Is it true that most people in Québec are bilingual in French and English? If so, why do they often identify as monolingual?
07.06.2025 05:47

The Canadian census say exactly the contrary. More french québécois who speak French as their first language are more bilingual than English people. I often go in restaurant in Montréal and I notice that english people can be served easily in english. Sometimes if they encounter problems in ordering, the French québécois will help them but English people can't switch to French… they are completely lost. Also take into account that a Iot of young students french quebecois are studying in English CEGEP and universities but the inverse is very very seldom even non-existent. I meet a lot of English people who have lived all their life in Montréal and can't speak a word of French. A 25 years old were hired here in our building. She had to be bilingual but could hardly understand simple words in french like facteur, ascenseur, boîte aux lettres. We had to ask our information in english most of the time. I asked why she was not bilingual as she had lived all her life in Montréal. She told me that in her school the french courses were poorly taught. This often the main reason english people used to explain their lack of knowledge in french. True, that not french people are bilingual. But a lot more french are bilingual than english. Those who are not bilingual can at least use many words and expressions to get along. My relations with english people which are not bad at all, even easy going, tell me a complete story about your view. Au plaisir de vous lire en français. Bonne journée