Utterly random Montreal brain droppings

[Razor]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

The thing that stood out to me the most was not the French stuff, per se, but the bilingualism. I felt like I was in parts of Europe where you can go almost anywhere and lots of people will also speak English in addition to their own language, and they don't mind doing so, either (at least from what I could tell). But unlike in Europe, I presume if I went to a hockey game in, say, Sweden, where the PA announcements would all be in Swedish, here even the PA announcements were mixed French-English.

I only ate at one fancy restaurant, which was the one in my hotel. Was a $150 meal!

While it definitely had a unique vibe to it, I think the fact I was there in the coldest part of winter may have toned down that vibe somewhat.

Oh, the bilingualism was the first thing that I noticed about Montreal as well, when I first visited...Being just under two hours away, and having essentially the same weather system, it was indeed cold and miserable AF!..Summer would obviously be a better time, and yes..The city vibe was probaly muted for you, due to the nasty weather....It was also good to see that you went to church..That being, seeing a Habs game in Montreal! ..If you ever go back to Montreal, the more pocket friendly food like the already mentioned chicken place, and of course Montreal smoked meat and Montreal bagels , both which are unique to that city, are great choices!

[JManc]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

What does Hockey mean to Montrealers?

Nothing shows this better than this:
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Here is the full treatment. What a city. So many greats in one place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnTFTzMmTAc

I actually watched that when it was live. My buddy the time was a huge Canadiens fan and remember the closing of the Forum was a big deal.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

The thing that stood out to me the most was not the French stuff, per se, but the bilingualism. I felt like I was in parts of Europe where you can go almost anywhere and lots of people will also speak English in addition to their own language, and they don't mind doing so, either (at least from what I could tell)....

Honestly, this is what it reminded me of. Often times I felt like I was in one of the videos below, where the non-native English speaker speaks better, more clearly enunciated English than a lot of Americans (and Brits, and Canadians, and ...). And they switch back and forth to and from it like it was nothing. I suppose for these people it's no big deal, and maybe if I lived there I'd get rather blase' about it after a while. But in the meantime I thought it was really interesting.

What was also interesting about it was, it wasn't just native French speakers switching to English, it was equally English speakers switching to French. You could tell what people's native language was when they started speaking English. If they spoke with a French accent, obviously their native language was French. But if they spoke with a perfect Canadian accent obviously their native language was English.

At one point I went to the Pointe Claire mall to buy a pair of ski pants. I also wandered into a coffee shop. There was a guy and a girl working there, and I think both their first languages were French, but at one point when they were talking to each other, the guy slipped some English phrases in with his French.

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I wonder if this phenomenon is one reason why so many people say that Montreal gives them "European" vibes.

[montréaliste]

Yes, the city has been like that since 1759. A mix of
both cultures not unlike what exists in Miami, Los Angeles and some Texas, NM cities for instance. But one feature that stands out is that it is an older English
settlement than many other North American cities.

I have family on my mom’s side that are almost French unilingual while on my dad’s side the opposite is true. So, when I visit with family on either side, they have a very different culture with different codes. My kids are fully bilingual and have a mix of allegiances. There are parts of town that are very French and others very English, and others very mixed. It’s a bit weird, but endearing to me. At this point in my life, I wouldn’t consider any other place. I would feel at a loss.

[Docere]

Montreal Island (2021 census):

Knowledge of Official Languages

English only 13.2%
French only 24.6%
English and French 59.8%
Neither English nor French 2.3%

Language Most Often Spoken at Home

English 24.2%
French 48.3%
Non-official languages 18.7%
English and French 2.7%

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Docere

Language Most Often Spoken at Home
...
English and French 2.7%

That would be an interesting 2.7%. I wonder if there are, say, couples where one always speaks in French, and the other always speaks in English. Even when they talk to each other.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

That would be an interesting 2.7%. I wonder if there are, say, couples where one always speaks in French, and the other always speaks in English. Even when they talk to each other.

Yes, I’m sure that happens. The thing you mentioned about switching languages mid sentence is typical for certain people. I used to do it more at work when finding the right word for something in the other language comes more easily. It’s a hybridized language for a hybrid city.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

If they spoke with a French accent, obviously their native language was French.

You'd have to define what's a "French accent". The 200,000 or so French people who live in Montréal certainly don't have the same accent as the Québécois.

