Anglos wanting to learn French

[Rush]

Hi there. I'm a teenage anglophone living in the Montreal area, and I want to learn French. However, all my friends that know French insist on speaking in English with me, and don't even try to suggest listening in school (I got mostly 90's, but even then, they don't teach the day-to-day language: they teach the grammar, so most of us hate the class, and learn nothing (As in NOTHING! Some people don't even know what "je" is, as in "je suis", cause they can't understand one word in the first place!)).
I'm sure that this has happened to most anglophones in Quebec out there: you keep hearing that you need to learn French, over and over and over again, and then one day, you decide to take some action and learn Quebec French, but you find out that no one you know knows of a place to go to, so you get furious and maybe even give up, but if you go to learn France French, you speak correctly, but you sound utterly stupid to francophones, and sometimes, you might get mocked for it.
This is what's happened to me (not knowing any good places to go to to learn Quebec French), and I'm deciding to take even more action, and asking people I don't even know where there might be a place around the Montreal area, where even a true anglo can learn true Quebec French, so I'm asking for myself, all my friends that want to know as well, and anyone reading this: where might there be a place in or around the Montreal area for anglophones of any kind to learn day-to-day Quebec French? Thank you.

 

[scratch]

Hi there. I'm a teenage anglophone living in the Montreal area, and I want to learn French. However, all my friends that know French insist on speaking in English with me, and don't even try to suggest listening in school (I got mostly 90's, but even then, they don't teach the day-to-day language: they teach the grammar, so most of us hate the class, and learn nothing (As in NOTHING! Some people don't even know what "je" is, as in "je suis", cause they can't understand one word in the first place!)).
I'm sure that this has happened to most anglophones in Quebec out there: you keep hearing that you need to learn French, over and over and over again, and then one day, you decide to take some action and learn Quebec French, but you find out that no one you know knows of a place to go to, so you get furious and maybe even give up, but if you go to learn France French, you speak correctly, but you sound utterly stupid to francophones, and sometimes, you might get mocked for it.
This is what's happened to me (not knowing any good places to go to to learn Quebec French), and I'm deciding to take even more action, and asking people I don't even know where there might be a place around the Montreal area, where even a true anglo can learn true Quebec French, so I'm asking for myself, all my friends that want to know as well, and anyone reading this: where might there be a place in or around the Montreal area for anglophones of any kind to learn day-to-day Quebec French? Thank you.

Hey Rush,
Welcome to 3C/CanCon. I lived in Quebec for almost 40 years and lived in a town that was split in language, by that I mean 50% Anglophone --- 50% Francophone.
As kids we played together and learned each other's languages. Then in school (English system) starting from grade 1 to grade 11 we had 2 hours of French every day. Our teacher was a local resident and if you met her in the street or in a shop you spoke only French with her...in other words a form of heavy immersion.
The problem with Quebec French is that it is always evolving especially into Franglais. I still speak what was known as the "high speech", but the language changes from region to region. There is also "joele" to deal with, a kind of Louisiana type language.
IMO what you need to do is involve yourself in French based activities. Schools provide high speech which is not spoken that often anymore.
You have a dilemma that I didn't have to face. And there are no magic solutions.
If you consider France as an alternative their French is more Anglicized than Quebec French.

Regards,
scratch

 

[Rush]

Hey Rush,
Welcome to 3C/CanCon. I lived in Quebec for almost 40 years and lived in a town that was split in language, by that I mean 50% Anglophone --- 50% Francophone.
As kids we played together and learned each other's languages. Then in school (English system) starting from grade 1 to grade 11 we had 2 hours of French every day. Our teacher was a local resident and if you met her in the street or in a shop you spoke only French with her...in other words a form of heavy immersion.
The problem with Quebec French is that it is always evolving especially into Franglais. I still speak what was known as the "high speech", but the language changes from region to region. There is also "joele" to deal with, a kind of Louisiana type language.
IMO what you need to do is involve yourself in French based activities. Schools provide high speech which is not spoken that often anymore.
You have a dilemma that I didn't have to face. And there are no magic solutions.
If you consider France as an alternative their French is more Anglicized than Quebec French.

