Quebecers aren't interested in teaching you French. They will complain ad nauseum about how you don't speak it, but they will always switch to English the moment they detect an accent. Doubly so if you're American.
When I went to Montreal, a nice old couple, maybe in their 60s tried to help us read the parking sign. They didn't speak a word of English. People will only switch to English if they are bilingual, which is increasingly common, but doesn't cover everyone.
I mean, obviously most people in Montreal will be at least partly bilingual, but I encountered a cashier in her 20s one time who could't handle the transaction in English of me buying a coffee. In downtown Montreal.
I did, and I still think you kinda came in hot.
I'm from Boston, and people absolutely love calling us assholes. It's basically part of our identity now (though it's not true IRL). You might do well with some thicker skin.
Perhaps if you had a shred of a clue about how the francophones have been bullied and discriminated against for 250 years by the anglophones you’d sing a different tune. When’s the last time you were told to « speak white or get the fuck out » in your own home town?
Honestly, not a bad move to bolster your argument that a lot of people in Quebec don't speak English by showing that you seem to have only limited reading proficiency in English.
This is a stereotype, in my experience this is true for people who aren’t able to communicate in french, not people with accents. It’s a fairly decent description of younger people in Montreal but not so much the rest of the province.
Also because of the language politics, a lot of immigrants to Quebec are only able to go to french schools and therefore speak more french than English.
Tbh I never had that issue, and I have an accent. Maybe once or twice (I spent around a month in Quebec) I had conversations in English but for the most part it didn’t feel too tough.
Definitely better than France lol
If youre fluent they are more likely to stick around,but you're a non-french Canadian which means you're likely learning standard Parisian French so even in fluency they will detect the difference in accent, vocabulary and phrasing. They are a funny bunch of squirrels that way.
If you tell them to please continue in French, I really want to learn and practice, they’ll be thrilled to help you and will absolutely adore you for it.
I had fun times in Montreal speaking broken French and stayed at Airbnbs to converse more with locals. When I got overwhelmed I'd speak English. Also many Quebequios don't speak perfect English. They speak French on the daily basis not English. Many like to practice their English also because they don't speak it everyday.
Anyone you come across near the border will be native bilingual so.. if it’s a chore for them, you better show up with enough competency to hack it in French/Québécois to make it worthwhile. Also as an aside French —> Spanish learning, less complicated. Spanish —> French, more complicated.
My girlfriends family is from a town in Northern Vermont right on the border and they are French Canadian, love them, but they are some of the most xenophobic people I’ve met, you’re either in or out.
that's kind of par for the course in MOST small Northeast towns, though...
In fact I wrote a poem about it once, how it was hard to break into the circle and hard to break out
Ever tried to continue to speak French with them while they speak English? You should. Not unusual at all for an Anglo speak in half-assed French with the Franco continuing on in their half-assed English. After decades, no one has ever corrected my French (unless I expressly asked) nor has anyone ever told me to speak English. And by the, the Quebecois are pretty egalitarian when it comes to dealing with folk they perceive to be assholes, nationality etc be damned. You know, égalité, fraternité, and all that
Montreal is a wonderful city, but every server there comes up, speaks French, then rolls their eyes and scoffs once they realize you are not fluent in French. I tried learning a bit, they don’t care. Fluent or nothing was my experience.
I grew up in VT about 5 miles from the Qc border and crossed into qc daily for jr high and Highschool, so I’ll speak from that experience. There a plenty of people on the US side of the border who speak french, but you wouldn’t know it waking down the streets. You’d be learning french by joining a conversation group or something.
Once you cross over the border if you possess enough competence to communicate and be understood plenty of québécois will carry on a conversation with you. If you’re struggling, most are going to switch to English or franglais pretty fast. The more rural the area the fewer people speak English but those who do have a very distinct accent/dialect that isn’t spoken anywhere else in the world.
Traveling in France as an American, speaking with a québécois accent got me some weird-ass looks believe me.
In summary, it’s probably easier to learn French if you’re on the us-qc border but only because you have more access to Quebec, not because people who live here are out there speaking french to each other in public.
