# What % of French Canadians are not bilingual? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074 "2014-11-19T15:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/1 "2014-11-19T15:15:47Z")
Are there any stats on the % of French speaking Canadians that don’t speak English? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/2 "2014-11-19T15:20:17Z")
I always believed that they were [all bilingual and just wouldn’t admit it](http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/10/24/census_2011_canadians_increasingly_bilingual_but_french_isnt_always_the_second_language.html). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/3 "2014-11-19T15:33:19Z")
Two big problems with this are how to define proficiency, and how to assess it. Afaik, most national language statistics are based on self-report census data, not on exam scores. In other words, if 30% of the population of a city tick the box that says that they can speak Low Mongolian, then the census office reports that the city is approximately 1/3 Low Mongolian speaking. So some people will actually speak the language quite well but report that they aren’t proficient due to humility and/or insecurity, and some people will say that of course they can speak the language, when in reality they barely know how to ask for directions to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/4 "2014-11-19T15:44:39Z")
Just over half of Québécois speak French only, according to the most recent census: [Population by knowledge of official languages, age groups (total), 2011 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories](http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Pages/highlight.cfm?TabID=1&Lang=E&Asc=1&PRCode=01&OrderBy=999&View=1&Age=1&tableID=402&queryID=1). Out of a total population of 7,815,955: [ul]363,860 (4.7%) speak English only;[/ul] [ul]4,047,175 (51.8%) speak French only;[/ul] [ul]3,328,725 (42.6%) speak both English and French;[/ul] [ul]76,195 (1.0%) speak neither English nor French.[/ul] Language ability is defined for these purposes as: > [@StatsCan](#): > > Refers to the ability of the individual to conduct a conversation in English only, in French only, in both English and French, or in neither English nor French at the time of the census (May 10, 2011). Note that the stat for “speaks both English and French” would include Anglophones who speak both languages, as well as Francophones who speak both, so it’s not possible from this data to say how many Francophones in Quebec are bilingual. And, this is just Francophones in Quebec. There are also Francophones in the other provinces. I would assume that their level of bilingualism would be higher than Quebec Francophones. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/5 "2014-11-19T16:03:35Z")
I was in Hull in the mid 1980s working with a government employee who was required to be bilinqual. He could barely speak English, he was very adamant that he shouldn’t have to, and wouldn’t converse in English with his co-workers. However, he was willing to use his limited skills with me because I was an American, and unlike his fellow Canadians I was supposed to speak English. That’s a long time ago, but the deep feeling of language identity was apparent and it’s not surprising to me if that sentiment continues now among many. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/6 "2014-11-19T16:12:52Z")
The background to that sort of sentiment is that for a long time, Québécois were often told that they had to speak English in certain positions, even in Quebec, and even when dealing with other francophones. My impression is that Bill 101 has been a major factor in resolving that issue, and thus, ironically, reducing this as an irritant that separatists can use to rally the troops. The federal Official Languages Act, which the federal employee **TriPolar** met, guarantees the right of federal employees to use their own language in the workplace, subject to needs to provide services to the public in both languages (_very_ short summary of the OLA). ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/7 "2014-11-19T23:25:55Z")
Some more detailed language statistics for la belle province: [Population, Age characteristics, Dwellings, Houses, Language, Education, Work, Industry, Earnings, Income, Immigration, Citizenship, Labor](http://www.city-data.com/canada/Quebec-language.html) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/8 "2014-11-20T02:47:32Z")
Anecdotally: I remember seeing French language commercials in TV in Montreal 10 years ago advertising learning English, in the context of a Francophone monoglot man getting in a fender bender with who turns out to be a hot Anglophone monoglot woman, and he’s frustrated at not being able to hit on her. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/9 "2014-11-20T04:06:25Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Just over half of Québécois speak French only, according to the most recent census: That is self-declared — it’s the number of people who say they can speak those languages. Furthermore, half of them weren’t even home when the census taker came, and another household member answered for them. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/10 "2014-11-20T04:12:48Z")
