Having never been to Quebec I have a few questions. My wife and I are visiting Montreal in a few weeks. How difficult will it be for us to communicate using English only? What barriers or concerns have other Americans had when traveling to Quebec?<BR><BR>Thanks for the input!<BR>Chris

I live in Montreal and I can tell you honestly that this isn't a real problem if you stay west of St Laurent street, which is largely english. Most store clerks and other servicepeople speak adequate english. It would be helpful for you just to learn general expressions in French like "comment ca coute" (how much does it cost) and bonjour..... things like that. good luck

'English only' in Montreal is not a problem - especially if as 'xxx' say's you stay west of St. Laurent - and rally the only thing really worthwhile east of there is the Olympic Complex where English is not usually a problem.<BR><BR>In the rest of the province you could run into problems if you stopped to ask someone on the street for directions but with a few exceptions anywhere that a tourist would likely go English will be spoken. As with anywhere else in the world though it helps if you at least try to use a little of the local language.

You should not have any problems, if you do like you would do if you traveled to France or Italy.<BR><BR>Outside of Montreal, don't start with "Do you speak English?". Most people will say no, for fear of not being able to sustain a fast paced conversation. But if you start with "Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?" everybody will make an effort to communicate with you.

"Je nes Parle Pas Francis" is a good line (I don't speak french" <BR>Comment sa va? How are you<BR>Sa va bien.. I am good<BR>sa va tres bien, i am very good<BR><BR>Bring a french english dictionary...remember Quebecquois french is different than France, <BR><BR>Sorry if I misspelled the French words

Montreal has a large english population so you should not have a problem.

It might take a few adjustments to understand the French spoken in Quebec, especially if you are accustomed to Parisian French as accents and expressions can vary, pretty much like the ones you hear in Ireland or Scotland. That being said, I think the vocabulary is largely the same. Once people know French is not your native langauage, they'll speak more slowly.

We are just back from Montreal/Quebec City and of the four of us Bonjour was about all of our French combined ! We had no problems (except for one small place were we stopped for breakfast outside of Montreal center - and with a few gestures and lots of laughs (by our waitress) we were able to communicate). Montreal is very diverse and just about everyone speaks some English - - we found the same to be true in Quebec City - we were at a shopping mall and one person waiting on us apologized that her English was so poor - - certainly nothing she should feel she has to apologize for ! ! ! Everyone was so friendly and helpful that language was a non-issue. I think the universal "smile" will open up any language barriers you may encounter.

I don't speak French at all, and had no problem in Montreal. They all greet you with "bonjour" and if you reply "hello" they switch to English. <BR><BR>The only place were English was not spoken was a small shop where I got a Peruvian sweater for my husband. But I doubt French was spoken there