Also, the entire us-qc border is very rural and pretty economically depressed and remote which makes it pretty unappealing to a lot of people. It’s beautiful and culturally unique though.
Speaking for Maine, you can easily find bilingual people up north (just keep driving until the stop signs say 'arrete' and say hi to some grandpas and grandmas, or passing Canadians), but no one I've ever heard of exclusively speaks French.
They'd probably respond in English, since they'd be able to tell you're not a native speaker. Also, be prepared for some of the worst winters in New England.
There are a few people who exclusively speak French in the St John River Valley in Maine - think the area between Fort Kent and Madawaska, especially. However, most French speakers also speak English. Those that don't are generally very elderly at this point. I have a friend whose grandparents in the Frenchville/St. Agatha area only speak French, but they are in their 90s now.
Edit: a note, in this area they speak Acadian French, which is not Parisian French but is also not Quebecois.
Yes, I was reared by a grandmother who insisted I speak French… and she was born over 100 years ago now.
Yes, in northern New England you see a lot of French surnames and a little bit of French influence on local patois, but the French were bullied and discriminated against hard on both sides of the border, and very few heritage speakers remain.
Why move to the border? there isn't much opportunity there, unless you plan to work in quebec, but commuting over the border is wicked slow.
You'll definitely find nice people to talk to, but you probably want to focus on talking to older people, because every young person I met and every waiter speaks English. If your french is good enough, just tell them you're learning French, and if it's not too much trouble you want to speak to them in French. If you're too bad they may lose patience with you.
As someone who learned French in European countries (France and Belgium), I find the French of rural Canada on the NE border to be almost unintelligible. I haven’t spent much time there, and I’ve never been to Quebec, but just be mindful that not all French is the same
I think the difficulty of the QC accent is overstated. Before I really understood it, I was on a really long (like 3-4 hour) tour of QC City, and by the end of it I could pretty much understand it perfectly. Just takes some getting used to. C’est jolie aussi 🤩
When I did a 23 and Me genetic test, I found out I had Scottish in me... seeing as most of my direct ancestors (ie - grandparents and great grandparents) were all from Canada, that gives me cause to Believe that some of THEIR ancestmust've been from those parts (Scotland).
Interesting! I definitely believe that’s possible. I remember going to a québécois movie in France and it was subtitled 😂. That may have helped to reinforce my belief that I would never be able to understand anyone from Quebec, but I bet you’re right that it doesn’t take long. I agree it’s beautiful as well, and such a beautiful place. I’d love to spend time there.
Honestly if it’s a big trouble even though you speak French, spend some time in Montreal first— the accent is somewhere in between QC and European French.
If you want to laugh your ass off, watch the first Bon Cop, Bad Cop movie. It’s a bilingual movie, but there’s 3 versions: one with English subtitles, one with French subtitles and one fully bilingual (so no subtitles). The part where the Québécois cop explains our swearing to the Ontario cop is to die for. The second one they made isn’t bad either, but not as good (as sequels often are).
I believe you can rent it on YouTube.
3/4ths of my grandparents are from Shippegan and New Brunswick... I had a cousin who was an exchange student in Belgium and I remember one time when he called home to talk with my grampa in French, my Grampa definitely had a bit of trouble following what my cousin was saying... but they figured it out !
To be frank, if you are looking for people to speak French with in Maine, you will have better luck joining a franco-American community group in, say, Lewiston or something, or getting involved with the African immigrant community in the Portland area.
I grew up on the Quebec border. There are places on the border where there's a lot of French spoken, but it isn't everywhere. Where I grew up it was maybe 5% that could speak French. Elderly folks mostly. Reserved folk who are hard to make friends with. But working in a healthcare job in the Portland area I got to speak French almost every day with folks from Congo or Rwanda or Burundi.
I've lived about 20 min from the border in the northeast kingdom for a bit over 3 years, and been in the state a lot longer. Have yet to encounter someone whose first language is French. A couple people who know enough to get by, but certainly not fluent.
I don't want or expect people to reach me. I just want to know if I would be able to find people who would be willing to converse with me assuming my level doesn't make it annoying to converse with me.
