Quote:
Originally Posted by saffronleaf
But even knowledge of non-dominant languages is usually much higher when compared to Anglophone Northern America.
For example, sources suggest 15% - 23% of people in the UK speak French, while only 9% of Anglophone Canadians do. And people in the UK do not really have as many practical incentives to learn French; for example, their public service doesn't have many positions reserved for people who know French and no region within their country is French-speaking.
And while more Finns speak English than Swedish, still 34% of them speak Swedish. Compared to 9%.
I'm not even talking about matching Quebec's ~40-50% bilingualism or exceeding that. But there's a very annoying close-mindedness I've noticed among Anglophone Northern Americans when it comes to learning other languages. Indeed, Canada has spent the bulk of its history trying to stamp out French.
But yes, I agree that the situation in the world re languages means that it will almost always be the case that more Quebecois will know English than Anglophone Canadians will know French, and that a lot of bilingualism across the world involves English. But 9% is pathetic.
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Finnish did not become an official language in Finland until 1923 and Swedish was the language of government, tertiary education and business until well into the 20th century, so there is probably a fair bit of legacy Swedish in Finland that has no equivalent in English Canada.