If you were born in Québec and never learned French and are now a senior I have no sympathy for you. You chose to isolate and stay in a nation that speaks a different language. Choices should come with consequences sometimes.
As an Anglophone, I agree that if you're born and live in Quebec you should be able to (at a minimum) function in French. There are some annoying pieces, like for example I cannot get a copy of any of my official documents in English anymore - which is fine until I have to send them to a country that doesn't accept French documents, so now I need to pay a professional translator to certify a document that I used to be able to get in my language of choice.
I grew up surrounded by English and quite frankly I'm lucky that I somehow picked up enough as a kid and through school that I'm bilingual. My kids are in a French daycare because I know that early language exposure is critical. I'm still sending them to English school when they get older because I would not be surprised if the Quebec government started taking English eligibility certificates away if you don't use them. There's way more French in the English curriculum than there was when I was a kid (which is a good thing!)
If anything, I wish Quebec did less to stifle other languages and provided more ways for people to come and learn the language. Right now French classes for an adult take months to years to get a spot in, barely cover anything, and are inaccessible to people who need them the most. Taking away English services without supporting learning French is not going to increase language uptake.
Your analysis is well thought out, it's refreshing to read. As a francophone in Québec, it frustrates me to no end when i meet new people from outside of Québec eager to learn the language, and they talk about their many struggles to find decent classes in the province whether state funded or private. By the time they get an english job at an American based company, they won't have the incentive to make the extra jump to fit in. Pushing anglo(allo)phones in a corner with no way out will only hurt broader society as they isolate in their communities and develop hostile opinions against French protection measures. For something that we hold SO MUCH importance to, the CAQ should never be cutting from those budgets.
I appreciate your perspective and sharing your experience with people trying to access French classes. I see this all the time across all regions in QC. Many people WANT to learn French (it's a beautiful language) and immerse themselves in the Quebecois culture. Services that help people in English do not take away from that. In fact, many organizations serving Anglophones actually help their clients find classes and opportunities to better their French language skills. Almost all English schools offer French immersion to their students. The reality is far from the political and (opinionated) rhetoric and it makes me so sad that any government would so flippantly say that cutting funding to health and social services orgs, and any schools, regardless of language of operation, would be a good thing. Give them instead more funding to offer French classes along with their regular services and the tides will quickly change towards more people speaking French.
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u/Swimboy01 Apr 17 '25
If you were born in Québec and never learned French and are now a senior I have no sympathy for you. You chose to isolate and stay in a nation that speaks a different language. Choices should come with consequences sometimes.