Montreal language
It seems that Montreal official language is French, but is
it possible to live there speaking English and with some basic knowledge of France? Merci! :-) Mitsuru |
Re: Montreal language
Mitsuru Shimizu wrote:
> It seems that Montreal official language is French, but is > it possible to live there speaking English and with some > basic knowledge of France? > Merci! :-) > Mitsuru Absoluement! Parts of Montreal are very Anglophone, and the city centre is extremely bilingual. That said, if you are immigrating and considering chosing Quebec as your place of landing, then you might have some problems. Better to come elsewhere in Canada and move to Quebec later if you so choose if your French won't stand up to the Quebec specific requirements. |
Re: Montreal language
Mitsuru Shimizu wrote:
>It seems that Montreal official language is French, but is >it possible to live there speaking English and with some >basic knowledge of France? Mochiron! I've found that in Montreal, the "default" langauge that people use is French, if they don't already know which language you speak. I myself will reply in whatever language I'm spoken to in, unless it's painfully clear that the person speaking to me is an Anglophone speaking French. However, certainly in the city centre, most people you encounter will be quite adept in both languages, and as long as you take care not to live in an overly French section of town you will find that you're able to get around with only your English knowledge (with the understanding that on rare occasions you may have to do some smiling and pointing). Montreal is a great city; I wish I could live there, but alas there are even less tech jobs there than there are here. -- - awh http://www.awh.org/ |
Re: Montreal language
> Absoluement! Parts of Montreal are very Anglophone, and the city centre
> is extremely bilingual. > That said, if you are immigrating and considering chosing Quebec as your > place of landing, then you might have some problems. Better to come > elsewhere in Canada and move to Quebec later if you so choose if your > French won't stand up to the Quebec specific requirements. Thanks for your answer. What I didn't understand is that if Montreal is also anglophone, why is that important to speak French in order to be "approved" by the Quebec immigration officers (considering, of course, that I intended to live in Montreal)? |
Re: Montreal language
Mitsuru Shimizu wrote:
> > Absoluement! Parts of Montreal are very Anglophone, and the city centre > > is extremely bilingual. > > > > That said, if you are immigrating and considering chosing Quebec as your > > place of landing, then you might have some problems. Better to come > > elsewhere in Canada and move to Quebec later if you so choose if your > > French won't stand up to the Quebec specific requirements. > Thanks for your answer. > What I didn't understand is that if Montreal is also anglophone, > why is that important to speak French in order to be "approved" by > the Quebec immigration officers (considering, of course, that I > intended to live in Montreal)? The Language issues in Quebec date back to the battle of Quebec when Wolfe beat Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham! French is the first language of Quebec. That there are many anglophones in Quebec and particularly in Montreal is a thorn in the side of les separatistes. Officially Quebec is francophone and is desparately trying to remain that way ... attempting to control direct immigration is one way they see to try to influence that and to stop anglophones from entering Quebec to reduce the support for separation from Canada. |
Re: Montreal language
French is the OFFICIAL language in Quebec. As English is in Ontario and all
the other provinces. Only NB is bilingual. Montreal is in the Province of Quebec. The current Quebec government, PQ, is a separatist one. They have tried hardly to separate from Canada, but it did not work. Last time, Oct. 1995, they lost by a slim margin. 49.5 for an independent Quebec, 50.5 for Canada. The anglophones and most of the immigrants made the real difference. Chris "Mitsuru Shimizu" wrote in message news:2dc35933.0210011415- [email protected]... > > Absoluement! Parts of Montreal are very Anglophone, and the city centre > > is extremely bilingual. > > > > That said, if you are immigrating and considering chosing Quebec as your > > place of landing, then you might have some problems. Better to come > > elsewhere in Canada and move to Quebec later if you so choose if your > > French won't stand up to the Quebec specific requirements. > Thanks for your answer. > What I didn't understand is that if Montreal is also anglophone, > why is that important to speak French in order to be "approved" by > the Quebec immigration officers (considering, of course, that I > intended to live in Montreal)? |
Re: Montreal language
I'm a French Canadian and I live in Montréal. This town is way more pleasant than many other cities in Canada. I don't hesitate to recommand it to any newcomer. I would at least suggest you to stay away from Toronto.
The Québec government makes a big fuss with this issue and it takes 2 more months and $250 and more paperwork, that is over the Canadian federal immigration requirements. So land everywhere except in the Province of Québec. Then come in Montréal (nothing required) and you'll like it very much! If you speak English only makes no difference at all for your integration here. WELCOME IN MONTRÉAL! |
Re: Montreal language
By the way, don't be fooled by these posters in this newsgroup who still carry the old idea that the Québec government is doing this because it is a way to get the Province of Québec separated.
