Good News For A Change! Linguistic Social Engineering is Failing in Canada

By Michael Monastyrskyj

In 1969, Canada became officially bilingual.  Even though this policy allegedly  was never meant to make all Canadians speak two languages, it led to an explosion of French courses in elementary and high schools “Immersion programs,” where English-speaking students are taught all or some of their subjects in French, became particularly popular. Significantly, there is no parallel attempt to immerse French-speaking children in English. (Click here to read Steve Sailer’s diagnosis of this disease in the U.S. – where it means Anglos learning Spanish, natch.)

Bilingualism’s defenders are quick to cite immersion’s popularity as proof that Canada’s language policy is a success. In the words of a government website, “French immersion is the glamour story of the last 30 years of second-language education in Canada . . .”

However, just as bilingualism wasn’t accepted by all Canadians, French immersion has always had critics who questioned the program’s glowing reviews. And there’s increasing evidence the naysayers are right. Many students are abandoning immersion in favor of straightforward English-only education – see for example this devastating February 27 20001 National Post story. This, despite the fact parents are under intense bureaucratic pressure not to let their children drop out – as reported in this February 18, 2000 Toronto Globe and Mail story.

The reasons for immersion’s decline are revealing. Research shows immersion students don’t really speak adult French well. Acquiring fluency is simply more difficult than policy makers assume. In addition, the National Post cited other studies that “spell out the failure of most graduates to make substantial use of their French.” This, I think, is the key. Immersion’s popularity is in decline because of demographics. Outside of Quebec and a few adjacent regions, French is on the verge of extinction.

Additionally, Canada has been hit by a tidal wave of new immigrants. They may speak every language under the sun - but everyone else uses English.  Ironically, in other words, one social engineering program is being undermined by another social engineering program.

Bilingualism’s propagandists may say otherwise, but most Canadians simply don’t need French.  While there’s a lot to be said for acquiring a second language, there’s no reason it has to be the language spoken in Quebec. The average Canuck has about as much reason to learn French as he does Esperanto or Zulu.

On a typical day in Toronto, you can hear Italian, Portuguese, Cantonese and any of a hundred other languages (including Esperanto and Zulu). While a little French is spoken here, it’s just one weak note in a multilingual cacophony.  Immersion students who want to hone their skills outside the classroom are usually reduced to watching the city’s five (that’s F-I-V-E) French television stations.

Fortunately, the channels are government-funded and don’t need an audience to survive.