Quote:
Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan
If one were to move to Montreal from Alberta without a conversational ability in French (but absolutely with the intention of learning!), how would one get along? What types of employment would be available, and how would one go about learning French in the quickest and best way possible?
|
Stay in Côte Saint-Luc and the West Island (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Kirkland, Beaconsfield and etc.), basically western part of the city. The more east you go, the more French you would need to be able to speak.
French is a very difficult language to learn and speak. I strongly suggest you to start learning it as soon as you can, before you move to the city. Although you might be able to get by in those more anglophone-friendly areas, you would still need to know French to navigate many of the governmental websites, public school board, various organizations, private entities and etc.
Yes just like many of the posters said, Francophones WILL switch to English on you as soon as they realize you are Anglophone. They are not doing this out of rudeness or arrogance; they are simply trying to help you to make it easier for you. They just want to see you making an effort to try to speak French respecting the Quebec culture but at the same time they do want to make you feel comfortable too and not struggling all the time to just try to say something.
Quebec people are very nice people, you will find. But if you really want to speak French to them to learn French better and faster, do continue to speak French to them even though they are speaking English to you. They will eventually switch back to French on you and that's how you learn otherwise you can be staying in Montreal for 10+ years and still can't speak a word of French because Montrealers' English is very good. You can hardly hear their French accent.