Is Montreal a bilingual city?

Question

1. Is Montreal a bilingual city or a French-speaking city?

2. Which language do they use to teach subjects like math, history or fine arts at public schools in Montreal?

3. If you had to start a conversation with a stranger on the street of Montreal, would you speak French or English?

4. If an Anglophone and a Francophone bumped into each other, which language would they eventually communicate in?

Answer 1

1. in theory it's a french-speaking but downtown and west island is bilingual

2.We have both English and french schools.  But to go to an English school you have to have one English speaking parent or you can't go.

3. You'll have more chance if you start in french but downtown you can choose the one you prefer

4.probably both at the same time.  (Franglais) but it also depends on the level that both have in the other language.

Answer 2

1. Bilingual but mostly French Speaking

2. There are enlish schools (just like Ontario has French Immersion), but regular public schools are all in french.

3. I would start of in French so show you're trying, but then say you don't know a lot.

4. They would eventually communicate in English assumming the Francophone wanted to and could.

Answer 3

Is Montreal a bi-lingual city? Depends on what aspect you are talking about. In Canada, all government business is conducted in both official languages, so in that sense, every city in Canada is bilingual. Montreal probably has more anglophones than any other city in the province of Quebec. That said,a great number of Montrealers are bilingual.

Which language they use to teach in the public schools depends on whether students are in English or French immersion courses.

If I had to start a conversation on the street, I would begin by saying 'Bonjour" and seeing what the reaction to that was. If s/he responded with 'Hi" I would switch to Engish.

If the Anglophone and the Francophone were both unilingual, they would likely communicate in sign language or use non-verbal communication.

All that said, I have discovered that there is a both a persistance level and a comfort level to consider when it comes to languages. For example, in both Quebec and in Paris, people will behave as though they do not speak or understand English. And in some cases, this is true. However, in the majority of cases where they come in contact with tourists, it is not true. This was brought home vividly when I tried to communicate with them in my admittedly very poor French. After letting me flub along for a bit, they discovered they could speak English after all, especially if it involved selling something......

Answer 4

1. Is Montreal a bilingual city or a French-speaking city?

I vote bilingual

2. Which language do they use to teach subjects like math, history or fine arts at public schools in Montreal?

There are two school boards, English and French. To be allowed to go to a school in the English board, you generally have to have a parent who went to school in English in Canada. In the English board, those subjects may be taught in English, but are more often taught in French, because most of the kids in most of the "English" schools are in French Immersion. Art may be taught in English.  In the French board, all subjects must be taught in French, English is only taught as a subject in itself.

3. If you had to start a conversation with a stranger on the street of Montreal, would you speak French or English?

All else being equal, more likely French.

4. If an Anglophone and a Francophone bumped into each other, which language would they eventually communicate in?

All else being equal, more likely French.

Generally speaking, the Anglophones who have not left Montreal are willing and able to speak French. The Francophones in Montreal are not necessarily both willing and able, and some get annoyed that anyone assumes they speak English whereas most Anglophones are pleased when people assume they speak French.

Answer 5

1. yes it's bilingual. although in Quebec the official language is french

2  Unless you find an english school they are taught in french

3.  I would recommend saying "parlez vous anglais" first.  Meaning "do you speak english" to make sure they do and to show that even though you can't speak french, you respect that they do.

4.  Probably a combination of the 2.  Although if one is ONLY english and the other is ONLY french it would be a language of gestures used to communicate. (this is providing that neither one knows a single word of the other's language)

Answer 6

1. Montreal is, from an official standpoint, a French speaking city as defined by the city's charter. This means that the official language of government is French. However in practice, a large proportion of the population is bilingual.

2. In Montreal, as in the rest of the province, there are English-language and French-language public schools. Most public school students attend French-language schools as only a small percentage of the population is allowed, by law, to attend an English-language public school. The law that governs the language of instruction policies is called Bill 101 (Loi 101). Of course, English is taught in French-language schools as a second language and is a requirement through to secondary school.

3. The answer is: it depends on the context. In most situations, assuming the person is bilingual, people will speak to you in French first. If they sense that you do not understand, they will revert to English. In more francophone areas, there may not be a reversion to English (whether or not the person actually speaks English) while in more anglophone areas, English might predominate. I would recommend speaking in French first when communicating with others, and if your French is poor, perhaps a simple "parlez vous anglais" (do you speak English) would be appropriate.

4. They would communicate in the language that is strongest for them. If you are an anglophone that understands French but doesn't speak it very well, and you meet a francophone who is bilingual, you more than likely will be speaking in English. It really depends on the situation and the level of comfort each speaker has with both languages.