<p>JustAMom, yes, French is the official language of Montreal. French, actually, is one of the two official languages for ALL of Canada. And yes, it is the first language of the majority of Montreal’s population. However, most of that population also speaks English. My husband grew up in Montreal and much of his family still lives there. All are English speaking, as are the majority of their neighbors and business colleagues. It is a largely bilingual city. Is it a benefit to speak French? Of course, but many people live their entire lives there, with no problem, speaking only English. I have eaten in restaurants hundreds of times, all over the province of Quebec, in large cities and small towns. Never have I had a problem getting served, and never have I ordered in French.</p>
<p>Visited Montreal two years ago and had no trouble using English and think our attempts at French were appreciated even if unnecessary. I’ve been told it’s not the same for natives - that locals know the tourists and will speak English but do expect locals to speak French.</p>
<p>The bilingual nature of the city was captured best by an argument I witnessed between two waiters in a not so fancy restaurant. One was emphatically arguing in English, the other in French (to each other). Judging by the speed of their speech, neither had a problem understanding the other and each was sticking to his linguistic guns. (And they say Britain and the U.S. are two nations divided by a common language).</p>
<p>I did not have a problem speaking English in Montreal. Following the “Bonjour” greeting etc, I started to speak in English and the hotel/shop/waiter spoke English as well. Often the English wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly enough to do the job. Frankly, living in a somewhat foreign environment is attractive at this point. Unfortunately (at least for Canada, but not in the US) I am fairly fluent in Spanish, so that doesn’t get me far.</p>
<p>If one looks on Craigs List for real estate in Montreal- half the listings are for properties in Florida. Those who can, go south in the winter.
And as for Cuba, those who have been there for medical good will trips have been impressed with the people and their endurance and underwhelmed at exactly what the US embargo is accomplishing.</p>
<p>They picked the only leader left on earth who has not recognized communism has failed.</p>
<p>barrons, you know NOTHING about this. You know NOTHING about what it’s like to live in a place like Cuba. You know NOTHING about terror, about police states, about grinding & daily humiliation, poverty, and the knowledge that you live like an animal locked up in a cage. You sound like Joe McCarthy on a bad day. For your sake, please go to bed before you embarrass yourself any more.</p>
<p>Better Food.</p>
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<p>And muckled onto the side of the Soviet Union for 30 years. Castro could have picked the UK, or Japan, or China, or Brazil, or Mexico, but he chose to buddy up with “Americans without money” (as Vietnamese said about Russians in the post-Vietnam-War era). Allowing the Soviets to put IRBMs in Cuba wasn’t the world’s smartest move, either. Castro had good reasons to mistrust the US, but he sure wasn’t very smart about picking his friends. Why is it America’s responsibility to insure Cuban economic success anyway? The blockade lasted a couple of months 45 years ago. Any country in the world can trade with Cuba. It’s still a third-world backwater because private industry is generally uninterested in investing in totalitarian collectivist states. This stuff isn’t hard to figure out. No capital, no development.</p>
<p>As for Haiti, there are a LOT more differences between Haiti and Cuba than their form of government, but, for what it’s worth, Haiti has been some form of oligarchy or totalitarian regime for most of its independent history. Its latest dalliance with Constitutional government only goes back to 2006. So they may recently have become a democracy again, but even in the US it took more than two years to make things work. (This was kind of a grasping-at-straws sort of point you were making, wasn’t it?)</p>
<p>Quote: “Weather- Really cold in the long winter (but there’s Poutine to keep you padded)”</p>
<p>Trust me, …you don’t want to eat poutine.
Now tarte au sucre, and scrambled eggs slathered with maple syrup are another matter.</p>
<p>In order to work with the public in the province of Quebec, the law requires you be able to speak French because it is firmly entrenched in the law that every French speaking person has the right to be addressed in French. Furthermore, education insruction from kindergarten to secondary school will be in French unless the parent received his/her own education in Canada in English. The only way to circumvent this I believe is for the child to attend a private English school. Of course if you do not need to work, you can live in Montreal without ever having to utter French.</p>
<p>I did eat Poutine- and survived. I ordered a “small”. It was enough to ensure an entire small country’s calorie needs for a few months. I ate only enough to know I would never order it again.</p>
<p>…OK, I’ll bite. What’s poutine?</p>
<p>French fries with gravy and cheese.</p>
<p>Ohhhhhh. My arteries hardened at the very thought ;)</p>
<p>Poutine looks like the chicken-fried steak I just saw served in Austin. Deep fried and then smothered with thick gravy.</p>
<p>The cheese is “cheese curds” so picture big fat french fries with cheese curds crumbled all over them topped with brown gravy- not good for you, but surprisingly not so bad to taste- though I would not want to develop a yen for it!</p>
<p>Has anyone on CC emigrated to Canada from the US?</p>
<p>I did. Many moons ago.</p>
<p>Some of those in the US would be moving south if they moved to where most Canadians live.</p>
<p>I did. I think you’ll find others on this thread too.</p>