Do most Canadians know basic French?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

my guess would be it's similar to how much gringo Californians know Spanish, eh?

Depends on the province. Obviously in Quebec anglos have a higher knowledge of French. Between 65 and 70% of them speak French I would say, and most of the others in Quebec would know quite a few French words and expressions.

Outside Quebec, it varies (generally it goes down as you move further away from Quebec). In some of Canada's provinces the % of anglos who know French is probably quite a bit lower than the % of anglo Californians who speak Spanish.

[Robynator]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Outside Quebec, it varies (generally it goes down as you move further away from Quebec). In some of Canada's provinces the % of anglos who know French is probably quite a bit lower than the % of anglo Californians who speak Spanish.

Exactly.

The level of basic French known by Canadians varies across the country. It's completely contextual. In certain parts of Canada, like Manitoba, the French were actually some of the first European pioneers, so there has always been some sort of French connection to the land. As a result, the French language plays a larger role in that region's history and identity, even if it is an English speaking province.

And in other parts of Canada, such as British Columbia, there was practically no French settlement of the province, aside from a few fur traders - it was settled by British explorers, visited by Spanish explorers, and settled by immigrants from China, India, Japan... not France, not Quebec. So the average person in BC knows far less French than somebody from Ontario, simply because they're 2000+ miles away from that part of Canada!

It would be like comparing the level of basic Spanish known by English-speaking Americans in Idaho vs. the levle of basic Spanish known by English-speaking Americans in Florida. You can't just generalize all of the USA because it really depends on where you're talking about. Well, it's just like that in Canada too. There is rarely one big Canadian universal.

[green_mariner]

Most of the Canadians I have met knew some French. My high school French teacher was from Newfoundland.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

my guess would be it's similar to how much gringo Californians know Spanish, eh?

or even in states like Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and even parts of Florida or NY.

[stirtonm]

To a Parisian, Canadian French is NOT French. Too much slang. The people who live in the French quarter of New Orleans speak better French than many do here in Canada. Stephane Dion spoke better french than many, even Chretien or Duceppe

As for the generalities, having traveled this country with the military, meeting people from all over while serving, the MAJORITY of people who know french are Quebecois and Ontarians, mostly those who live on the borders of Quebec. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and NB and NL also have french speaking enclaves.

Outside of those areas, nobody really speaks french. Knowing how to count and say hello does NOT qualify one as being able to speak the language. I can do the same for Farsi, German, Russian, Spanish and Italian. But I am not deluding myself that I "know" these languages.

I "learned" french in Jr high, but living here in the west, I never had opportunity to practice the language, so I never learned it. My time in the army, NATO is by standard, ENGLISH, so I never had opportunity to learn french through that. I was not in long enough to be immersed into CFB Valcartier to at least practice it for a few months, which would have benefitted me more than that waste of time in high school.

And as for being able to understand some french in passing, most of the words in both English and French have roots in latin and spanish and german. With some concentration, most texts can be decyphered so long as you have a strong vocabulary, regardless of your strengths in English or French.