Last night at the supermarket near the Champs-Elysées a couple in their 60s were paying for their food, and I overheard them speaking with a... Québécois accent. It was quite "exotic" (for lack of a better word), and pretty unusual (because as odd as it may sound, you rarely hear Québécois people in the streets of Paris, as if they never travel to France).

That's one of the things that would make me feel uncomfortable about living in Québec, because as soon as I would open my mouth in a store they would detect I'm French, and I don't like being spotted among other people. When I'm in the US, they cannot tell where I'm from.

[Docere]

The Plateau area of Montreal has a lot of immigrants from France.

[New Brisavoine]

That's a main area of concentration, but there are so many French people in Montréal now (it's become the city with the most French people in the world outside of France, beating even Brussels I believe) that they are found pretty much everywhere in the metro area.

On a side note: a cousin of mine and her boyfriend are moving to Montréal this winter. They want to spend a few years there and live the "American dream" en français.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Just wandered through several of the townhouse streets in back of this old high school. Beautiful! This area was more like Manhattan or older parts of Brooklyn than Chicago, except that the townhouses mostly had French architecture.

Every time I wander through old townhouse neighborhoods like that I get this going through my head. Was whistling it as I was walking around.

...

I did it.

This version of "On The Street Where You Live" (from My Fair Lady) is blocked in some countries, hope Canada isn't one of them.

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And in case you want to see my adventures in Tremblant ...

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Got enough video snippets to make one more video, but it would just be random, misc stuff. Don't know if I'll do it or not.

[harls]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

That would be an interesting 2.7%. I wonder if there are, say, couples where one always speaks in French, and the other always speaks in English. Even when they talk to each other.

That happens with me and my wife a lot. Then we will switch and I will speak French to her and she will speak English.

My kids always speak English to me because it's just 'trop weird' to speak French. Once one of my kids was too distracted with something and spoke French to me and it was like both our brains seized.

Same kid also makes fun of me when I go through a drive thru and order in French. 'Nice accent', he says.

[edale]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

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Such a gorgeous neighborhood! I've not seen that part of Montreal before. The snow makes it look so dreamy.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by edale

Such a gorgeous neighborhood! I've not seen that part of Montreal before. The snow makes it look so dreamy.

Lol, yes. There are lot of architectural gems there, but also quite a few disheveled townhouse converted to student housing in haphazard fashion over the years.

Fun fact: I often park in one of those streets to walk my dog in the Plateau or up Mount Royal Park. Wherever I park, I always make a point of coming back to the car from the opposite direction. My dog invariably susses out the fact that we have arrived at our destination and refuses to walk towards the car, and thus end the stroll. Laffs.

[James Bond Agent 007]

I stumbled across that neighborhood more or less accidentally. Had been taking video of the old Montreal High School for my father and then started wandering around. Before I knew it I was walking down these streets with all these beautiful old townhouses and thought, "I just gotta make a video of this area."

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

I stumbled across that neighborhood more or less accidentally. Had been taking video of the old Montreal High School for my father and then started wandering around. Before I knew it I was walking down these streets with all these beautiful old townhouses and thought, "I just gotta make a video of this area."

Thank you for putting real music to it, not the filler I'm used to sucking up habitually.

The nabe is called Mc Gill ghetto because it's a student/profs heavy area.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Right. Your mayor Hidalgo has been at the forefront with that kind of stuff. Our new mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada; also hispanic and female has run to counter some of the bike lane takeover of certain parts of the city. I am hoping for more sensible directives, if at all possible…

Our last mayor Valerie Plante had two terms with very little to show for it except a lot of elevated nonsense.

Maybe someone who lives outside of Montreal doesn't notice the changes at the neighbourhood level, but for people who actually live in Montreal, there's been tons of improvements. Greener, better parks, pedestrian streets in summer, wider sidewalks, tons of safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

She was the mayor of incremental changes that you don't necessarily notice, but they added up to something big over time.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by begratto

Maybe someone who lives outside of Montreal doesn't notice the changes at the neighbourhood level, but for people who actually live in Montreal, there's been tons of improvements. Greener, better parks, pedestrian streets in summer, wider sidewalks, tons of safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

She was the mayor of incremental changes that you don't necessarily notice, but they added up to something big over time.

Yes, I will concede that some incremental changes have happened. OTOH, This trend toward better street and sidewalk design had started under previous administrations. I’m in the city weekly, and notice changes all the time.