I have noticed over the last five years or so that Montreal has become more French than ever. Growing up in Montreal in the 80's, it was possible to feel like you lived in an English city. All three elementary schools that I attended were completely English. There weren't any French immersion programs, that I can remember.
You could live in the suburbs and feel completely separate from the French language. We had two English television channels (we didn't have cable) and there were several English radio stations. You could go shopping and never have to worry about whether you could speak French or not.
It's quite fascinating how language laws work in Quebec. If you are born in Quebec and both of your parents were born here and attended English schools, then you have the golden ticket to attend an English school. You are then in a situation where you might only learn a very limited amount of French beginning in grade 4. This is not a fact - don't quote me on this as I don't know many people with children in the English school system! But when I look back on my own education, I can honestly say that I don't have any recollection of French class until grade 4 (9 years old). I've been told that these days the majority of English kids are in French imersion at school. In fact, I don't know a single English kid that not enrolled in immersion.
I started speaking French when I was about three years old. I had a couple of French neighbours. I am sure I didn't understand what they said, but I think I picked up a few words! Then when I started daycare (or the Garderie as I called it) I believe the workers were French, and so were many of the children. However, we also watched The Finstones every day at twelve p.m, so it was a mixed bag.
I basically spent an hour a day learning French for eight years. Other than that hour a day, my entire life was spent in English. All of my friends and family were English, all of the t.v shows and movies I watched were in English, all of the music I listened to was in English. I only spoke French when I needed to, like maybe at the grocery store or something.
It's strange, but my life hasn't really changed all that much. All of the above still applies, minus the fact that I no longer spend an hour a day learning French! I have tried to watch t.v shows and movies in French, but find that I just can't understand it well enough for it hold my attention! I'm one of those rare people who speaks French better than they understand it!
These days I find that Montreal really does seem more French. I can vaguely recall going to free outdoor concerts and maybe hearing some English now and again. That never happens these days. In stores you are greeted with a "bonjour/hi". Back in the 90's you were sometimes greeted with just "hi". That doesn't happen anymore.
Also, the western section of Montreal, known as the West Island, has always had a reputation of being predominantly English. Growing up in the 80's and 90's I felt that to be particularly true. These days I'm becoming more and more aware of changes. The shopping centre, Fairview, for example has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 90's you would hardly ever hear French being spoken. Today, you'll hear it much more.
I think what I find most striking about the cultural scene in Montreal, is that the really fun/happening places do tend to be French. When I was in my 20's, I must confess that I sadly ended up on Crescent Street most of the time. I guess knowing it had a reputation for being English was kind of attractive to me. Until I realized that the reason it was English was because of all the Americans coming up here to get drunk due to our young drinking age (18 instead of 21). And they weren't really heading to the bars for some dancing and friendly chit chat. They were there to get drunk and get laid, and Montreal girls had a reputation of being easy.
There are areas downtown where you will hear English spoken on the streets. Old Montreal is somewhere you will hear English being spoken, but that is mostly due to tourists. You will hear English being spoken in the western part of downtown near St. Catherine Street (Atwater to McGill) but that's because there are at least three English colleges there! Dawson College, McGill University, and Concordia University. Which explains why there are some pubs around Crescent Street.
But many of the happening places in Montreal tend to be around St. Denis, Plateau, St. Laurent Blvd. That's where you find really funky and cool local bars and cafés. And they tend to be completely French. Try speaking French when it's your second language with locals that speak Quebecois while listening to blaringly loud music. Not easy at all!
My mother claims that Montreal has always had divisions, some areas English, some areas French. She's been living here as an Anglophone since the early 1950's!!! Can you imagine seeing Montreal change that much in your lifetime? She claims that in the 50's Montreal was actually a fairly English city! She said that she worked at Eatons (a department store that closed down in the 90's) and wasn't even asked if she spoke French. She served customers in English and there was never any problem at all. She said that she didn't even think about whether Montreal was an English or French city. It was just a big city, where she lived. Speaking English (and some French).
Once Bill 101 came along, she said that things started changing. That was almost 40 years ago. This is how Bill 101 is explained by thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-101: "Introduced by Camille Laurin, Bill 101, Charte de la langue française (1977), made French the official language of government and of the courts in the province of Québec, as well as making it the normal and habitual language of the workplace, of instruction, of communications, of commerce and of business. Education in French became compulsory for immigrants, even those from other Canadian provinces, unless a "reciprocal agreement" existed between Québec and that province (the so-called Québec clause)."
