Oct 23, 2012 - 08:08 PM
Hi, I'm from Vancouver. I recently drove from Vancouver to Halifax (now I'm living in Halifax to go to university). I spent a couple days in Montreal, and a couple driving across Quebec. It's amazing there, by far my favourite city in Canada, and one of my favourite cities period. You'll love it! As far as the French goes, I was just finishing Fluenz level 2, and got by fine with the locals. In the rural parts I could understand anything to do with gas stations, restaurants, etc. Your not going to have a rapid in-depth conversation, but you'll definitely get by fine. Most people speak english too. The great thing about your situation though is that your going to get eased in. You'll communicate in english a lot while be immersed in french! This is perfect, and I'm envious for that. Everyone was super nice when I was there too. Don't be nervous about the native speakers at all! Also don't worry about watching movies and whatnot at this stage either, it doesn't hurt, and french directors such Jean pierre jeunet are my favourite, but you probably won't learn much except a little sound recognition. Enjoy Montreal! Come make the drive to Atlantic Canada one day too, just driving through all the French towns along the Trans Canada Highway is worth it!