Why does Canada and America have a different second Language?

Question

I'm from New Zealand and i don't understand why Canadians speak french. It might be common knowledge for americans & canadians but i didn't know. Are canadians half french or something?
Then we went on vacation and we went to America and everyone was speaking spanish(especially when I went to Los Angeles)! I mean white americans to other white americans! I asked them if spanish was their native tongue, and they said "no, english is our first language" how did they learn spanish?? Also I noticed everything there is in english and spanish. Are they teaching Americans spanish at a young age?
I was very suprised when I saw Americans speaking it and there were many others where I went.

Where I live we have like no spanish or french speakers...

Answer 1

Joshua...Hmmm. What are the odds that you would ask this question on the first day you create your account? And that you would keep your questions and answers private? I'm smelling essence of troll here. But hey, I'll be happy to explain it anyway.



A simple search for Canada on this magical thing called the Internet, you would find pages and pages on the country's history. You would find that Canada was actually "discovered" back in 1534 by a Frenchman named Jacques Cartier.

https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/jacques-cartier?media_type=41&media_category=31



Later, French settlers arrived and formed the first colony in what is now Quebec City in 1608, started by Samuel de Champlain.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/samuel-de-champlain



In fact, the French did so much for the exploration and settling of North America that they at one time controlled much of what is now USA. It was French explorers who travelled from Canada (once called "New France") all the way down the Mississippi to its mouth and established a colony in what is now called New Orleans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nouvelle-France_map-en.svg



But that was before the Seven Years War. In 1763, after years of fighting between the French and British, the French gave parts of Louisiana area to the Spanish (coming up from Mexico), and the rest was given to the English when the French surrendered and the Treaty of Paris ended the war.



And in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase went through, selling that territory to the Americans for their expansion. That later started the Spanish-American war, as Mexico and USA each were trying to stretch their territory into areas around Texas and California.



So that is why Americans tend to speak English and Spanish...mainly their proximity to Mexico and the territories that had Spanish-speaking people in it. And Canada was French and English because those were the two sets of colonists dating back to the 17th century.



By the way, you may not know this but a version of French is actually still spoken today in parts of Louisiana. It's a language known as Creole. It's a simplified version of French that was spoken by the slaves, indians, and several immigrants arriving from French Caribbean colonies.



So know you know.

Answer 2

Not all Canadians speak French. It's mandatory to learn it from Grade 4 - 7, but after that it's optional.



The land that is now Canada, as many have pointed out, was first settled by the French. Then the Brits seized it after winning the Seven Years' War. Then the French were joined by the Scots, the Irish and the English during a wave of migration. Since the French and the Brits weren't exactly best friends back then, they didn't like each other too much. Tensions were high between Upper and Lower Canada (English and French Canada).



Fast forward into the future, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau goes all "bilingualism!" and giving both the French and English languages equal status in government or something like that... The point is, government things can be done in French or English; neither is superior over the other. And that is how Canada had French and English as its official languages.



As for the US - they don't actually have an official language. English is the de facto one since it's the most widely spoken, but they never did settle on an official language. Spanish is there because of the Mexican/Spanish influence. And because some of the southern states were actually once Spanish. There are a lot of people from Mexico who moved into the US, so a lot of people speak Spanish.



Hm, yeah, I think they teach Spanish. It's like our situation with French, I think. For the Americans, it's more useful because there are a lot of Spanish speakers. For Canadians, French is more useful because it's one of the official languages along with English.

Answer 3

Canada has two official languages: English and French. While English is dominant in most parts, French is dominant or equal to English in most of Quebec and certain parts of New Brunswick. This is a reflection of the fact that the French were the first European settlers in Canada, and when the English came and took it they made certain concessions to the French to avoid all-out war. To this day, all Canadians learn English and French in school.



The United States is a completely different story. There is no official language there, but the de facto language used by all people and governments there is English. Spanish has become the second-most-spoken language over the years due to America's shared border with Mexico and the high number of immigrants from Latin America. Public institutions have responded to this reality, and now it is quite common for Americans to learn Spanish in school, and in some parts of the country you will hear more Spanish than English.

Answer 4

North American was settled in large part by the French, and the British. In more southern areas, Spain had a big role.



After the war in 1763, while much of Canada was French speaking, the Brits took over. They allowed the people to keep their own language, religion, and many laws. To this day, about 1/4 of Canadians are Francophones - they don't speak any English at all. About 10% of Canadians are bilingual, speaking both English, and French. These are Canada's two official languages.



