in the Toronto area and I can’t think of any French on signs at all here. Dude, I see them all the time around here! “401 West / Ouest”, “427 North / Nord”. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/16 "2004-10-10T14:09:25Z")
> [@Fat Bald Guy](#): > > Someone from Canada can correct me if I’m wrong, but based on a trip into Canada several years ago, I seem to recall that in all provinces **except** Quebec, highway signs, product labels, printed documents, etc. were required to be in both English and French, but in Quebec only French was required. Is this the case, or am i misrembering? _All_ Federal things are bilingual. All of the National Parks have bilingual signs and staff. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/17 "2004-10-10T15:16:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Northern and Eastern Ontario, the parts you would have gone through, have pretty large Franco-Ontarian contingents. Well, then, you shoulda mentioned that in yer first post! “Franco-Ontarian” _giggle_ Never heard that one before. My mother’s side of the family is heavily French-Canadian (her maiden name is ‘Bolduc’, which as far as I can tell is ‘Smith’ in Franco-Canuck lands). Does that make me “Franco-Michiganian”? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-english-shall-never-pass-my-lips/268256/18 "2004-10-10T15:40:54Z")
All federal buildings have signage in both official languages. Kind of funny, really - walking through the airport in Vancouver, in addition to English you see French on signs everywhere. and yet Cantonese and Punjabi are spoken by a larger contingent than French.