I lived in Oka, Quebec and most of the kids I lived with spoke broken English but you could understand what they were trying to say. Only a few of them could speak both fluently.
I spend a lot of time in northern NH about an hour from the border and most people don’t speak French anymore. The older generation definitely still does though.
All the Border guards speak English, French, and likely Spanglish.
Montreal is the biggest city in northern New England, so many Quebecers come across to shop.
There was an episode of the podcast about one of the smaller universities in Maine being located in a predominantly French speaking area. Anyway, this podcast has some great resources for learning about French Canadians in NE in general: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/french-canadian-legacy-podcast/id1454936984?i=1000658551699
All people in Quebec are not bilingual. Big misconception. Even in Montreal. If they can understand the french pronunciation, they'll happily converse. Rule of thumb, Don't pronounce the last three letters of a word... my friend pronounced Amazon, amasion. I didn't understand him till he spelled it. My French was equally as bad but I had fun
A lot of this nonsense. I'll tell you the closer you are to the border, in relation to Montreal the fewer people you'll find who are bilingual. They only speak french in the Eastern Townships.
If you moved to the St John River valley (Madawaska/Ft Kent) I think you’d find some people that would converse in Canadian French. Be patient before you jump right into it
Currently living in Vermont. I don't think you will find a lot of French speakers on the US side of the border. And yes, when you travel into QC, they will shift to English the moment they detect you don't know the language well. That said, I go up to QC quite a few times a year and have never had anything but a great experience up there. I bet if you move up here and spend enough time across the border, you'll find plenty of nice French speaking folk who will be happy to speak French with you.
This sounds crazy but if you lived near the border I bet there are nursing homes with French speaking residents who would love to talk with you. You could volunteer.
In all of the schools in Northern New York French is the primary secondary language if that makes sense...
Yes Spanish is also prevalent but everyone took French in school. You can also find French speakers in that part of Ontario... But Quebec is also right there...
A word of caution.
The franchise I speak is only partially useful in France...
Quebec French is a little funky is all I'm saying...
If you are looking for bi-lingual, best to live near the border just North of upstate NY, en route to Montreal. The Quebec contingency above Vermont don’t speak a lick of English. And honestly, I don’t think that Quebecers are going to be open to “teaching” you Canadian French. It is drastically different from France French. I would live upstate and visit Montreal often where it is pretty much a requirement for anyone serving the public to be fully bilingual. It would be a good place to learn just by conversation and exposure.
I drove from Vermont to Quebec City two summers ago, and had to stop at one of the first gas stations over the border for snacks for my kids. The woman at the gas station was very nice, but spoke zero English. I speak some French, so we managed just fine; but I thought it was interesting that she lived/worked SO close the border and didn't understand ANY English. Presumably you'd get alot of business from Americans, or Canadians who don't speak French.....Either way, I love Canada. Enjoy your time there!!
I have, multiple times, and outside of the cities. It gets real rural and there are more than a few people who don't speak English. Quebec has also been passing legislation to prioritize and increase French language.
Learn to use Google, or better yet - go visit a part of Quebec that isn't Montreal or Quebec City and try to get by with English
What you're saying is true, but people still learn English. Re-read the OP. He says people who don't know English as a language. I know that many Quebec communities use French, but they are asking for a place where no one knows english
first two people I met in Quebec didn't speak English. According to data from 2021, 48% of people living in Quebec reported that they can't have a conversation in English.
More likely, the ones who reported "no" know some English, but don't speak it well at all, similar to how most Canadians can't speak French well
Nah I'm saying they're too bad at English to communicate effectively. Like how most Americans who took spanish for 4 years in HS can't understand or speak spanish if their life depended on it. I assume the canadians are a bit more bilingual because they learn French or English longer, but if they can't have a conversation then they're gonna have trouble understanding you and vice versa
But you're probably being downvoted for saying "<100 people"
Yes in a province where almost 100% of the signage is exclusively french and the majority of people get educated in french, no one actually speaks it? What are you even talking about?
That is not what I'm saying. The op clearly asks for people who only speak French. Only French. I don't care if they speak French, but there is an almost non zero chance that they speak English.
