Bilingualism in Armonia

Armonia's official language is English, however in the Canton's of Aristés and Erendel the official language is French. This was due to the unplanned migration of French speaking Canadians moving to Armonia after being hired by Canter Aperture and other companies. With this influx of French Canadian immigrants, Armonia created the Région Spécial de Francophone (Special French Region or SFR) where French would become the official language and have full equality to English. This has been a longstanding controversial issue, as some residents of Western Armonia have claimed that the SFR was only established to push off the inevitable integration of French, which would prove to be a logistical nightmare.

French in the SFR
French is the primary spoken language in the SFR, and is the language taught in schools simultaneously with English. Holographic stop signs flash between "Stop" and "Arrêt" and road signs are in both English and French. Road names are only in French. Announcements on public transportation are first made in French and then made in English.

Most adults in the region are fluent English as they were educated in Canada, while children are either proficient or learning in Armonian schools.

French in Armonia
Elsewhere in Armonia French is not commonly spoken as the majority of the population just speaks English, or are unilingual Americans. French is taught as a second language in all public schools, and in some higher level high schools graduation is only permitted with a proficiency in French.

In Cantersfield, French is now starting to be picked up on the commercial front voluntarily. Many signs in malls, stores, and buildings will have both English and French for help. A number of restaurants will have an English and a French menu. French is moderately spoken in the city, but mostly in The Capitol where people from all of these regions meet.

The biggest push for French is in public transportation, where people claim French-speaking natives are having trouble comprehending announcements. ARtrans previously stated that the implementation of French into the announcements and signage would be a logistical issue and would cost millions to redo, but claimed that if the Francophone population increased by a certain amount they would mandate English/French announcements and signage on all transportation objects.

Currently, announcements in French only occur within the SFR, on the airTrains and final boarding call announcements at MRF Airport, and most recently on the Metro in Cantersfield. Metropolitan Station only makes announcements in French for ARRail trains travelling to the SFR. Neither Port Columbia Ferry Terminal or ACER trains support bilingual announcements as the passengers are mostly English speaking, however all ACER stations in Armonia have French signage. ACER announced on Twitter in March 2019 that they will be adding French announcements to all services by June 2019.