improve french as a mcgill student

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
1

<p>hi,
i have been taking french courses throughout high school (the normal french curriculum offered). I was wondering, as someone who is able able to speak a good bit of french (enough to get me around, you know) how much will i be able to improve being a student at McGill?</p>

<p>does it depend on how much I am outside campus and interacting with local montreal people? what if I am mostly on campus, speaking to fellow students only? </p>

<p>any advice on how to improve my french as a student living mostly on campus?</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>I'm in the same boat as you. Took French all through high school and I love it! That's also part of the reason why I chose McGill, to improve my French. What I'm planning to do is make French my minor concentration and hopefully spend a semester in France. Also, I'm going to Trois-Pistoles, Quebec over the summer to take classes at the University of Western-Ontario's French Immersion School. Hopefully that'll prepare me for a minor in French. I haven't spent enough time in Montreal to tell you about the effects of the francophone culture on us anglophones, but I do believe that it'll be whatever we make of it. Take French classes, speak it often, and just let it all sink in I guess. Personally, I'm just going to make the effort and see where it takes me.</p>

3

<p>i don't plan on taking any french classes. how much can i gain by just interacting with student/faculty and maybe some local montreal people?</p>

4

<p>You'll have to make friends with locals, otherwise, in casual encounters, many will simply switch to English the moment they detect a hint of struggling in French. And you will also have to venture outside the McGill/Concordia ghetto anglo bubble...</p>

5

<p>Almost all degree classes at McGill are taught in English EXCEPT for a special intensive class in Quebec Studies. This course is conducted entirely in French and is an immersion class.<br>
Also, the Quebec natives are very friendly. You will have a choice day to day as to whether you wish to speak French or English with the locals. Your choice. The shopkeepers will greet you with BonJour, Hi (or Hello). If you answer with a Bon Jour, they will speak French to you, if you answer Hi or Hello, they will speak English.
It is the best possible situation of both worlds.</p>

6

<p>brooklynmom, my daughter has been admitted to the B.Com program, at the Faculty of Management. We haven't visited Montreal and therefore, haven't had much opportunity to know first-hand about the city. If you are a present/past resident of Montreal, I would request your help in understanding the city life, in as much details as you could provide. My concerns are:</p>

<ol>
<li>Is the cold too severe, for a person who is more used to the climate of Florida?</li>
<li>How safe is the city? The dorm may not be close to the campus, and she will have to walk from the library to the dorm, during late evenings. I do understand that she will not be alone, and there will be other students too! Still, as a parent..</li>
<li>Do you know students from the faculty of Management? If so, how do they rate the program in terms of course content, teaching quality, and teacher-student interaction?</li>
</ol>

<p>I would sincerely appreciate your feedback and guidance.</p>

7

<p>well i dont go to McGill (im a junior in HS), but the impression i always get is, it is freezing, but you dress really warm during winter and that it isnt too much of a problem. I heard campus is safe from what i hear. It is downtown, not in a ghetto, so its not bad. Also, i hear school of management is good, but that it is looked down upon by lots of other students (because it supposedly is seen as less challenging than the other faculties).</p>

8

<p>Winter
One word: YES! </p>

<p>If she's used to Floridan weather, her first winter in Montreal will be very bad. Average temperatures for the winter months are as follows:</p>

<p>December: 28°F (High) / 13.3°F (Low)
January: 21.7°F (High) / 5.5°F (Low)
February: 25°F (High) / 8.8°F (Low)</p>

<p>Once you factor in the wind chill factor, it can feel up to 10-40°F colder. Wind chill is often also shown on the weather broadcast during the winter for this reason. </p>

<p>Then there's the snow. Let's just say that, on average, it snows more in Montreal than it does in Moscow. </p>

<p>If I can offer some advice:
[ul]
[<em>]Have your daughter buy her winter coats and boots AFTER she arrives in Montreal. Most of the coats sold in Florida and other such southern areas won't really help in the Montreal climate. Once she gets there, she'll be able to find thicker, more effective coats, for far less than what she would pay here.
[</em>]Advise her to dress during the winter with multiple layers of clothing.
[li]If she's planning on driving while in Montreal, remind her to get winter tires and have them installed around early to mid November. They can really be a lifesaver when the roads start to get slippery.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Safety
Montreal, especially compared to most U.S. cities, has a very low crime rate. There aren't really any areas of the city which are dangerous, with the exception of Mount Royal Park and other large parks at night.</p>

<p>Of course, McGill has its own security force, and they do provide services like escorts to and from the dorms at night. You can read more about them here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/security%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcgill.ca/security&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There are also 49 Neighbourhood Police Stations operated by the *Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal<a href="Montreal%20City%20Police">/i</a> across the island. The nearest Police Station to the McGill dorms is the District 20 station, located on Williams Street. You can read more on them here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/pdq20/index.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/pdq20/index.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>glendalais89, thanks for your detailed reply. I think, my daughter needs to weigh her options. She is considering " New Residence', as her choice for the first year. Do you have some idea about this hall of residence, and its location in terms of distance from the Faculty of Management?</p>

