[Bill L.]

I live near the top of Vermont, just 40 miles from the border with Quebec, Canada. A very large portion of the population speaks French as their primary language. It is possible the labels are for this market as well as other French-speaking countries.

User Detail :  

Name : Bill L., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : French/Canadian descent, Age : 40, City : Essex Junction, State : VT, Country : United States, Occupation : Accountant/Analyst, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nancy]

I’ve noticed over the past few months that many products I buy have both English and French on them. I would almost expect to find Spanish on a label, but French? Does anyone know why this is?

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Name : Nancy, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Augustine23648]

What you are seeing is product labeling where it is foreseen that the product will be sold in Canada. Trilingual labeling (English, French, Spanish) is also common. It costs a lot of money to prepare all of this, so apparently it is due to products being sold throughout North America. People are more likely to buy something when they can actually read the label. (I seriously doubt U.S. manufacturers would label in French just so a few thousand French-speakers living in the United States near the border with Quebec could read the labels more easily.)

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Name : Augustine23648, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[CP19377]

Products sold in Canada must have the information in both English and French, as this is an officially bilingual country. So you are probably finding French on your products because the company wanted to save money by not having two different packages, one for the United States and one for Canada.

User Detail :  

Name : CP19377, Gender : F, Age : 21, City : Montreal, Quebec, State : NA, Country : Canada, 

[Dave26015]

The response about the product being labelled for both United States and Canada as a way of saving money is correct. I noticed also, that many electronic items (tv’s, stereos, etc.) that originate from international countries, mainly Japan, come with the instructions printed in half a dozon languages or more. This saves time and money for the manufacturer. Every country that imports that product gets the same instruction book that the rest of the world gets.

User Detail :  

Name : Dave26015, City : Windsor, State : NA, Country : Canada, 

[Turk24926]

Most countries require labels on foreign products to be in the language of the buying country. The French producer would put the label in his language and the language of the buying country. If it’s the United States, then it would be English. He may export also to south of the United States, and these labels would be French and Spanish. To the world, the United States is English, and the law may require the labels to be in English.

User Detail :  

Name : Turk24926, City : N/A, State : NA, Country : Turkey, 

[Kim]

French is the official second language on many important documents. Whenever you travel, customs forms, visas and passports are all done in both English and French.

User Detail :  

Name : Kim, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : <40, City : San Diego, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Gillian]

Probably the labels have French on them so the products can be sold in French-speaking parts of Canada. You could always call the company and ask.

User Detail :  

Name : Gillian, City : San Diego, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Samantha29421]

Dear Nancy, I would recommend that you look in a history book. The area you call home used to be part of a French colony. North of you is the Canadian border where there are still pockets of people who speak French. North East of you is Quebec, which happens to be primarily French. As for the English and French on packaging. Well, depending on where you are in the United States of America you may find Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Arabic or a variation of sub languages. The man from Amsterdam appears to have had some bad experiences with the French. I must say I do not share his sentiments.

User Detail :  

Name : Samantha29421, City : Pollock Pines, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Selena]

Probably the reason the label have information in french is that in Canada things have to be labeled in french along with english to be sold. i think it has to do with french being spoken in parts of Canada.

User Detail :  

Name : Selena, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 13, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, 

[Jo28946]

Just a wild guess here.. but could that be for the french speaking Canadians?

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Name : Jo28946, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 18, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, 

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