French-language rights groups in Quebec are calling for changes to the provincial government's automated phone answering service.

Callers to Quebec government offices are often prompted to press nine for an English menu before instructions are delivered in French.

But language activists say that sends the message to newcomers to the province that it's OK not to learn French.

The Mouvement Montréal français and Impératif français want the government to put the English prompt after the French instructions.

The request isn't about doing away with English, but rather promoting French, said Gérald Paquette, a spokesman with Quebec's Office de la langue française, another language rights group.

"Department must have a complete French message, and then they can add other languages. For us, it's not eliminating other languages, it's having an arrangement that French comes first, with a complete message, and then you can add an English message if you want to."

Members of the Mouvement Montréal français and Impératif  said they are planning to tie up government phone lines that give the English option first.

The two groups recently attracted attention for criticizing the Second Cup coffee shop chain for dropping French from their signs in Quebec.

With files from the Canadian Press