I'm actually one of the very few English people in Quebec - I speak very little French and some Italian too.
I don't ever ignore anyone though! I can always Google translate to get a general idea of what is happening, besides I love listening to German and Swedish - I blame Rammstein and Sabaton for those and besides the men are usually hot so good to know what is being said
I'd call "housewife" Domestic Engineer, but really there are many skills you can transfer over to working like communication, organization, training and support, if you pick schools, designers, people to come work in your home like plumbers or like that you can also say that you have experience interviewing.