Killer Carlson Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Would it be advisable for me to learn a little french? Would it be appreciated for trying to use french or does evryone speak in english? im planning to come over depending on the fixtures not this year but maybe next november/december. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebehabs Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 u can survive with english in montreal there's no problem with that, but if u wanna make us happy, it would be great if u lear a few french words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Carlson Posted October 11, 2006 Author Share Posted October 11, 2006 u can survive with english in montreal there's no problem with that, but if u wanna make us happy, it would be great if u lear a few french words well my ex girlfriend used to live in paris whilst studying so id visit her monthly their- i kinda struggled with the french but managed to get by and ask for directions etc pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_Habs_Fan Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 My french sucks, but when i was in Montreal i could really do good with my english. No problem over there. People from Quebec speak better English than the French do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Carlson Posted October 11, 2006 Author Share Posted October 11, 2006 My french sucks, but when i was in Montreal i could really do good with my english. No problem over there. People from Quebec speak better English than the French do! did you catch a habs game whilst you were their? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Would it be advisable for me to learn a little french? Would it be appreciated for trying to use french or does evryone speak in english? im planning to come over depending on the fixtures not this year but maybe next november/december. Here's the trick: If you approach someone, just say in French "Bonjour je viens de Angleterre. Je ne parle pas beaucoup le français, parlez-vous anglais?" (Hi, I'm from England, I dont speak much french, do you speak english?)... 99.9% of the time I can garantee you that you'll get a nice response. So that one sentence might be all the french you'll need to use. Though you can easily get by without any french at some places like restaurants and such. I found out last March when I went to Montreal that in a lot of places you're talked to in English first, and sometimes only in English. I went to a place in Chinatown near my hotel and when I asked if I could by a take-out (in French) the girl at the counter barely understood me and couldn't even give me an intelligible reply in French. Nevermind that its embarassing, its just bad customer service. So I just left and went to the next restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Yeah just say my french isn't very good. And they'll laugh and which to english. In the Lounge I did a post on immigrants not learning french in Quebec. So I guess KoZed ran into the growing trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzer Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Having made hundreds of trips to Montreal when I still lived in NY, I've never had any problems with folks being polite and speaking English with me. Although I do know a bit of french, definitely enough to get by, most people would initially address me in English. Venture into rural Quebec though, and it's an entirely different ball game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Venture into rural Quebec though, and it's an entirely different ball game. Yup, but still depends where. Along the borders you rarely have any trouble. Just pick an hotel or even a Bed & Breakfast anywhere and odds are 90% that someone will speak English there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Whenever something happens on tv and they try to interview police officers for some reason they can't speak very good english. Doesn't bother me. But if I was an anglophone in Montreal and I had to call the cops and they came to me and nobody spoke english I'd be upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_Habs_Fan Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 did you catch a habs game whilst you were their? I was there during the 2002 Playoff Debacle against the Canes(just a couple of days, was doing a north-east trip). It was almost impossible to get tickets, and as a foreigner i didnt know if i could believe the Scalpers. I even couldnt get a tour through Bell Centre, cuz of the Playoffs. In Toronto it wasnt a big problem to get a tour (and yeah even they were in the playoffs) Next time i will definitely go to a game, and fix the tickets over here. Not while im there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 English is fine downtown. Don't worry you'll do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLP Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Here's the trick: If you approach someone, just say in French "Bonjour je viens de Angleterre. Je ne parle pas beaucoup le français, parlez-vous anglais?" Or to make it simpler: "s'cuse, j'suis rosboeuf -- spit inglis?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I agree with everyone here. When I was in Montreal when I was like 10, my Mom and I had no trouble getting by on English. We were very imressed by the courtesy extended to us. Loved our tour of the Forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Whenever something happens on tv and they try to interview police officers for some reason they can't speak very good english. Doesn't bother me. But if I was an anglophone in Montreal and I had to call the cops and they came to me and nobody spoke english I'd be upset. You're stretching it. There's a difference between "not very good english" and "no english". Besides, I work in a call center and we get to relay 911 calls to Montreal and there's never any problems when its anglophones. Besides, they have patrols that are "tailor made" for certain neighborhoods now, to reflect ethnic diversity and all that. People need to stop getting all paranoid about this crap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shu Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I was born in Montreal and lived in france so i guess im okay at French, but my french is getting worse and worse because i never use here in America, and i dont take french in school so my french is starting to suck, when i went to France i actually took a class called ESOL english as a second language because while living in Canada my parents had tried to bring me up french speaking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I was born in Montreal and lived in france so i guess im okay at French, but my french is getting worse and worse because i never use here in America, and i dont take french in school so my french is starting to suck, when i went to France i actually took a class called ESOL english as a second language because while living in Canada my parents had tried to bring me up french speaking if you use france's french on us, we won't understand squat. If you want to approach a french woman just say: bonne jouure. sorry I only speak english but I french goood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLP Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Whenever something happens on tv and they try to interview police officers for some reason they can't speak very good english. Doesn't bother me. But if I was an anglophone in Montreal and I had to call the cops and they came to me and nobody spoke english I'd be upset. many speak accented English as it is their second language but all can speak English, a grammatical error or two is the least of your worries when dealing with Montréal cops... Bart Simpson to policeman: "Can I see your club?" Cop: "I's not a club, it's a truncheon." Bart: "What do you use it for?" Cop: "We use it to club people." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 many speak accented English as it is their second language but all can speak English, a grammatical error or two is the least of your worries when dealing with Montréal cops... Bart Simpson to policeman: "Can I see your club?" Cop: "I's not a club, it's a truncheon." Bart: "What do you use it for?" Cop: "We use it to club people." :lool: didn't remember that one. is the episode where bart becomes cop for a day ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLP Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 :lool: didn't remember that one. is the episode where bart becomes cop for a day ?? yeah I think so, or in one where he does a ride along with a couple of cops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 many speak accented English as it is their second language but all can speak English, a grammatical error or two is the least of your worries when dealing with Montréal cops... Good point. While there, we only had trouble with communication because of a thick accent. I remember the waiter at a resturaunt was thrilled that an American in a tour group was a Habs fan, was excited to talk hockey with me. I was only 10, and I could hardly understand anything he said, aside from a name here or there. I just kinda nodded my head and agreed, hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 if you use france's french on us, we won't understand squat. If you want to approach a french woman just say: bonne jouure. sorry I only speak english but I french goood Just use the time-tested joke... "Hello. I'm a Brit. You speak English?" "Yes I do..." "OH! You speak English! You have some Brit in you?" "No..." "Do you want some?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Just use the time-tested joke... "Hello. I'm a Brit. You speak English?" "Yes I do..." "OH! You speak English! You have some Brit in you?" "No..." "Do you want some?" thats a good one my favourite: how would like you eggs tomorrow? scarmbled, over easy or fertilized ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 LOL. hysterical. You guys are funny. So whats everyone's first language then, I'm curious? Mine's english of course, learning spanish, I can read french and say a few prayers in german. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 LOL. hysterical. You guys are funny. So whats everyone's first language then, I'm curious? Mine's english of course, learning spanish, I can read french and say a few prayers in german. lol. no hungarian ?? I'm french but all my family's on ma fathers side are from ireland. even on my mother's side I have an Irish aunt. so basicly I'm rather fluent in both lanmguage although I lack vocabulary in english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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