04-14-2005, 10:11 AM
04-14-2005, 04:00 PM
My daughter lives in Montreal. Fortunately she has a French speaking husband.
You really need to be fluently bi-lingual to work there. The west end near Dorval is about 50/50 English/French in some areas. And the housing is fairly reasonably priced.
Its a great place to visit. I was there last weekend. Personally I couldn't take the in your face French. Unlike Ottawa all road signage is in French.
You really need to be fluently bi-lingual to work there. The west end near Dorval is about 50/50 English/French in some areas. And the housing is fairly reasonably priced.
Its a great place to visit. I was there last weekend. Personally I couldn't take the in your face French. Unlike Ottawa all road signage is in French.
04-15-2005, 01:12 PM
A friend lived there for a year and loved it. Speaks no French at all and had no problems. In any service industry, you would almost certainly need French, but I should imagine there are some opportunities there that do not require it.
From what I have heard I would love it in Montreal (except the weather). I really want to vist there and Quebec in general. I love the bilingual aspect.
From what I have heard I would love it in Montreal (except the weather). I really want to vist there and Quebec in general. I love the bilingual aspect.
04-15-2005, 01:39 PM
Good Luck.
If the Liberal government in Canada has to go to the polls over the latest scandal, there is a strong possibility that Quebec will seperate.
At present any families that move to Quebec can only have their children educated in English if they are from other provinces and have been educated in English.
Anyone that imigrates from the UK or the US would not qualify and would have no choice. Either go to French school or pay for private.
If the Liberal government in Canada has to go to the polls over the latest scandal, there is a strong possibility that Quebec will seperate.
At present any families that move to Quebec can only have their children educated in English if they are from other provinces and have been educated in English.
Anyone that imigrates from the UK or the US would not qualify and would have no choice. Either go to French school or pay for private.
04-15-2005, 10:46 PM
It's a lovely lovely city, but then I can imagine winters are severe; I understand they all go underground! I would think you would need to speak a bit of French though. When I lost my daughter in the main square the cops just looked at me blankly until I resorted to French. (
04-16-2005, 07:17 AM
Lizzi Wrote:
It's a lovely lovely city, but then I can imagine winters are severe; I understand they all go underground! I would think you would need to speak a bit of French though. When I lost my daughter in the main square the cops just looked at me blankly until I resorted to French. :(
The area you were in (downtown) is not where most Montralers shop. It was developed mainly as a tourist attraction.
My daughter rarely goes downtown. Montreal is similar to most North American cities. Made up of suburbs that are self contained with the usual shopping malls and big box stores such as Walmart, Costco, Home Depot Etc.
Montreal has over 3million population.
All you need to know about it.
http://www.montreal.com/tourism/general.html
04-17-2005, 03:41 PM
It's my favourite city in Canada. But you do have to be fluently bi-lingual to live and work there these days, with very few exceptions and even then jobs are more likely to go to Quebecois.
Wonderful place and wonderful people though. Folks there really know how to relax and live life and have fun (late into the night). I love the way in the summer half the streets are sealed off for one sort of street party or another. Wonderful French food too which these days would rank with anything found in France or Belgium (reccommendations on request wink )
Wonderful place and wonderful people though. Folks there really know how to relax and live life and have fun (late into the night). I love the way in the summer half the streets are sealed off for one sort of street party or another. Wonderful French food too which these days would rank with anything found in France or Belgium (reccommendations on request wink )
04-18-2005, 08:08 AM
Thanks everyone for the info (and the link too, Keith). My conversational french is rusty at best but I can still read it very well and would be able to communicate if necessary.
If I were to emigrate there it wouldn't be for another year and I would have lessons to improve my spoken french.
The jobs I've been intersted in so far are from American companies with offices in Montreal.
I know that the winters there are quite bad. It was a bit nasty when I was there at the beginning of March - lots of snow and blindingly cold! D
ukm
If I were to emigrate there it wouldn't be for another year and I would have lessons to improve my spoken french.
The jobs I've been intersted in so far are from American companies with offices in Montreal.
I know that the winters there are quite bad. It was a bit nasty when I was there at the beginning of March - lots of snow and blindingly cold! D
ukm
04-24-2005, 09:40 AM
Must remember that the french spoken in Quebec is by NO MEANS Parisian french! -? We're not talking (no pun intended) just accent or even dialect here, it goes much much deeper than that. I've met Parisians in Montreal on holdiay who could not understand a thing the locals were talking about.
The city has a wonderful European aspect to it - from the food (ahh, the food!) to fashion to... well, nothing much else matters, does it?? I head north whenever I can get away. And the beer is magical.
Having grown up 20 minutes from the Canadian border, my family used to go to Montreal almost monthly. When traveling, I am always quite happy to be mistaken for a Canadian!
The city has a wonderful European aspect to it - from the food (ahh, the food!) to fashion to... well, nothing much else matters, does it?? I head north whenever I can get away. And the beer is magical.
Having grown up 20 minutes from the Canadian border, my family used to go to Montreal almost monthly. When traveling, I am always quite happy to be mistaken for a Canadian!
04-24-2005, 01:30 PM
Thanks ATS!
Luckliy I have family in Quebec so I've been there quite often. The dialect is VERY different from Parisien french. Even within France, the accents and words used are very different. I used to go out with a guy from Marseille and I had such difficulty understanding him at first! o
I met one little old woman who asked me how I was finding the bitter cold weather. She had to repeat that sentence about four times before I finally got it. It wasn't just the way she said "froid" - more like "f-weh", it was the way the sentence was constructed. Weird! lol
I know that I would have to take lessons up there too if I decided to make the move.
ukm)
Luckliy I have family in Quebec so I've been there quite often. The dialect is VERY different from Parisien french. Even within France, the accents and words used are very different. I used to go out with a guy from Marseille and I had such difficulty understanding him at first! o
I met one little old woman who asked me how I was finding the bitter cold weather. She had to repeat that sentence about four times before I finally got it. It wasn't just the way she said "froid" - more like "f-weh", it was the way the sentence was constructed. Weird! lol
I know that I would have to take lessons up there too if I decided to make the move.
ukm)