IME as a francophone growing up in Québec, francophones are more likely to slightly over-estimate their level of proficiency in English. That is, they consider themselves bilingual because they have no real problem with small talk and can probably follow sitcoms on television, but are in fact incapable of expressing more complex ideas – such as, in my experience, poker rules or political issues\*. A good indicator would be the ration of dubbed vs original language movie releases. If I’m reading these numbers correctly, 71% of copies of American movies distributed in Québec in 2012 were dubbed versions. [http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/culture/cinema-audiovisuel/film2013-tome2.pdf](http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/culture/cinema-audiovisuel/film2013-tome2.pdf) This means, roughly, that more than 70% of francophones in Québec have difficulty following Hollywood movies. Again, IME, those who _can_ follow the movies in English avoid the dubbed versions like the plague. It goes without saying, if you can’t follow the dialogue in Avatar, you’re going to have a very hard time with election debates. This has profound meaning for politics in Canada, and it goes the other way too: a large majority of Canadians can’t follow the French debates either. (\* Of course, the cynics will say that anglophones can’t properly do those things either.) ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/11 "2014-11-20T17:50:08Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > If I’m reading these numbers correctly, 71% of copies of American movies distributed in Québec in 2012 were dubbed versions. > > [http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/culture/cinema-audiovisuel/film2013-tome2.pdf](http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/culture/cinema-audiovisuel/film2013-tome2.pdf) > > This means, roughly, that more than 70% of francophones in Québec have difficulty following Hollywood movies. I don’t think it’s that simple. Outside the big city, French speakers are a majority, so many small cinemas will only show the dubbed versions of non-blockbuster movies, even if some people would prefer the original. This would add a bias to the stats. > [@](#): > > Again, IME, those who _can_ follow the movies in English avoid the dubbed versions like the plague. Hmm, most people, I guess. But I don’t mind dubs, in most cases. A few days after seeing a movie I typically forget what language I watched it in anyway. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/12 "2014-11-20T20:04:51Z")
I was surprised to learn that Jean Chretian did not know English until after he became an MP. So, you can ( or could) get to Parliament without needed English. Here in Pakistan for comparison, where English is an official, but no ones native, language, there is no way you could get by almost all white collar jobs, and several blue collar ones, and certainly not stand for Parliament without knowing English. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/13 "2014-11-20T20:43:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I was surprised to learn that Jean Chretian did not know English until after he became an MP. So, you can ( or could) get to Parliament without needed English. Here in Pakistan for comparison, where English is an official, but no ones native, language, there is no way you could get by almost all white collar jobs, and several blue collar ones, and certainly not stand for Parliament without knowing English. The joke is that Jean Chretian is the first person to became prime minister without being able to speak EITHER of the official languages! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/14 "2014-11-20T20:56:05Z")
The background to that joke is that he’s from Shawinigan, which is considered by some to be in the backwoods, and he has a strong regional accent when speaking in French, in contrast to people like Trudeau who had a more “cultured” Montreal accent. Mind you, Chrétien was quite content to mine his reputation as “the little guy from Shawinigan.” After one meeting with the Queen, when asked how her French was, he said that she spoke it better than he did. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-french-canadians-are-not-bilingual/705074/15 "2014-11-20T21:23:29Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I was surprised to learn that Jean Chretian did not know English until after he became an MP. So, you can ( or could) get to Parliament without needed English. Here in Pakistan for comparison, where English is an official, but no ones native, language, there is no way you could get by almost all white collar jobs, and several blue collar ones, and certainly not stand for Parliament without knowing English. How does this work in other officially multilingual countries? Can you practically stand for an elected office in Switzerland as a monolingual German speaker or monolingual French speaker? Or can you realistically have a white-collar career in Belgium speaking only Dutch, without a word of French?