What grasp of french do i need for 2 weeks in montreal?

Question

how much french do i need for montreal?

Answer 1

Not much especially in the tourist areas.  I've made many visits to Montreal over the years and never had a problem and my only  French is  from high school 40 years ago.

Answer 2

You hardly need any grasp of French.........Many tourist areas are bilingual...........And especially in the summer, the locals try a little harder to speak English to satisfy the tourists........

Answer 3

Why did you need to grasp in french ?

Did you know many poeple who live in Montreal speak in english ! But if you absolutely want to speak a few sentence in french ,it up to you .I hope you know french is a difficult language to learn but how nice it is.If you can have someone who learn or teach you a few sentence ,maybe your stay is going to be more enjoyable for you ,i really hope.

Answer 4

Um...enough for basic communication, know what the numbers are, etc etc, but, because of english music, most quebecois have a basic understanding of english, so dont sweat!

Answer 5

most places are pretty fluent in english, but a very basic understanding will not hurt.  rosetta stone software (link below) is the best way to learn, i've found.

good luck, and bon voyage!

Answer 6

I didn't speak a word of french while I was there and had no trouble.  It's not because I am ignorant, I respect the french culture and wish I had paid more attention in school, it's just I felt uncomfortable even saying bonjour as I knew my accent would give me away as a stupid english speaker!

Answer 7

depends on where you plan on going, stick to the main shopping areas downtown and the tourist traps and you won't need much beyond bonjour & merci.  

Get off the beaten track and you will need more French.  Saying that of course you will run into an a$$hole who will refuse to speak English to you even if they can BUT at least not everyone in Quebec is like that.  If they do that to you in a shop just say thanks and walk away.  Thankfully they are in the minority but jerks are everywhere.

have a good trip and safe home.

Answer 8

While Quebec is the main French speaking population in Canada, Montreal has the largest English and bilingual speaking populations/percentages in the province.  

As a visitor, if you can say hello, please and thank you it usually helps to impress and show you are trying.