Bonjour! Hi!

Language Used in Greeting Customers in Shops and Retail Stores

In 2010 the OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française) carried on a survey in downtown Montreal on the language in which customers were greeted.

This survey was replicated in 2012 but on a smaller scale. Its scope was restricted to downtown St.-Catherine Street (between Papineau and Atwater).

Results show a significant decrease over a two-year period in the use of French as the only language to greet customers in shops and retail stores, from 89% in 2010 down to 73% in 2012. Curiously enough, this finding is not mentioned in the summary published by the OQLF (OQLF, 2012a: 5 where the figure given is 74% for 2012 and the 2010 figure is omitted).

There is a corresponding increase in the use of bilingual greetings from 1% in 2010 up to 14% 2012. However there was no difference in the impossibility to get services in French over this two-year period (OQLF, 2012b: 16 and 22). These findings lend weight to the popular perception that the overall use of French in Montreal is indeed decreasing.

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OQLF, 2012a, Bilan de l’évolution de la situation linguistique au Québec, Langue du commerce et des affaires, Faits saillants. Montreal: Office.

OQLF, 2012b, La langue d’accueil, de service et d’affichage des noms d’entreprise des commerces de détail du centre-ville de Montréal en 2012 selon les observations. Montreal: Office.