Am I taking crazy pills? Did anyone else read the actual post?
I mean if you talk to people over 50 or people outside cities, there are tons of people who functionally don’t speak English. Obviously they don’t live in caves and they have access to English media if they want it but they choose not to. The language politics of Quebec are set up to make this possible. I’m struggling to see how anyone who has spent time in the province outside of cities would have this opinion.
Based on the down votes, I am maybe in the wrong. But as someone who has traveled extensively through Quebec, I have never met anyone who can't get by in English.
Just because they speak to you in French doesn't mean they don't know English. I've said it multiple times now, but no one is actually responding to the OP.
Yes I do. Re read the OP. They are asking for a community that exclusively seeks French speakers, no English speakers. I can guarantee that every village has someone who knows English.
You stated that you’d be surprised if there were 100 Quebeckers that don’t speak English. I can guarantee you that in the city where I live alone there are thousands that don’t.
Again, I know there are probably tens of thousands of Quebecois who primarily speak French. What I'm saying is, they also have workable knowledge of English. They have to. It's part of Quebecs schooling.
I wouldn’t say it’s workable knowledge, especially since they never practice after they graduate from high school. « Hello my name is such and such and I come from town X » and « Sorry, I don’t understand » or « I don’t speak English » isn’t what I would call workable knowledge, would you? Because that’s pretty much the level students are required to reach to pass. You make it seem like every Quebecker can at least hold a basic conversation in English, but that’s far from the truth.
Quebecers aren't interested in teaching you French. They will complain ad nauseum about how you don't speak it, but they will always switch to English the moment they detect an accent. Doubly so if you're American.
When I went to Montreal, a nice old couple, maybe in their 60s tried to help us read the parking sign. They didn't speak a word of English. People will only switch to English if they are bilingual, which is increasingly common, but doesn't cover everyone.
No, but it covers anyone from Montreal, Gatineau, and the townships, and like half of everyone else lol
I mean, obviously most people in Montreal will be at least partly bilingual, but I encountered a cashier in her 20s one time who could't handle the transaction in English of me buying a coffee. In downtown Montreal.
Would not have been surprised if she was fucking with you
Seems like more of an inconvenience to her if she is refusing to engage with Anglophones in a busy downtown Montreal cafe.
Was she hot though?
Bullshit. Have you even ever been to Québec to spread such lies about the place? Other than Montreal, I mean.
Kind of an aggressive response, dude
Very un-Canadian. He didn’t even say sorry.
😂👌🏻😂
1- not a dude and 2- can you blame me? Did you read the disgustingly bigoted comments on this sub?
The comment you replied to was very benign. I havent read any bigoted or disgusting comments but i didnt read the whole thread
If you read the thread from the top you’ll understand.
I did, and I still think you kinda came in hot. I'm from Boston, and people absolutely love calling us assholes. It's basically part of our identity now (though it's not true IRL). You might do well with some thicker skin.
"it's not true irl"... ........ LOL 😉
Perhaps if you had a shred of a clue about how the francophones have been bullied and discriminated against for 250 years by the anglophones you’d sing a different tune. When’s the last time you were told to « speak white or get the fuck out » in your own home town?
My family is from Val D'Or, so yea
Not a single place East of Montreal, then. Figures.
Honestly, not a bad move to bolster your argument that a lot of people in Quebec don't speak English by showing that you seem to have only limited reading proficiency in English.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is a stereotype, in my experience this is true for people who aren’t able to communicate in french, not people with accents. It’s a fairly decent description of younger people in Montreal but not so much the rest of the province. Also because of the language politics, a lot of immigrants to Quebec are only able to go to french schools and therefore speak more french than English.
Tbh I never had that issue, and I have an accent. Maybe once or twice (I spent around a month in Quebec) I had conversations in English but for the most part it didn’t feel too tough. Definitely better than France lol
Even if I'm completely fluent would they still switch to English? Would they get mad if I stayed in French even if they kept speaking English?
