danon

Please stop worrying - Montreal is not Paris. Most Canadians don't speak a word of French ( some even live in Quebec !)
and have a good time visit Montreal.

onthegogo

My DH and I were in Montreal a couple of years ago for a few days..our first time. We're from the US, but I'm originally from Canada-raised there. Anyway, we had been taking French classes in anticipation of a trip to France. In Monreal we tried many times to use the little vocabulary we had, but as soon as we uttered a few words, the Montrealer addressed us in English. Only one experience we had was strange...we took a tour of downtown in one of those buses and the guide/driver made many very hostile remarks about the CDN government and the monarchy. Since I was born & raised in Canada and spent a number of my adults years there...I could follow what he was saying, but I could see from expressions on other visitors' faces - they were surprised at the attitude. However, this was an isolated incident for us--was a totally personal attitude that guy had I guess. Otherwise -- we were treated extremely well and can hardly wait to have an opportunity to get to Quebec City to experience that.

alise007

We spent 10 days in Montreal and QC end of May/June with our 1 yr old son. Neither one of us speak a lick of French.

I found that if I said Bonjour that people would assume I spoke French and start speaking in French to which I would give them a BLANK STARE! I would have to then say "I am sorry, I don't speak French." If I said Hello then they knew I was either American and/or didn't speak French then they would speak English to me. I didn't want to be rude but it seemed to complicate things if I even attempted!

We encountered several people on trains that would ask questions about our toddler and his red hair or ask his age etc...in French and usually someone sitting nearby would translate. Everyone speaks cute baby!

gentlewoman

I have had multiple experiences over a period of 8 days where people began speaking French to me in Montreal, where I was visiting as a tourist. (mind you, these are not interactions while purchasing a good or a service, but voluntary conversations initiated by individuals). I apologized kindly and explained that I don't speak French. Without an exception, I was treated in a pretty unfriendly manner after that. Some people monologued me in French which I had just told them that I did not understand. They might easily be cursing at me at that stage. A considerable number of these people also asked me why I did not speak French since I was in Quebec. Never in my entire life had I encountered such strange logic. Strangers who did not know a single thing about me, except that I did not speak French, came up to me and demanded that I speak to them in their language. I was not aware of the high expectations of the people of Quebec from their tourists. Further, I am not even a native speaker of English and this makes me think of these extremely obnoxious people visiting my home country and my people struggling to give them directions etc. although none of those tourists from Quebec would speak my language. This thread seems to be a pretty old one. Quebec nationalism may have transcended to a disproportionate and illogical level nowadays. It is a shame both for the rude and seemingly unhappy people and the city itself.

laverendrye

What a bizarre post. A first time poster tops a 9-year old post to describe a situation which in my experience utterly defies the reality of Montreal and the behaviour of Montrealers. I take this account with a grain of salt.

eliztravels2

I’m with you on this one, laverendrye. The rest of the post makes interesting reading, though. As an Anglophone Canadian I am pleased to know my Francophone fellow Canadians are seen as just courteous, friendly and helpful as I have found them to be.

Too bad about the rude customs official, but that can happen anywhere.

muskoka

I am able to speak only Parisian French but never have I had an unpleasant experience in Quebec, which I adore. Many times, I have been asked to speak more slowly and there have been times when I just couldn't understand what was being said, especially in the more rural regions, but that never stopped a conversation!

I have a good deal of trouble believing what the new poster has written.

kanunu

Been to Montreal lots of times, even worked there for a month once. My high school French has mostly been forgotten (decades ago), but you could always find a way to communicate.
Haven't been treated any differently there, than anywhere else.... fine, in other words.
Having said that, I remember visiting Expo 67 as a high schooler, and I thought I detected people looking down their noses at us, once, as we were speaking English on the subway. I chalk that feeling up to youthful paranoia, on my part.

I also question the new poster's 'opinion'.

Erick_L

I live in Montreal and have a hard time getting served in French. A coworker who moved here 15 years ago still won't speak a word of French. Our office was taken over by an Ottawa company and since then, everything is in English. When I asked for pay slips and insurance papers in French, I was told to suck it up. I can't do anything since we're under federal law. My own government won't let me work in an official language. So yes, I might give an annoyed face when someone doesn't even try to say "bonjour" and "merci".

PaulRabe

Sorry, but I seem to be having trouble with posting, so I am doing a test. Please completely ignore this.

kja

@ PaulRabe: Have you seen this thread? It might explain some things and help you proceed. Basically, what you need to do is cut and paste from a word document until "preview" shows a problem, then tweak, try again, tweak again, etc. Painful! But it works...
http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...rope-forum.cfm

PaulRabe

KJA -- just so you know, my problem was limited to one posting on the Ireland Board. Over ten tries for preview, all with no response -- no error message, no rejection, nothing. I just clicked on [Preview] and NOTHING happened. I started wondering if I had been banned or something, so I tested here -- obviously, no problem. My inability to post in the Ireland Board lasted until last night, and then just vanished.

I sent a request for help to Fodors, who said they would look into it. I have no idea if they did anything, if my PC reboot removed a problem specific to Ireland, or if the problem just went away when Fodors upgraded.

girlonthego

I was in Montreal and QC in both 2014 and 2015 and I do not speak French. I only know a few pleasantries. I found everyone spoke English and was very pleasant and nice to me. I really enjoyed my trips to the French speaking Canada.

belt_lab

I travel to Quebec at-least once or twice a year for business and have found the people to be very friendly and extremely pleasant.