When Bill 101 came along, many of the English people in Montreal left. A lot of them went to Toronto. They seemed to take a lot of the head offices away with them too! Montreal was officially a French city after that. In my opinion, it just keeps getting more and more French. English schools are still closing down while French ones keep getting built. Hospitals serving English communities have slowly been disappearing. There is one hospital for the West Island. There has even been talk about only receiving service in a hospital in French.
When the PQ government was elected a few years ago, things in Montreal started to get much worse again. The language police were out in full force, aiming to silence all the English in the city. They didn't want any bilingualism. They wanted people to be greeted by just "bonjour" in stores. No English. They tried to fine a restaurant for using the word "pasta" on their menu instead of the French word "pate". This became known as "Pastagate". Most people think that the laws are ridiculous, but the sad truth is that nobody is doing anything to change this.
I was in Paris a few years ago and was shocked by how much more English you see in the city compared to here. It's not an offensive language there. You see it everywhere. But no one seems to care.
Right now we have a Liberal government, but make no mistake, it's all run by French people. The separatists don't disappear just because a new government is elected. As we speak, there are still language police patrolling the streets looking for offensive English words on store fronts or being spoken in stores.
Just the other week a games store in Montreal was under attack because it sells some games that don't have a French version. They were told to remove all games from their shelves that don't have a French version. The store owner said that many games come from the United States and that there is a strong demand for them. To remove those games would basically force him to have to close his business.
Another story that happened recently, was that a man tried to buy a Daniel Tiger toy for his daughter at Toys R Us, but was told that he couldn't buy it because it wasn't supposed to be on the shelf due to the fact that it is an English toy. Apparently head office made a mistake and they were sending them all back. So he had to order it from Amazon instead.
Another interesting change that I've seen over the last twenty years is how street names are pronounced. In the 90's we used to call St. Laurent Blvd "St. Lawrence", and Notre Dame was pronounced to rhyme with lame not lamb. Boulevard St. Jean was called Saint John's boulevard. Also, some names of streets have been changed, like Dorchester became Réne Lévesque. Recently they changed 20 Métro names to add the proper French syntaxes in front of them.
Another change that doesn't necessarily relate to Montreal, but to as Quebec as a whole is that if you call up RAMQ (healthcare) they will not serve you in English - or at least - they will test your language skills to determine if you really can't communicate in French at all. There is no "press 9 for English" in the menu, it only comes at very end after a half minute of silence! A similar thing happens if you call Hydro Quebec. All of the options are in French. Only when you get to the very end do you find out you can press "0" or whatever for English.
One thing that hasn't changed, and never will, is that bus and Metro workers are Francophone. They will not provide assistance to you in English. They will simply say "Je ne parle pas Anglais". In fact, a few years ago there was a joke going around that there would be signs in the metro saying that if you couldn't speak French you'd have to walk instead.
I'm a liberal, open minded individual, and I can appreciate that cultures want to hold onto their heritage and preserve their language. I can appreciate that it's difficult to be a small population of French right next door to the United States which is mostly English. Or being part of Canada which is also mostly English. But I have a huge problem with the way that they try to silence the English!
In Montreal there are neighbourhoods devoted to other ethnicities, like Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Aboriginal, Polish, Jewish (Hebrew), etc. All of these places are allowed to put store signs outside in foreign languages. In China town all the stores have Chinese writing on them! And yet, it is illegal to have any English stores! There are immigrants here from the United Kingdom, where English is the prominently spoken language. A place rich with history and culture. And yet, in Quebec it is against the law to display it's native language in public. I find that disgusting. It's sad to say, but I don't think I'll be able to live in this place much longer. I prefer Vancouver where being English isn't considered an obscenity. Where I don't have to worry about feeling afraid to ask for help in a store because my French isn't good enough. Where if I have an accident and have to interact with a paramedic who refuses to speak English to me I could die because we aren't communicating properly. Where there aren't any free outdoor festivals where you will hear English spoken on the stage. Where you can't participate in contests because most won't deal with Quebec due to the language issues (it costs more money to run contests in Quebec).
It's very unfortunate, because it's a great city. I've been to many parties and meet up groups and everyone is from somewhere else. It's really beautiful how accepting people are. We are a warm group of people here, no matter what our language or colour. Ultimately, we all get along! We work together, we live together, we sleep together, we party together. I just wish the laws would relax a bit. We welcome in all kinds of different cultures, allow them to wear their traditional religious clothes, allow them to build religious buildings, and yet, when it comes to English, there is blatant discrimination! It's just not spoken about because the rest of Canada isn't like that. If a person has a problem with how things are here, they are told that they should just leave! But when you were born here, and all of your family and friends are here, your house is here - your whole life is here, it's not so easy to just pack it all up and leave!