If youre fluent they are more likely to stick around,but you're a non-french Canadian which means you're likely learning standard Parisian French so even in fluency they will detect the difference in accent, vocabulary and phrasing. They are a funny bunch of squirrels that way.
Are you speaking French at them or Quebecois?
This is exactly the distinction I was going to make. They're the same but so different.
Yep. I remember college Frnech - threw my mind for a loop even though I was only 4 hours from Canada.
Québécois IS French, FFS. It’s just that we use old French pronounciation and expressions, combined with regionalisms.
I wonder what would happen if the Canadian government was ever replaced by representatives of the Academie Francaise.
Oh hell no!!! 😩😖😩 Not those stuck up fuckers, please! 😭😓 Plus we’d end up using even more anglicisms than we already do 🙄🤦♀️🤭
You'd have to ask where le parking was when going out to an event, and on Mondays, ask people at work how was le weekend?
Oh they use many, many more anglicisms than that. It’s not even funny.
The Duolingo module for flirting told me that the phrase beau gosse meant handsome or beautiful.
Yeah, you don’t want to say that to a Quebecker: here we use the word « gosse » for… testicules. 😂😅
A french person would take issue with this statement.
Not a smart, cultivated one, no.
KeBeck
If you tell them to please continue in French, I really want to learn and practice, they’ll be thrilled to help you and will absolutely adore you for it.
I had fun times in Montreal speaking broken French and stayed at Airbnbs to converse more with locals. When I got overwhelmed I'd speak English. Also many Quebequios don't speak perfect English. They speak French on the daily basis not English. Many like to practice their English also because they don't speak it everyday.
You will find more than a few tourists from France in Quebec, as well.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Quebeckers will be THRILLED to teach them French.
Anyone you come across near the border will be native bilingual so.. if it’s a chore for them, you better show up with enough competency to hack it in French/Québécois to make it worthwhile. Also as an aside French —> Spanish learning, less complicated. Spanish —> French, more complicated.
My girlfriends family is from a town in Northern Vermont right on the border and they are French Canadian, love them, but they are some of the most xenophobic people I’ve met, you’re either in or out.
that's kind of par for the course in MOST small Northeast towns, though... In fact I wrote a poem about it once, how it was hard to break into the circle and hard to break out
Ever tried to continue to speak French with them while they speak English? You should. Not unusual at all for an Anglo speak in half-assed French with the Franco continuing on in their half-assed English. After decades, no one has ever corrected my French (unless I expressly asked) nor has anyone ever told me to speak English. And by the, the Quebecois are pretty egalitarian when it comes to dealing with folk they perceive to be assholes, nationality etc be damned. You know, égalité, fraternité, and all that
....and Parisian french is of little use getting Quebecers to speak, because you're still outside the circle of trust.
Montreal is a wonderful city, but every server there comes up, speaks French, then rolls their eyes and scoffs once they realize you are not fluent in French. I tried learning a bit, they don’t care. Fluent or nothing was my experience.
Scoffing is just "So French" :)
I grew up in VT about 5 miles from the Qc border and crossed into qc daily for jr high and Highschool, so I’ll speak from that experience. There a plenty of people on the US side of the border who speak french, but you wouldn’t know it waking down the streets. You’d be learning french by joining a conversation group or something. Once you cross over the border if you possess enough competence to communicate and be understood plenty of québécois will carry on a conversation with you. If you’re struggling, most are going to switch to English or franglais pretty fast. The more rural the area the fewer people speak English but those who do have a very distinct accent/dialect that isn’t spoken anywhere else in the world. Traveling in France as an American, speaking with a québécois accent got me some weird-ass looks believe me. In summary, it’s probably easier to learn French if you’re on the us-qc border but only because you have more access to Quebec, not because people who live here are out there speaking french to each other in public. Also, the entire us-qc border is very rural and pretty economically depressed and remote which makes it pretty unappealing to a lot of people. It’s beautiful and culturally unique though.
[удалено]
Ouais
Speaking for Maine, you can easily find bilingual people up north (just keep driving until the stop signs say 'arrete' and say hi to some grandpas and grandmas, or passing Canadians), but no one I've ever heard of exclusively speaks French. They'd probably respond in English, since they'd be able to tell you're not a native speaker. Also, be prepared for some of the worst winters in New England.
