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| learninglover Newbie United States Joined 6465 days ago 22 posts - 22 votes Studies: English | Message 17 of 35 18 December 2008 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | ||
I will be living there for a while in the near future and I want to be prepared. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5621 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 18 of 35 18 December 2008 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Will you be living in Montreal? A whole half of the city is Anglophone. (This is not the case anywhere else in the
province). Québec's has a provincial law (101, it's notorious), that states among other things that all product labels, their instructions, manuals, warranty certificates as well as restaurant menus and wine lists must be in the official language (French). Other languages may be used, provided the official language has greater prominence. So you must know French. They have a hard time with the aforementioned stuff in Montréal, lots of businesses operate with too much English (ex. English only). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_101 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SlickAs Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5658 days ago 185 posts - 287 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Swedish Studies: Thai, Vietnamese | Message 19 of 35 18 December 2008 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | ||
It is not like that any more. 70.5% of the city are Francophone, 18.5% Anglophone, the rest "Allophone" (Greek, Italian, etc as a first language). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Demographics The Anglophones mostly live out on the West Island in suburbia, although in the McGill Student Ghetto next to McGill University there are many young Anglophones. You can, however, get by in Montreal without much French because of the widespread bi-lingualism of the enducated Quebecois that you find in centre-ville, the plateau and the latin quarter (not to mention the multi-lingualism of the allophones). This bi-lingualism can in fact get in the way of learning French, if your French is so bad that people are like "appreciate the effort, but it is easier in English ..." Edited by SlickAs on 18 December 2008 at 5:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5621 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 20 of 35 18 December 2008 at 5:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I'm sorry. My last post may have been misleading. I did not mean 50%. I was counting anglophones +
allophones. There are pockets of Montreal that very anglophone. Otherwise, McGill and Concordia wouldn't be in Montreal. Montreal is still a French city, I just wanted to bring out the fact that many people get around there with no difficulty without knowledge of French. Just watch out for the drivers... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| learninglover Newbie United States Joined 6465 days ago 22 posts - 22 votes Studies: English | Message 21 of 35 18 December 2008 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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[QUOTE=multilingual] Will you be living in Montreal? A whole half of the city is Anglophone. (This is not the case anywhere else in the
province). I will be in Quebec city and it was my understanding that I would hear less English there but I don't know if that's true. I will be learning French because I believe if you live in another country for something less then a vacation you should learn the language. It will make it easier on me and my friends if I don't have to always depend on them to translate for me. Sometimes I will want to go out by myself and explore the city. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SlickAs Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5658 days ago 185 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Swedish Studies: Thai, Vietnamese | Message 22 of 35 18 December 2008 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||
Yeah, that is true (although McGill and Concordia seem to be a majority foreign students ... including from Ontario, etc.). The anglophone presence in Montreal is a mixed blessing for someone wanting to study French. Because of the historical friction between the 2 in the city, when you speak French with an English accent, you are just assumed to be a Montreal Anglophone, alternately called "tête-carré" or "maudit anglais" perjorative terms to say the least. The Quebecois are EXTREMELY dismissive of feble attempts to speak French. If they can't understand you, they will wave you away, or speak to you in broken English. And a small error in pronuciation will cause the situation to go pear-shaped. But what you need to do, learninglover, in such a situation of scowls, messed up orders, misunderstandings, politics of sovreignty just below the surface, is *BIG SMILE*, and in French "Ha, you cant understand me! I am from America, and am here because I want improve my French", there will be a complete change of attitude, and you might get more from them than just private French coaching if you play your cards right. So you are right to get your French in good shape before you go, rather than to expect to learn it there. I don't mean to intimidate you with the above, but just point out the reality. You need to get it far beyond intermediate in order to use it socially, and you should do that before you go. The French accent and the Quebec accent on a cassette make no real difference, as you will be working on getting your R's right, and being able to reliably produce and understand the difference between "peus" and "pu" which are essentially the same in France and Quebec. Just put it together as quick as you can. Montreal is a fantastic place. You will love it. I do. I am moving back in 6 months. This period in Australia is the 3rd time I have tried to leave Montreal, and I always start planning my return the minute I am separated from it for more than a year. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SlickAs Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5658 days ago 185 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Swedish Studies: Thai, Vietnamese | Message 23 of 35 18 December 2008 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | ||
Sorry, I did not see this. The problems you have in Montreal will be non-existant in Quebec. Far less bi-lingualism, and no assumption that you are a Montreal Anglophone. Enjoy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5621 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 24 of 35 18 December 2008 at 7:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Oh, you are too lucky to be going to live in Québec City. It is one of the most beautiful cities in North America
easily and probably my favorite canadian city. You must know French if you are going to Québec City. As far as French resources go, once you understand French, try to get your hands on Movies. Most closed captioning and dubbing is done in Québec (not exclusively). (Québec isn't a country, no matter what the Québécois think ;) ) Darn, did I say you were lucky? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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