You could live in the suburbs and feel completely separate from the French language. We had two English television channels (we didn't have cable) and there were several English radio stations. You could go shopping and never have to worry about whether you could speak French or not.
It's quite fascinating how language laws work in Quebec. If you are born in Quebec and both of your parents were born here and attended English schools, then you have the golden ticket to attend an English school. You are then in a situation where you might only learn a very limited amount of French beginning in grade 4. This is not a fact - don't quote me on this as I don't know many people with children in the English school system! But when I look back on my own education, I can honestly say that I don't have any recollection of French class until grade 4 (9 years old). I've been told that these days the majority of English kids are in French imersion at school. In fact, I don't know a single English kid that not enrolled in immersion.
I started speaking French when I was about three years old. I had a couple of French neighbours. I am sure I didn't understand what they said, but I think I picked up a few words! Then when I started daycare (or the Garderie as I called it) I believe the workers were French, and so were many of the children. However, we also watched The Finstones every day at twelve p.m, so it was a mixed bag.
I basically spent an hour a day learning French for eight years. Other than that hour a day, my entire life was spent in English. All of my friends and family were English, all of the t.v shows and movies I watched were in English, all of the music I listened to was in English. I only spoke French when I needed to, like maybe at the grocery store or something.
It's strange, but my life hasn't really changed all that much. All of the above still applies, minus the fact that I no longer spend an hour a day learning French! I have tried to watch t.v shows and movies in French, but find that I just can't understand it well enough for it hold my attention! I'm one of those rare people who speaks French better than they understand it!
These days I find that Montreal really does seem more French. I can vaguely recall going to free outdoor concerts and maybe hearing some English now and again. That never happens these days. In stores you are greeted with a "bonjour/hi". Back in the 90's you were sometimes greeted with just "hi". That doesn't happen anymore.
Also, the western section of Montreal, known as the West Island, has always had a reputation of being predominantly English. Growing up in the 80's and 90's I felt that to be particularly true. These days I'm becoming more and more aware of changes. The shopping centre, Fairview, for example has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 90's you would hardly ever hear French being spoken. Today, you'll hear it much more.
I think what I find most striking about the cultural scene in Montreal, is that the really fun/happening places do tend to be French. When I was in my 20's, I must confess that I sadly ended up on Crescent Street most of the time. I guess knowing it had a reputation for being English was kind of attractive to me. Until I realized that the reason it was English was because of all the Americans coming up here to get drunk due to our young drinking age (18 instead of 21). And they weren't really heading to the bars for some dancing and friendly chit chat. They were there to get drunk and get laid, and Montreal girls had a reputation of being easy.
There are areas downtown where you will hear English spoken on the streets. Old Montreal is somewhere you will hear English being spoken, but that is mostly due to tourists. You will hear English being spoken in the western part of downtown near St. Catherine Street (Atwater to McGill) but that's because there are at least three English colleges there! Dawson College, McGill University, and Concordia University. Which explains why there are some pubs around Crescent Street.
But many of the happening places in Montreal tend to be around St. Denis, Plateau, St. Laurent Blvd. That's where you find really funky and cool local bars and cafés. And they tend to be completely French. Try speaking French when it's your second language with locals that speak Quebecois while listening to blaringly loud music. Not easy at all!
My mother claims that Montreal has always had divisions, some areas English, some areas French. She's been living here as an Anglophone since the early 1950's!!! Can you imagine seeing Montreal change that much in your lifetime? She claims that in the 50's Montreal was actually a fairly English city! She said that she worked at Eatons (a department store that closed down in the 90's) and wasn't even asked if she spoke French. She served customers in English and there was never any problem at all. She said that she didn't even think about whether Montreal was an English or French city. It was just a big city, where she lived. Speaking English (and some French).
Once Bill 101 came along, she said that things started changing. That was almost 40 years ago. This is how Bill 101 is explained by thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-101: "Introduced by Camille Laurin, Bill 101, Charte de la langue française (1977), made French the official language of government and of the courts in the province of Québec, as well as making it the normal and habitual language of the workplace, of instruction, of communications, of commerce and of business. Education in French became compulsory for immigrants, even those from other Canadian provinces, unless a "reciprocal agreement" existed between Québec and that province (the so-called Québec clause)."