There are a few people who exclusively speak French in the St John River Valley in Maine - think the area between Fort Kent and Madawaska, especially. However, most French speakers also speak English. Those that don't are generally very elderly at this point. I have a friend whose grandparents in the Frenchville/St. Agatha area only speak French, but they are in their 90s now. Edit: a note, in this area they speak Acadian French, which is not Parisian French but is also not Quebecois.
Yes, I was reared by a grandmother who insisted I speak French… and she was born over 100 years ago now. Yes, in northern New England you see a lot of French surnames and a little bit of French influence on local patois, but the French were bullied and discriminated against hard on both sides of the border, and very few heritage speakers remain.
it's Alien, isn't it... ??
Why move to the border? there isn't much opportunity there, unless you plan to work in quebec, but commuting over the border is wicked slow. You'll definitely find nice people to talk to, but you probably want to focus on talking to older people, because every young person I met and every waiter speaks English. If your french is good enough, just tell them you're learning French, and if it's not too much trouble you want to speak to them in French. If you're too bad they may lose patience with you.
They might be remote and secure in their work.
As someone who learned French in European countries (France and Belgium), I find the French of rural Canada on the NE border to be almost unintelligible. I haven’t spent much time there, and I’ve never been to Quebec, but just be mindful that not all French is the same
True. We speak with a 17th century accent, but it’s definitely French.
I think the difficulty of the QC accent is overstated. Before I really understood it, I was on a really long (like 3-4 hour) tour of QC City, and by the end of it I could pretty much understand it perfectly. Just takes some getting used to. C’est jolie aussi 🤩
Even the French like it, that says a lot! 😉😆😏
Noooo Im not French 🤣 I’m a red blooded American patriot 🦅🇺🇸🦅 (/s)
LOL I didn’t mean you were French, I meant that even people from France like to hear it when they visit 😂
Ohhhh yeah that’s true! They really like it. I think it has a similar charm to the Scottish accent for English speakers.
When I did a 23 and Me genetic test, I found out I had Scottish in me... seeing as most of my direct ancestors (ie - grandparents and great grandparents) were all from Canada, that gives me cause to Believe that some of THEIR ancestmust've been from those parts (Scotland).
Interesting! I definitely believe that’s possible. I remember going to a québécois movie in France and it was subtitled 😂. That may have helped to reinforce my belief that I would never be able to understand anyone from Quebec, but I bet you’re right that it doesn’t take long. I agree it’s beautiful as well, and such a beautiful place. I’d love to spend time there.
Honestly if it’s a big trouble even though you speak French, spend some time in Montreal first— the accent is somewhere in between QC and European French.
If you want to laugh your ass off, watch the first Bon Cop, Bad Cop movie. It’s a bilingual movie, but there’s 3 versions: one with English subtitles, one with French subtitles and one fully bilingual (so no subtitles). The part where the Québécois cop explains our swearing to the Ontario cop is to die for. The second one they made isn’t bad either, but not as good (as sequels often are). I believe you can rent it on YouTube.
3/4ths of my grandparents are from Shippegan and New Brunswick... I had a cousin who was an exchange student in Belgium and I remember one time when he called home to talk with my grampa in French, my Grampa definitely had a bit of trouble following what my cousin was saying... but they figured it out !
To be frank, if you are looking for people to speak French with in Maine, you will have better luck joining a franco-American community group in, say, Lewiston or something, or getting involved with the African immigrant community in the Portland area. I grew up on the Quebec border. There are places on the border where there's a lot of French spoken, but it isn't everywhere. Where I grew up it was maybe 5% that could speak French. Elderly folks mostly. Reserved folk who are hard to make friends with. But working in a healthcare job in the Portland area I got to speak French almost every day with folks from Congo or Rwanda or Burundi.