Regards,
scratch

Oh, I don't mind that it's evolving. In fact, I do know quite a bit of Quebec French, enough to get by and have a good time, but I can't understand fast-paced conversations. And as for being in French activities...well, that's a bit off for most anglophones where I live. Where I live, the anglophones and francophones are quite isolated, just because of the language difference, because a lot of the francophones can't and won't accept English-speakers as friends, even if we're friendly with them, and will mock, ridicule, and isolate themselves from us. Also, where I'm from, speaking France French is a bit like speaking with a British accent in Harlem: you just don't do it.

And yes, it's quite the dilemma, because as I said before, schools teach mostly the grammar, and a couple of words. After that, they basically assume that you can learn the rest on your own, until you get to high school, where they assume that you were already taught French well by a teacher, but for the classes that are intended to teach those that only speak English, they do it just like they did before, only assuming that you know more when they know that you're not around it (I go to one of the few English schools around Montreal).

Also, as you said, schools teach a high language that isn't used that much anymore. So basically, they're teaching something that won't get us anywhere for now, nearly guaranteed. In fact, in one of my schools, I was actually taught incorrect French by my French teacher (Example: "Il m'a frappé" vs "Il a frappé moi"), so that made the situation even worse.

I figure that you can imagine why I'm so passionate about this, because I really want to learn the language, but have no viable solution, and a lot of my friends (and people that aren't even my friends, or people I know in their 40's) want a viable solution as well, but when we try to take some action, we can't, because there's nothing to do that we know of. That's why I'm fed up, and why I'm asking you guys out there if YOU guys know of ANY place to learn Quebec French well, whether it be free, or $1000 per lesson, every day, for 5 years.

And by the way, thank you, scratch

 

[scratch]

Oh, I don't mind that it's evolving. In fact, I do know quite a bit of Quebec French, enough to get by and have a good time, but I can't understand fast-paced conversations. And as for being in French activities...well, that's a bit off for most anglophones where I live. Where I live, the anglophones and francophones are quite isolated, just because of the language difference, because a lot of the francophones can't and won't accept English-speakers as friends, even if we're friendly with them, and will mock, ridicule, and isolate themselves from us. Also, where I'm from, speaking France French is a bit like speaking with a British accent in Harlem: you just don't do it.

And yes, it's quite the dilemma, because as I said before, schools teach mostly the grammar, and a couple of words. After that, they basically assume that you can learn the rest on your own, until you get to high school, where they assume that you were already taught French well by a teacher, but for the classes that are intended to teach those that only speak English, they do it just like they did before, only assuming that you know more when they know that you're not around it (I go to one of the few English schools around Montreal).

Also, as you said, schools teach a high language that isn't used that much anymore. So basically, they're teaching something that won't get us anywhere for now, nearly guaranteed. In fact, in one of my schools, I was actually taught incorrect French by my French teacher (Example: "Il m'a frappé" vs "Il a frappé moi"), so that made the situation even worse.

I figure that you can imagine why I'm so passionate about this, because I really want to learn the language, but have no viable solution, and a lot of my friends (and people that aren't even my friends, or people I know in their 40's) want a viable solution as well, but when we try to take some action, we can't, because there's nothing to do that we know of. That's why I'm fed up, and why I'm asking you guys out there if YOU guys know of ANY place to learn Quebec French well, whether it be free, or $1000 per lesson, every day, for 5 years.

And by the way, thank you, scratch

Set up a regimen of what French that you will learn on a daily basis and from what source. Be it as I listed or force your way willfully on the person in the street or on the metro or in the grocery store-----get the upper hand and keep it.
You don't need to put out that kind of money to learn a language.
Go to French web sites.
Panic seems to be setting in, don't let it!
Look at it from this point of view Francophones want to learn English as badly as you want to learn French....come to a compromise so that everyone wins.

Regards,
scratch

 

[Rush]

Set up a regimen of what French that you will learn on a daily basis and from what source. Be it as I listed or force your way willfully on the person in the street or on the metro or in the grocery store-----get the upper hand and keep it.
You don't need to put out that kind of money to learn a language.
Go to French web sites.
Panic seems to be setting in, don't let it!
Look at it from this point of view Francophones want to learn English as badly as you want to learn French....come to a compromise so that everyone wins.

