More and more Calgarian students learning French

Here's a bit of interesting news from Calgary (my hometown), originally about the most English-only city one could find but apparently with an increasingly large international character over the past few years. It seems that enrollment in French immersion and Francophone schools is also continuing to increase.

Some numbers from the article:

- Ten years ago, the Greater Southern Francophone Public Authority began in Calgary with one school and 40 students; this has now grown to 700 students in 4 schools.

- The Calgary Catholic francophone district began (not sure when) with 580 children, and this is now 828.

The most telling part of the article is probably this sentence:

Corinne Willerth was a bit apprehensive about enrolling her three daughters in French immersion, given neither she nor her husband speak the language.

This focus on practicality seems to be quite common in the West, and I also have a number of friends back home who are also monolingual yet still 1) wish French had been forced on them in school, and 2) are considering sending their children to French immersion.