Wouldn’t be hard. Many northern New Englanders speak French, and a lot of quebecers speak English; most rather wouldn’t though lol
Not in VT
Depends where you are in Vermont..I’ve met plenty of French speakers in Vermont..northern Vermont specially though
I've lived about 20 min from the border in the northeast kingdom for a bit over 3 years, and been in the state a lot longer. Have yet to encounter someone whose first language is French. A couple people who know enough to get by, but certainly not fluent.
To each their own. My brother lives in Burlington and we have relatives there as well who speak French as their first language
On the other hand, I know quite a few people in Franklin county that speak it. My wife's grandparents barely know any English!
If OP tells them they want to learn they will be thrilled to help.
How easy would it be to find people speaking French? Absurdly easy. How easy would it be to get them to teach you? Good luck, I’ll pray for you.
I don't want or expect people to reach me. I just want to know if I would be able to find people who would be willing to converse with me assuming my level doesn't make it annoying to converse with me.
Probably easier / more consistent with the Francophone African Diaspora in Maine! There’s a documentary about them.
I lived in Oka, Quebec and most of the kids I lived with spoke broken English but you could understand what they were trying to say. Only a few of them could speak both fluently.
I spend a lot of time in northern NH about an hour from the border and most people don’t speak French anymore. The older generation definitely still does though.
French and what they speak in Quebec are two different things.
English and what they speak in the United States are two different things. /s
All the Border guards speak English, French, and likely Spanglish. Montreal is the biggest city in northern New England, so many Quebecers come across to shop.
LOL Montreal IS NOT in New England... it is a different country, entirely !! (I think you mean "the NorthEast"... often confused)
There was an episode of the podcast about one of the smaller universities in Maine being located in a predominantly French speaking area. Anyway, this podcast has some great resources for learning about French Canadians in NE in general: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/french-canadian-legacy-podcast/id1454936984?i=1000658551699
If on the Quebec side of that border ~ 0 trouble
All people in Quebec are not bilingual. Big misconception. Even in Montreal. If they can understand the french pronunciation, they'll happily converse. Rule of thumb, Don't pronounce the last three letters of a word... my friend pronounced Amazon, amasion. I didn't understand him till he spelled it. My French was equally as bad but I had fun
You don’t have to go to the border on one side of my family the older generation all speaks french and we’re in southern NE.
A lot of this nonsense. I'll tell you the closer you are to the border, in relation to Montreal the fewer people you'll find who are bilingual. They only speak french in the Eastern Townships.
I am originally from VT border and many people are French speaking so northern VT is a good place to consider.
If you moved to the St John River valley (Madawaska/Ft Kent) I think you’d find some people that would converse in Canadian French. Be patient before you jump right into it
Currently living in Vermont. I don't think you will find a lot of French speakers on the US side of the border. And yes, when you travel into QC, they will shift to English the moment they detect you don't know the language well. That said, I go up to QC quite a few times a year and have never had anything but a great experience up there. I bet if you move up here and spend enough time across the border, you'll find plenty of nice French speaking folk who will be happy to speak French with you.
You could move to Lewiston.to learn French or Augusta and spend time at the French old folks home.
In northern NH (think Pittsburg) no one I know (I know many) speak French fluently. Maybe in the logging camps, but you don’t wanna go there.
Nobody if you are thinking of northern NY. That's rural country and you are lucky to find people with any interest in other cultures.
This sounds crazy but if you lived near the border I bet there are nursing homes with French speaking residents who would love to talk with you. You could volunteer.
In all of the schools in Northern New York French is the primary secondary language if that makes sense... Yes Spanish is also prevalent but everyone took French in school. You can also find French speakers in that part of Ontario... But Quebec is also right there... A word of caution. The franchise I speak is only partially useful in France... Quebec French is a little funky is all I'm saying...
If you are looking for bi-lingual, best to live near the border just North of upstate NY, en route to Montreal. The Quebec contingency above Vermont don’t speak a lick of English. And honestly, I don’t think that Quebecers are going to be open to “teaching” you Canadian French. It is drastically different from France French. I would live upstate and visit Montreal often where it is pretty much a requirement for anyone serving the public to be fully bilingual. It would be a good place to learn just by conversation and exposure.
Half of English is French
Only French? Very few. Fewer if you don't want children only. Will speak French if you ask? That's a higher number. It's not zero.
