"m II" on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:32:33 -0400 typed in
rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
"pyotr filipivich" wrote in message
news How "fluent" are the non-Quebec non-Francophones?

I am recalling stories from the old days - before the Berlin Wall
came down. In the Eastern block all students were "encouraged" to
learn Russian. Which they did - badly. But given half a chance to
study English or German, that they learned!

Quebec is the only unilingual province, being French only. English signs
are
"illegal", there.
Our territories support about 7 other native languages, officially.

"Officially."

Not fluent at all, mostly. I spent three years forced to study French but my
children had 1 hour per day stuffed down their throats for 12-13 years. Now
one kid does commercial presentations in French but the other two never use
a word of it except for language jokes and teasing them.

As a consequence of 1 hour per day of French obsession in each 5 hour school
day most students cannot do math or understand English grammar anymore. They
were taught they would all have calculators attached to their ears and do
not understand math processes, as a result. Then a few years ago, it was
discovered that our own French do not speak or understand proper French to
understand each other.

Legal bi-lingual requirement jobs do not hire our native French speakers as
they cannot pass the grammar test required for legal document writing...LOL

I've a friend, bi-lingual having grown up in Guatemala.

Back in the states, she has to deal with "Hispanics" who insists
on "preserving their culture" with the resutl that the kids cannot
form a grammatical sentence in _either_ language!
--
pyotr filipivich
We will drink no whiskey before its nine.
It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!