<p>I am worse than you....I always say "bonjour, ca va?"
Then I am in real trouble, cause I have to continue with my broken
Francais.</p>
<p>mcgilldad-shame on you! You really did it with that ca va?
Funny enough, I have a French name as my family was from France some generations ago. My French family for years would sigh whenever I tried to speak French. One Aunt would actually put her hands to my face to try to mold my mouth into the proper shape to correctly pronounce the words. Alas, they all gave up on me in time.
I can still get by enough as I understand a great deal, but can only reply in one or two words and perhaps, that great French shrug of the shoulders-which can mean almost anything!</p>
<p>I try, too, but my Francophone wife says my French hurts her ears. In fact, she prefers I not speak French in her presence :).</p>
<p>Not really sure if my question was answered some where in this thread, but I'm wondering which would help me learn French the easiest and quickest way, since I'm taking Spanish now, but am still enamored with the school and the city? Yes, I know... I should have taken French, it would have made my transition into the Francophone areas easier... still? Should I take classes at McGill, teach it to myself/ listen to tapes and read books or go to classes outside of McGill or just hope my French skills get a little better by living there?</p>
<p>My advice would to be to do a mixture of all of the above. I sorta talked about it here:</p>
<p>I'm planning to go to McGill next year, and I visited earlier this year. I loved Montreal, but I never knew what to say when someone addressed poor monolingual me in French. So what is the politest way to ask for someone to repeat themselves in English? ("Je ne parle pas fran?ais", "en anglais, s'il vous pla?t", "Parlez-vous anglais?", "I'm sorry", "Do you speak English?", "Ummm...<em>befuddled look</em>" etc.) I want to learn conversational French while I'm at McGill, but I don't want to unwittingly tell some Montrealer to "speak white!" before I can reach a level of comprehension.</p>
<p>Usually, a person will say "Bon Jour/Hello" (often pronounced "Bonjourello"). If you respond Hello, they speak English, and so on. '</p>
<p>While many French speakers will appreciate any attempt to speak in French, most busy people in downtown Montreal will cut you off and speak English if they hear your struggling French. If you want to practice French, head over to the east part of the Island.</p>
<p>I have to agree with what redknight says. However, if I may add one small thing. There are a few Pequiste-types* who will refuse to speak English, and give you a "how dare you" look when you try. In these cases, you just have to try to muddle through. </p>
<p>*In order to get what I mean, visit the Archambault store over by the Berri-UQAM Metro Station and try to speak English with the cashiers</p>
<p>Yeah, but that Archambault store is one of the best stores in the world for classical and jazz music. Any difficulty is worth it.</p>