Most Quebecers don't want this separation, not only immigrants but native French Canadians like me too! This even made the Parti Québécois (political party still in power) renounce its separatist stance. The official point of view is that since this is the only and last French society in North America, it needs to be protected in order to keep its cultural identity. I'm Québecer! I'm Canadian! I'm Montréaler! I'm happy! |
Re: Montreal language
Mitsuru Shimizu wrote:
>What I didn't understand is that if Montreal is also anglophone, >why is that important to speak French in order to be "approved" by >the Quebec immigration officers (considering, of course, that I >intended to live in Montreal)? Language is a very political issue in Canada. I don't think I can think of another issue that has been as contentious over the past 30 years. Language has been at the heart of two Quebec seperation referendums, not to mention the talks surrounding the repatriation of the constitution, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To this day, Quebec still refuses to sign the Constitution, despite the concessions made, and has a policy of invoking Section 33 (the "notwithstanding clause", which allows provinces to ignore the Charter) of the Charter with every single one of its laws. The current Quebec government is a seperatist one. They would like nothing more than to form Le Pays du Quebec and be rid of Canada once and for all, so they could then ban the use of English altogether. Unfortunately, this government lies to their constituents about what would happen if Quebec seperated. "Oh, of course Canada would still let us use their military." "Oh, of course Canada would forgive our share of the national debt." "Oh, of course Canada wouldn't charge us for the use of their services." Even so, they have yet to be able to convince the population to vote YES to seperation. Basically, the current government's wish is to get rid of any and all English within their province, and also to get enough Francophones in the province that they can convince them to vote yes to seperation. Allowing non-French-speaking immigrants of course is orthogonal to this goal. -- - awh http://www.awh.org/ |
Re: Montreal language
That's very true. Since in Quebec 15% are immigrants, it is obvious that if french-canadians wanted to part from Canada they could have done so.
What i don't understand are the people who want to immigrate to a province whose official language they cannot speak. Quebec has to keep its french identity and the government is doing a good job. |
Re: Montreal language
Mitsuru -
definetly! No big deal if you just speak basic french. Just keep in mind - french Canadians don´t speak french from France! Big difference, they´ll explain it to you. Anyway, I went to Montreal a couple of times because of my canadian boyfriend. My mother tongue is german, second language english, no french at all. But it worked pretty well. If you try to talk french to them, they don´t bother talking english to you. Not at all! Have fun - Montreal is best ever and if I could live there I would rather move today then tomorrow. Good luck to everybody who moves there - if I would have the chance I would do it! Take me with you - I am serious!!! Bye bye Birgit |
Re: Montreal language
Thank you all for the clarification.
On the Quebec immigration site, even if a person answers that he/she does not speak French at all, he/she could get the necessary points to apply as a Quebec immigrant (although a window pops up alerting that Quebec is a francophone province and you should start to learn French if really intend to go there). Do you think that is it really possible they could accept a candidate with only a basic French knowledge? -- mits |
Re: Montreal language
Do you think that is it really possible they could accept a candidate
with only a basic French knowledge? -- mits Do you understand what has been told to you here? Do you understand English at all? Do you try to abuse, play dummy or something? N O , N O, N O !!! If you don't master French, the Québec government will not allow you in if you apply with a specified port of entry under its juridiction! There is very little chance they will and even then just don't take the risk! I told you (and others too) apply everywhere else in Canada where it is possible to spend a day or two, then after being stamped, move in the Province of Québec right away. Nobody and nothing can stop you from doing that! Got it?!!! |
Re: Montreal language
Originally posted by tadahh: Do you think that is it really possible they could accept a candidate with only a basic French knowledge? -- mits Do you understand what has been told to you here? Do you understand English at all? Do you try to abuse, play dummy or something? N O , N O, N O !!! If you don't master French, the Québec government will not allow you in if you apply with a specified port of entry under its juridiction! There is very little chance they will and even then just don't take the risk! I told you (and others too) apply everywhere else in Canada where it is possible to spend a day or two, then after being stamped, move in the Province of Québec right away. Nobody and nothing can stop you from doing that! Got it?!!! That is not true. There are many that were accepted without french. If you score enough points, there should not be a problem. |
Re: Montreal language
Originally posted by Sumatra: That is not true. There are many that were accepted without french. If you score enough points, there should not be a problem. Critères d'évaluation Points Votre résultat Programme de sélection 0 à 15 Formation0 à 11 Scolarité Deuxième spécialité 0 à 4 Expérience professionnelle 0 à 10 Âge 0 à 10 Connaissances linguistiques Français0 à 16 Anglais 0 à 6 Séjour au Québec 0 à 6 Liens avec le Québec 0 à 3 Enfants 0 à 8 Autonomie 0 ou 1 Total des points 0 à 90 |
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