Moving to Montreal Without French
 

If one were to move to Montreal from Alberta without a conversational ability in French (but absolutely with the intention of learning!), how would one get along? What types of employment would be available, and how would one go about learning French in the quickest and best way possible?

Employment may be limited, but you can get away living in the city without French. Of course, it is highly recommended to learn French. A lot of my friends who moved here without French started off at call Centres, where there wasn't much need for French.

A lot of people who move here under your circumstances take intensive French courses, and usually that opens them up employment. They tend to be cheap, and offered - I think - through our CEGEP systems (our pre-University colleges).

Good luck!

I did it.

I moved to Montreal with only high school French. I had a job from within my company waiting for me though, which made the move a bit easier. My advice is to live in a non-anglo area.. you will pick French up a lot faster.

Also helps to date French-speaking women. :D

Before we were married, my wife was considering moving to Montreal for post-secondary studies. She had very limited French but the only job she was offered was a dish washer, as she wouldn't interact with the public (and language police). Maybe things have changed since then.

Using the term ''language police'' discredit your post.

Not where he's from it doesn't!

(No disrespect intended towards dmuzika, but it's a fact than in much of Canada language like that wrt to Quebec is taken as ''cash''.)

McGill and Concordia can be attended entirely in English, correct?

Correct. They are English-language Universities.

It isn't the language police. They are called the tongue troopers. :D

relax, it is a common joke for us Anglo-Quebeckers.

To be speaking in the most general way possible, on this forum, you actually should've said "men". ;)

Don't worry. My wife comes from Toronto and wasn't speaking French at all when she came here. With some basic French classes and me helping out (I'm francophone), she was able to find a job being somewhat functional in French. Anytime a company is global, for sure most likely English is the working language.

Right - but there are also pockets of areas within Montreal (NDG / Montreal West / West Island... ) where you can technically get away with just English, but it will be difficult to access all of what Montreal has to offer.

It's entirely possible. I did it quite a few years ago and my wife did it recently.

You will always have a job in Montreal if you speak English, with that said, it might not be your dream job, but you will have an income at least.

If you don't learn French though, you'd be missing on a lot of the stuff that make Montreal awesome, but if you're willing to learn then all the resources are there for you. :)

There are French intensive courses that you can take at Cegeps, like Ashok mentioned, or "immigrant" schools, which are comprised of like 20% Canadians from other provinces. These are free ($60 per semester is pretty much free, come on) and the quality of education is great. That's how I learned.

I surprisingly know a few Edmontonians here. You'll love it if you do end up making the move :)

Ask away if you have any other questions.

Still with this...

Between local services in English (which are pretty extensive but not entirely comprehensive) and also the English that exists to serve tourists that you can surf also, it's fairly easy to get by. You will have the occasional "communication breakdowns" though, especially when you venture out of the areas that could be described as the anglo enclaves.

As other have said, you can probably get a job (call centres anyone?) but it won't be a great job, and even if you do get a good job that requires only English, you will hit a glass ceiling at one point in your career for sure if you don't go to the trouble of learning French. That's a trap a lot of people fall into, and most of these people end up moving away all frustrated.

Are you hitting on me? https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...i6CD__z_MO61oQ

No kidding.. why move here if you just want to stay in your bubble? Kirkland and DDO could be mistaken for Oakville and Burlington, if you squint at a four-way stop, it might not even say 'arrêt'.

(no offense to MolsonExport, Kirkland progeny :D)

I've noticed some of them, while they do speak French, they still stay in their bubble. The other day I was speaking to a couple Anglo coworkers who had never been to La Banquise :koko: and were just as ignorant about Montreal as someone from BC or SK. And these are people who were born here!

Man. I'm from Manitoba, and on my stag night, I took all my Manitoban friends east of St-Laurent. "but I've heard so much about Crescent.." Shut up.

Go to Verres Stérilisés on Rachel/St. Hubert. That's the shit.

(plus la banquise est just a block north!)

I just said 'est' instead of 'is'.

See Brett, Montreal does this.

"Wait, let me stop at the dépanneur to take money out of the guichet before we go out for the cinq à sept"

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that sentence.