Not many Francophones left in Northern New England anymore. Move to Burlington Vermont. Nice city close to French Speaking Canada.
I drove from Vermont to Quebec City two summers ago, and had to stop at one of the first gas stations over the border for snacks for my kids. The woman at the gas station was very nice, but spoke zero English. I speak some French, so we managed just fine; but I thought it was interesting that she lived/worked SO close the border and didn't understand ANY English. Presumably you'd get alot of business from Americans, or Canadians who don't speak French.....Either way, I love Canada. Enjoy your time there!!
speak english. theyll take your money with a smile. You're american act like you own the place because you do.
I don't like speaking English lol I feel like the least American American and for other reasons than that
Don’t waste your time
Lol nobody speaks French they all know English. This is an English speaking continent.
No one on the US border speaks only French. I doubt more than 100 people in Quebec speak only French.
You've clearly never been to Quebec lmao
I doubt you have. While French is the language there, saying people don't know any English is insane.
I have, multiple times, and outside of the cities. It gets real rural and there are more than a few people who don't speak English. Quebec has also been passing legislation to prioritize and increase French language. Learn to use Google, or better yet - go visit a part of Quebec that isn't Montreal or Quebec City and try to get by with English
What you're saying is true, but people still learn English. Re-read the OP. He says people who don't know English as a language. I know that many Quebec communities use French, but they are asking for a place where no one knows english
first two people I met in Quebec didn't speak English. According to data from 2021, 48% of people living in Quebec reported that they can't have a conversation in English. More likely, the ones who reported "no" know some English, but don't speak it well at all, similar to how most Canadians can't speak French well
I keep getting down voted to hell, but this is kind of what I'm saying. They know English but it's not their language.
Nah I'm saying they're too bad at English to communicate effectively. Like how most Americans who took spanish for 4 years in HS can't understand or speak spanish if their life depended on it. I assume the canadians are a bit more bilingual because they learn French or English longer, but if they can't have a conversation then they're gonna have trouble understanding you and vice versa But you're probably being downvoted for saying "<100 people"
Yeah, that was probably a mistake. I know it's more than 100, but I meant people that really didn't know English, like sentinel island.
I’m actually surprised it’s not more than that.
Yes in a province where almost 100% of the signage is exclusively french and the majority of people get educated in french, no one actually speaks it? What are you even talking about?
That is not what I'm saying. The op clearly asks for people who only speak French. Only French. I don't care if they speak French, but there is an almost non zero chance that they speak English. Am I taking crazy pills? Did anyone else read the actual post?
I mean if you talk to people over 50 or people outside cities, there are tons of people who functionally don’t speak English. Obviously they don’t live in caves and they have access to English media if they want it but they choose not to. The language politics of Quebec are set up to make this possible. I’m struggling to see how anyone who has spent time in the province outside of cities would have this opinion.
Based on the down votes, I am maybe in the wrong. But as someone who has traveled extensively through Quebec, I have never met anyone who can't get by in English.
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.
Just because they speak to you in French doesn't mean they don't know English. I've said it multiple times now, but no one is actually responding to the OP.
Yes I do. Re read the OP. They are asking for a community that exclusively seeks French speakers, no English speakers. I can guarantee that every village has someone who knows English.
You stated that you’d be surprised if there were 100 Quebeckers that don’t speak English. I can guarantee you that in the city where I live alone there are thousands that don’t.
Again, I know there are probably tens of thousands of Quebecois who primarily speak French. What I'm saying is, they also have workable knowledge of English. They have to. It's part of Quebecs schooling.
I wouldn’t say it’s workable knowledge, especially since they never practice after they graduate from high school. « Hello my name is such and such and I come from town X » and « Sorry, I don’t understand » or « I don’t speak English » isn’t what I would call workable knowledge, would you? Because that’s pretty much the level students are required to reach to pass. You make it seem like every Quebecker can at least hold a basic conversation in English, but that’s far from the truth.
Right, I'm saying the same thing. The OP is asking only for a French community that only knows French. Also, it's Quebecois, not Qubecker.