Regards,
scratch

Ok well maybe not THAT much money for that much time, but you get the point: I'd go pretty far to learn it, and I'd go pretty far for those that have no idea of the language and want to learn it. That's one reason I'm so passionate about it: because there are thousands of others like me that feel that they have to learn French with no viable resources available.
As for when I'm out, I do try as much as I can, and there are 2 people that are good friends with me that are bilingual, but they both insist on speaking to me in English, no matter how much I try to get them to speak in French to help me learn. And as for those francophones that want to know English as badly as I want to know French, there's barely anyone like that in my area, and only 2 of my co-workers speak French with me, and at the same time, I try to help them with English, but it's not enough, because I don't work that often. As for the random person, they at least can spend some money on something like Rosetta Stone and learn American English pretty quickly. All I have for a resource is a book called "Speak Quebec!", which is basically a dictionary on day-to-day Quebec French, and not something to learn a language with. (Still, I read it when I can)

 

[scratch]

Ok well maybe not THAT much money for that much time, but you get the point: I'd go pretty far to learn it, and I'd go pretty far for those that have no idea of the language and want to learn it. That's one reason I'm so passionate about it: because there are thousands of others like me that feel that they have to learn French with no viable resources available.
As for when I'm out, I do try as much as I can, and there are 2 people that are good friends with me that are bilingual, but they both insist on speaking to me in English, no matter how much I try to get them to speak in French to help me learn. And as for those francophones that want to know English as badly as I want to know French, there's barely anyone like that in my area, and only 2 of my co-workers speak French with me, and at the same time, I try to help them with English, but it's not enough, because I don't work that often. As for the random person, they at least can spend some money on something like Rosetta Stone and learn American English pretty quickly. All I have for a resource is a book called "Speak Quebec!", which is basically a dictionary on day-to-day Quebec French, and not something to learn a language with. (Still, I read it when I can)

Danger...Danger....Rush,

Don't go near American English. Go to a site for the Quebec government and have them make recommendations to you.
There is a huge difference between Canadian English and American.
And ask the government the best places to go to learn French if you find school inadequate.

s.

 

[no color]

I was asking the same question years back, but was told that I would have to pay to learn French in my home town (Montreal). I was educated in the 70's and 80's and none of my schools back then had the French immersion program, so my knowledge of French is very limited or virtually nonexistent. I can't for the life of me engage in a conversation with someone in French.

However, if it comes down to paying for a French class, I refuse to do it. I absolutely refuse to pay for a service in my home town when immigrants to my city get the same services for free. Why do they get French classes for free when I have to pay for it? Bottom line, it doesn't really affect me anyways as I use English in my day to day life and most Montrealers can communicate effectively in English.

 

[s_lone]

Rush,

I think you mentioned you had a hard time following conversations... I have a suggestion on how you could greatly improve your skill at understanding spoken Quebec French and it wouldn't require that much effort...

TV!!! Yup... the good old television!

Living in Montreal you get access to at least 3 or 4 Quebec channels in French. Watch the news in French. Do you watch the Simpsons? Then watch them in French on TQS. The show is translated in Quebec French and believe me, the translation is brilliant. They've somehow managed to give an authentic 'Quebec' feel to the show while staying true to the original content.

If I can suggest one show in particular, I'd tell you to watch ''Tout le monde en parle''. It's at 8pm on Sunday nights at Radio-Canada (the francophone CBC). It's basically a 2 hour talk-show with a good couple of guests that come to discuss about anything you could pretty much imagine... There are interviews between the host and the guests but the guests are also invited to stay for the whole show and communicate with each other... You sometimes get very animated conversations that go on in the most typical Quebec French.

The show is not on right now because it's summertime but it will be back in the fall. Check it out.

Whatever your interests are, I'm sure you can find some Quebec french TV that you could watch that could at least help you in your quest to learn the language.

Of course, you can listen to the radio too.