The USA has no official language at all. Many in more southern areas do speak Spanish, but, neither Spanish nor English is "official" in the USA. English is by far the majority language though.

Answer 5

I get a sort of snarky tone to your question. I believe others have noticed the same thing.What really do you mean by :"white Americans " In Canada two provinces are officially bi-ligual. Quebec and New Brunswick. There, French is truly an official second. language. In the USA there is no official second language. Got to parts of Chicago and you will find great numbesr speaking Polish or in Wisconsin many German speakers. Also there is now a huge number of Russian speakers in the borough of Brooklyn, New York. None of these languages and also others spoken in so many places like Spanish or Portuguese has ever been designated a second language.When I 'hear" someone from the other end of the world, talking about "white Americans" It does get me wondering just what is the real motive.



Thank you TOR

Answer 6

Calif was a Mexican state before their war with the Americans. After the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, certain concessions were made to the Alta Californios who actually aided the Americans against the republic of Mexico. 1 concession was that Calif was supposed to be a bilingual state. That never actually happened. The Spanish language was well established here though, and has been passed down thru the generations of the old families, and reenforced by the constant influx los migrantes, legal and otherwise. When you mention Los Angeles, it is actually named "La ciudad de neustra Senora la Reina de los angeles. The city of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. All thru the American south west, Spanish is more or less spoken, by Mexican and non Mexican alike. Some admixture of English thrown in has been called "Spanglish" and is used extensively in New Mexico. Your country on the other hand, had really only 1 colonial entity to give it's language to their new country.

Answer 7

Canada was originally settled by the English and the French, and both languages have survived over time.



The US borders Mexico which is a Spanish-speaking country. Also, a lot of the southern US was originally settled by Spaniards. Over time, immigrants from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries into the US have continued to bring the Spanish language with them.



This is greatly oversimplified, though.

Answer 8

The land that is now known as Canada, was first explored and then settled by people from France.



It was a French colony longer than it was a British one. As a part of the British North America Act, the French speakers in Canada were guaranteed that their language and religion and customs would be respected and enshrined in our laws and court system. That was when the country became a separate nation, in 1867.



In Canada , the majority of our people ( about 76 percent of the population ) speak English, as their first language, and the remainder speak French, or one of many Aboriginal languages..



Having two official languages is not that unusual, and in some places, like Switzerland, they have four of them.



Jim B



Toronto.

Answer 9

Canada was founded by the French in 1534.

At the height of French power in North America, they owned most of the continent:

Link - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/NouvelleFrance-Vraie-Version.png



Following a series of colonial wars, Britain took full, formal control of Canada in 1763.

With Britain and France being Canada's founding nations, Canada's two official languages are (naturally and understandably) Canadian English and Canadian French.



Because the majority of French Canadian settlers remained in Canada after the British conquest, Canada's home to the world's largest French speaking population outside France itself.

Canadian school kids are given basic French language instruction, but few ever continue with it past what's required for school to become bilingual.

Link - http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/act_loi_e.php



America, meanwhile, began as 13 colonies founded by Britain which later rebelled to create the United States.

In the 1800s, the US gained Spanish-speaking territory following wars with Mexico and Spain.

The US gain significant amounts of land as a result of its war with Mexico:

Link - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_land_did_the_US_gain_as_a_result_of_the_Mexican-American_War

And that included their Spanish speaking populations as well.

Unlike Canada however, the US has never passed any official language legislation designating anything as the official language(s) of the United States.



Plus in more recent times, immigration to the US from Spanish speaking countries (Mexico + Central and South American nations) have seen a tidal wave of illegal migrants into the US.

While nobody knows the exact number, estimates put it at over 11 million.

In other words: more than 3 three times New Zealand's entire population.



Of course New Zealand doesn't have French or Spanish as a second language.

You folks have Maori as your de facto second language.

Answer 10

Canada has a legislated second language, French, and one province, Quebec, has French as the first language.



The US has an unofficial second language, Spanish, due to the large number of Spanish speakers there.

Answer 11

To be honest you've just kind of shattered my image of New Zealanders, I've always thought of them as a quiet and educated people but this question just made me second think that, Britain colonised Australia, NZ, US and Canada, but Canada was also colonised by another country - France. Both the UK and France actually fought over what today is Canada and there is even a small little island off the coast of Canada called Saint Pierre and Miquelon, it is French territory and even Euros are used there, its about 20 min by boat south of Newfoundland, Canada.



Troll? I think so.