When Bill 101 came along, many of the English people in Montreal left. A lot of them went to Toronto. They seemed to take a lot of the head offices away with them too! Montreal was officially a French city after that. In my opinion, it just keeps getting more and more French. English schools are still closing down while French ones keep getting built. Hospitals serving English communities have slowly been disappearing. There is one hospital for the West Island. There has even been talk about only receiving service in a hospital in French.
When the PQ government was elected a few years ago, things in Montreal started to get much worse again. The language police were out in full force, aiming to silence all the English in the city. They didn't want any bilingualism. They wanted people to be greeted by just "bonjour" in stores. No English. They tried to fine a restaurant for using the word "pasta" on their menu instead of the French word "pate". This became known as "Pastagate". Most people think that the laws are ridiculous, but the sad truth is that nobody is doing anything to change this.
I was in Paris a few years ago and was shocked by how much more English you see in the city compared to here. It's not an offensive language there. You see it everywhere. But no one seems to care.
Right now we have a Liberal government, but make no mistake, it's all run by French people. The separatists don't disappear just because a new government is elected. As we speak, there are still language police patrolling the streets looking for offensive English words on store fronts or being spoken in stores.
Just the other week a games store in Montreal was under attack because it sells some games that don't have a French version. They were told to remove all games from their shelves that don't have a French version. The store owner said that many games come from the United States and that there is a strong demand for them. To remove those games would basically force him to have to close his business.
Another story that happened recently, was that a man tried to buy a Daniel Tiger toy for his daughter at Toys R Us, but was told that he couldn't buy it because it wasn't supposed to be on the shelf due to the fact that it is an English toy. Apparently head office made a mistake and they were sending them all back. So he had to order it from Amazon instead.
Another interesting change that I've seen over the last twenty years is how street names are pronounced. In the 90's we used to call St. Laurent Blvd "St. Lawrence", and Notre Dame was pronounced to rhyme with lame not lamb. Boulevard St. Jean was called Saint John's boulevard. Also, some names of streets have been changed, like Dorchester became Réne Lévesque. Recently they changed 20 Métro names to add the proper French syntaxes in front of them.
Another change that doesn't necessarily relate to Montreal, but to as Quebec as a whole is that if you call up RAMQ (healthcare) they will not serve you in English - or at least - they will test your language skills to determine if you really can't communicate in French at all. There is no "press 9 for English" in the menu, it only comes at very end after a half minute of silence! A similar thing happens if you call Hydro Quebec. All of the options are in French. Only when you get to the very end do you find out you can press "0" or whatever for English.
One thing that hasn't changed, and never will, is that bus and Metro workers are Francophone. They will not provide assistance to you in English. They will simply say "Je ne parle pas Anglais". In fact, a few years ago there was a joke going around that there would be signs in the metro saying that if you couldn't speak French you'd have to walk instead.
I'm a liberal, open minded individual, and I can appreciate that cultures want to hold onto their heritage and preserve their language. I can appreciate that it's difficult to be a small population of French right next door to the United States which is mostly English. Or being part of Canada which is also mostly English. But I have a huge problem with the way that they try to silence the English!
In Montreal there are neighbourhoods devoted to other ethnicities, like Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Aboriginal, Polish, Jewish (Hebrew), etc. All of these places are allowed to put store signs outside in foreign languages. In China town all the stores have Chinese writing on them! And yet, it is illegal to have any English stores! There are immigrants here from the United Kingdom, where English is the prominently spoken language. A place rich with history and culture. And yet, in Quebec it is against the law to display it's native language in public. I find that disgusting. It's sad to say, but I don't think I'll be able to live in this place much longer. I prefer Vancouver where being English isn't considered an obscenity. Where I don't have to worry about feeling afraid to ask for help in a store because my French isn't good enough. Where if I have an accident and have to interact with a paramedic who refuses to speak English to me I could die because we aren't communicating properly. Where there aren't any free outdoor festivals where you will hear English spoken on the stage. Where you can't participate in contests because most won't deal with Quebec due to the language issues (it costs more money to run contests in Quebec).
It's very unfortunate, because it's a great city. I've been to many parties and meet up groups and everyone is from somewhere else. It's really beautiful how accepting people are. We are a warm group of people here, no matter what our language or colour. Ultimately, we all get along! We work together, we live together, we sleep together, we party together. I just wish the laws would relax a bit. We welcome in all kinds of different cultures, allow them to wear their traditional religious clothes, allow them to build religious buildings, and yet, when it comes to English, there is blatant discrimination! It's just not spoken about because the rest of Canada isn't like that. If a person has a problem with how things are here, they are told that they should just leave! But when you were born here, and all of your family and friends are here, your house is here - your whole life is here, it's not so easy to just pack it all up and leave!
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