Hello!

I joined this brilliant site during the weekend and I love it! I'm just adding this post to see if there are any other Brits on here who are in the Montreal area! I'm in Montreal and it would be nice to know there are more of you out there too!!

Hi

Yes I am!

Me, hubby and now 3 kids have been here 4 years. We live in Pointe Claire, West Island. How long have you been here?

Welcome to the site

Thanks for responding, tallperson!

I have been here for 4 years also! My boyfriend and I live in Chateauguay right now, but are looking for a house in Pointe Claire! Weird!

Why would you want to live in a place you think is weird?

Because anywhere would be an improvement over Chateauguay.

Hi!!

Can I jump on the bandwagon? Although not in Montreal at the moment, we are seriously looking at this place. Is Pointe Clair a 'nice' area to live in. Obviously we want to move to a decent area of Montreal, but are unsure where these are? Any info, would be greatly be received.

I think that area is quite nice although I'm not 100% sure. We only even go through it on the highway. It's in the anglophone area. My main concern about the area would be its proximity to Montreal airport and its alignment with the runways.

Ha ha ha. Your posts always make me laugh.

I am a little disappointed that it is an anglophone area. I think we want to move to a predominantly francophone place, so we get ample time to practice our French. All other things considered like jobs, housing etc.

I'm not saying it's wholly anglophone but in that part of the world probably more than half the people have English as their first language. You'll still be able to speak French.

Actually now you say that, it might be a good compromise. Thanks!

Hi, i live on the border of NDG (Notre Dame de Grace ) and CSL ( Côte St Luc) . I love it here. if you want more info just ask.

SARAH

Funny that, didn't realise Pointe Claire was such a popular pick with Brit expats! Lived there for upwards of 16 years before I moved to the UK to be with my Brit OH 3 years ago... we're planning on moving back next year if all goes well.

Pointe Claire neighbours Dorval (East of Pte Claire where the International airport is), Beaconsfield (West of Pte Claire) which is generally considered the more expensive/posh area of Montreal's West Island, and DDO (Dollard Des Ormeaux) to the north. It's South part borders the waterside, Lac St Louis (Lake St Louis in English)...

Although there is a high proportion of predominantly English speaking families in the West Island of Montreal (suburbs area), it is not expected in day to day life and usually we try to communicate in French first, if its not understood then we may switch to English. Montreal prides itself on being the largest bilingual speaking city in Quebec so it's kind of expected that locals will atleast attempt to learn to speak/get by in both languages.

A few other similar municipalities to look at that are similar to Pointe Claire and the above listed are Kirkland, Lachine, St Anne De Bellevue (western most part of Montreal island), Pierrefonds, St Genevieve (sp!) Roxboro... as far as English Vs French population, it changes from street to street but generally more English influence in Beaconsfield, Pointe Claire, Dorval and Kirkland.

Hope that helps you house hunters out some!

Although there is a high proportion of predominantly English speaking families in the West Island of Montreal (suburbs area), it is not expected in day to day life and usually we try to communicate in French first, if its not understood then we may switch to English. Montreal prides itself on being the largest bilingual speaking city in Quebec so it's kind of expected that locals will atleast attempt to learn to speak/get by in both languages.



yes you are right about that in theory but if you get on the bus in the East End you say `bonjour ``to the driver and as you get off in CSL you say `Have a nice day`.

the employees at my local IGA automatically speak English. It really does depend where you live in the City. Thank God I am perfectly bilingual but I have frends who have lived in CSL all their lives and cant speak the language. If you go to English schools all your life and live in NDG/CSL chances are you will only speak English.

My kids in High School ( french) came back the other day with a contract that they need to sign and be seconded by parents stating that they will speak French only in the school. This included lunch and break times., good luck! not sure how the language police will be able to monitor 2,0000 kids at lunch!

No chance. They'll be talking about music, computer games, skateboards, films etc. It's almost inevitable that they'll speak in English (assuming they can). I listen to my stepson chatting to his mates in French and whenever one of the above subjects comes up the vocab is English. I suspect he doesn't even know the French equivalent of many of the English words he uses.

Agreed.I understand the principle but to enforce it is next to impossible.