jandro

Did any of those jobs you were offered in Ottawa require you to speak French?

I'd imagine if you were unilingual (English) in Quebec it would be very difficult to find decent work unless you had deep roots in the existing Anglo communities there.

Shirtback

1/3 did. I was surprised the other 2 didn't.

There's a fairly recent (couple of months ago) thread* here on BE which may prove an exception to your second paragraph.

S

* here it is :http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=820691&page=3

Boris-canadabound

With regard to the above post, a major downtown job agency advised me that if an employer required bilingualism, then there were plenty of Francophones available for that job. It makes sense, why employ someone who has learned French as an adult (unless, perhaps they were very advanced and practically fluent) when they can have a Francophone?

In answer to some earlier responses to my post, I can also say that in my last job I worked with a number of Anglo Canadians, of different professional levels with a wide age range. Yes, there are jobs for English-only speakers (obviously, I had one), I was just making the point that more employers are now asking for French. During the several years I worked for a large downtown company, the receptionist always answered the telephone with the company name, followed by 'bonjour'. No English. The staff in that company generally speak English day-to-day, though you will hear some Francophones fall into speaking French to each other. If someone needed assistance with French, there was always someone nearby who would help.

What I wanted to point out is that more recently, more employers are asking for French, which means that the English speakers have a smaller pool of jobs for which they can apply. That's just a fact. As is the existence of the so-called 'language police'.

Novocastrian

Talking of bilingualism, does anybody know what's happened with MillieF. She hasn't posted since the end of March.

Shirtback

I was wondering about her too; I *think* she popped in over the weekend, but can't remember on which thread.

S

Gozit

I am Canadian, and I would identify as very, very anglo. I am unilingual (English) , and as far as I am concerned the federal government should force quebec to recognise English as well as French in the province, and demand removal of the "language police" , as well as the dumb requirement that there always be French text on a sign, and if there is also English text on said sign, that the French text be larger than the English text. That's racist IMO.

Color is the US spelling for "Colour" in proper English. No need for that in Canada. We at least spell colour properly here. Do get with the times.

Jeez, I was wondering the same thing!

Novocastrian

Thats puerile, puéril, Kindisch (and you are rather young). You are obviously convinced (correctly) that dual citizenship is a boon.

But bilingualism is a greater one. It takes a bit more work though.

And the Quebecois are not a race. Even Pauline never said that.

Gozit

I think that was a mix of French and German there? Ah yes, I do love my dual nationality, and I think bi/multi lingualism is good too, I'm in the process (or should I say need to start ) of learning Maltese... I just don't see French as a necessity at the moment. And I didn't mean "racist" in that context, would you prefer the term "linguist" ? (Maybe should refer back to the grammar thread ) (What? Did that even make sense? Tis almost midnight...)

Dorothy

Then should the federal government also force the other provinces to recognise French as well as English? If not, would that be "racist" in your opinion?

Souvy

It's not up to the federal government. Canada's constitution requires that anything "federal" be available in both languages. You could demand service in English or French in any federal building anywhere in Canada. After that, it's up to the provinces and municipalities. New Brunswick is officially bilingual. Ottawa is bilingual when it comes to anything in the public sector, as are some other communities in Ontario.

The signage requirement is often ignored. There are villages near me, in QC, where there are signs etc written only in English. It's the same in the west end of Montreal (places like Beaconsfield). The stop signs do not say "arret"; the say "stop".

Partially discharged

But I thought Malta was 'home' and you were a Maltese who is unfortunately trapped in a Canadian body!!!!

Gozit

Yes it would. It's all or nothing in my opinion. Every province should uphold both languages equally and not be biased against one or the other because of their "different" cultural roots.

I am... But in order to be fully Maltese, I need to speak the language you know... I wasn't born knowing how to speak anything I was just taught English first, and have chosen to learn Maltese now

a northern soul

I am moving from quebec to the Ottawa area after struggling with the language police here for the past few years. Can anybody recommend any areas around Ottawa for newcomers with very little French ?

ExKiwilass

no, because it's not really a bilingual country. the centre can keep telling the rest of us it is, but in reality it's not. it just a form of discrimination which directly favours those born around toronto/ottawa etc, which is imo basically a different country than where i live in vancouver. why the **** should anyone be paid for bilingualim in french in vancouver with it's microscopically small francophone population who all speak english anyway cos they have to to survive, except the ones sucking off the federal government teat? you know who you are.

where is the large french speaking market in vancouver of hundreds of thousands to require so much money spent on these bilingual federal services? there isn't one. and it just takes money from the rest of us to prop up the myth that the rest of canada outside that centre bit is bilingual. that should be a hint right there. Just checked wikipedia - ooh look it's a whopping 6% of the population of vancouver that is francophone! wow! let's throw MORE money at those underfunded people!

it's stupid. it's bs imo.

western separation fwiw!

or even better, quebec separation.

sorry for the thread hijack aqua, i hope you enjoy vernon.

pdarwin

Lived here in Ottawa the past 14 years and don't speak French and have no degrees, etc. Never had a problem finding IT jobs and am now in a management position. Maybe it's the British accent they fall for. Always sounds more sophisticated than you really are.