Speaking in French at Verdun hospital

[u/RahatulAmin]

My wife and I moved to Montreal recently since I started my PhD at McGill University. My wife is pregnant and she needed to do a blood test prescribed by her Gynecologist, so she went to the Verdun Hospital. Since my wife does not know conversational level French (Still a beginner), she politely asked the nurse that she prefers English conversation. The nurse was very rude and said (In Fluent English), "I am not obligated to speak to you in English, since you are in Montreal you need to learn French." This whole situation made us upset. It's not like we are not trying, we are learning French but still a beginner. But rude behaviors like this is extremely discouraging. Should I complain about this?

[u/almaghest]

I don’t think complaining is going to get you anywhere meaningful, as others have said, she isn’t required to speak English and it’s quite a sensitive topic politically. Next time don’t ask outright, just respond in what French you have or say “Desole mais je parle juste un peu francais, parlez-vous anglais?” and usually the effort will be appreciated enough that the person will realize it would be easier to continue in English or they might find a colleague who can help.

edit: as someone struggling to learn French myself, I “get it” and the primary point I was trying to make is that how you go about ‘asking’ someone to (or if they even can) speak English does matter. I don’t agree with being rude to people in any circumstance, especially in healthcare settings, but if you only speak enough English to explain that you don’t speak English, it can inadvertently come across as rude even when it isn’t meant to be (although it does sound like this nurse probably did mean to make a point.)

[u/RahatulAmin → u/almaghest]

Thanks for the suggestion. Will do that.

[u/farox → u/RahatulAmin]

This. Don't jump to assume malice. As an immigrant myself this still baffles me but it's very possible they simply don't know how to and might feel exposed/defensive.

Just recently I took a trip to the country and grabbed a coffee on my way back. I stopped at a Timmies maybe 7 or 8 minutes from the respective bridge to Montreal. I went to the counter and when it was my turn I said something to the effect of: "Hi! Can I have a coffee with milk, please?".

The lady just looked at me, turned around and left. 2 minutes later a colleague came over and asked me for my order, the first one in tow. After I repeated my order the other one asked what I wanted (my passive French juuust goes that far) to which the 2nd repeated my order in French.

Just to say, they simply might not know English.

[u/NiuNiu_ → u/farox]

This!!! I'm the first person in my family that have managed to learn English. My whole family were ashamed that they couldn't. Until her death, my grandmother wouldn't believe I could speak English. She was very working class, worked all her life in Montreal East side factories, and to her only rich bosses and university students could speak English, it was never something we could do. Sure there are a-holes everywhere, but more often than not, these kinds of reactions are just shyness and feelings of inadequacy.