10

<p>Well, the most noteworthy thing worth mentioning is that the New Residence building used to be the Renaissance-Montr</p>

11

<p>Rintu,
Hi! I will try to answer your questions as I know Florida and I know Montreal. Montreal's weather is somewhat the same as I experience in NYC. Winters are winters and summers are summers. Right now the weather is quit comfortable in NYC and so it is in Montreal (our son is doing a summer class up there at the moment and he calls every day-guess he misses us, LOL)
In winter, which will probably start in latt October, you should be prepared to send her to McGill with a lot of sweaters, a good coat, a very, very good pair of waterproof boots and an umbrella, make it two umbrellas. And a nice warm blanket.
As to safety-the city is entirely safe.<br>
The City is composed of students (think Boston).<br>
I don't know anyone personally from the Faculty of Management but I did meet a few from that Faculty a couple of years ago. Apparently, it is quite good and highly respected.
Good luck to your daughter. My son absolutely adores McGill and loves living in Montreal. My husband and I are very grateful that he was acepted and will receive his BA from this University.</p>

12

<p>glendalais89, once again thanks for such precise inputs. Would you like to advise on the choice of residence hall for my daughter? </p>

<p>The deadline for guaranteed housing for the incoming first year students, is June 15. I would prefer her to select one, within the next couple of days.</p>

13

<p>brooklynmom, after reading your message, my daughter is quite enthusiastic about McGill. Is grade deflation an issue? She is concerned that a tough grading system might affect her chances for the grad school. Should I ask my daughter to address her queries to your son? </p>

<p>Thanks for your advice.</p>

14

<p>supposedly grade deflation if some of the worst (most deflated) grades in top schools. I personally would not take it into consideration with decisions though. All grad schools know that there is tons of grade deflation at mcGill, and that mcgill is very competetive.<br>
I don't think deflation will be much of an issue. I would think it would just challenge you to work harder.</p>

15

<p>Is the workload to get a 3.5 really that bad. I don't mind reading texts or writing papers, I just don't like tedious work in subjects I'm not interested in. If I'm interested in something enough to take a class, I'll work it to death. Do you have a lot of room to take courses you want to at McGill? Is there a lot of tedious homework, or is it more "write an essay on this book?'</p>

16

<p>good question...problem is, im a junior in HS. What i always tend to hear from US students is that it is doable. From Canadian students i always hear a 3.5 is really hard. I don't know what to think, but , yeah...i do always hear that there is a handful of average joes who just got good grades in Highschool, so i would think it is definately doable...Well i mean it has to be. Just depends on how much you are willing to study, how good of a writer you are, etc.etc.</p>

17

<p>Dorms</p>

<p>I think it all depends on what your daughter prefers. Most of the downtown residences, IMO, don't seem that different from one another. </p>

<p>However, I did find this description of the various dorms on another forum, and it gives a really good idea of the various dorms.

[quote]
New Rez: New Rez has a well deserved reputation for being the Rez for rich people. You'll hear terms like JAPS (Jewish American Princesses) thrown around quite often there. The majority of the rooms in New Rez are doubles and the singles generally go to students who got scholarships. Imagine yourself living in a hotel room for 8 months. It's the most expensive residence but you get gourmet meals and there's a dep, SAQ and grocery store right by there so there's no need for you to explore the city of Montreal. You also get your own private washrooms. The downside with New Rez? Horrible parties, kids there usually drink in the hallways and then go to Peel Pub which sucks *****.</p>

<p>The Upper Rezs (Molson, McConnell, Gardner) - Typical dorm rooms, tiny. The classic college experience. Molson however has the reputation for being the party rez. Love the common rooms. It's up a hill so by the end of the year you should have a nice well toned ass because of all the walking. It's also fairly close to the McGill gym which is awesome.</p>

<p>Greenbriar - Cheapest residence and across the street from campus. You get a kitchen and private washroom but since you're so close to campus, you get a meal plan. Grocery stores around university campuses are very expensive so keep that in mind if you want to buy stuff.</p>

<p>More Houses - Don't know too much about this Rez, close to campus and each house has it's own common room.</p>

<p>Solin Hall - Solin Hall is an interesting residence, you get huge apartments but your bedrooms vary in size, some are big and some are tin cans. There's no meal plan at Solin Hall so you have to buy groceries and cook for yourself. You also live off campus meaning you have to take the metro, walk or drive to school everyday. Nice perk about Solin though is that since you are pretty much required to buy a Metropass, you're guaranteed to get to know Montreal better then anyone living at the other first year Residences. The McGill "bubble" does not have a great reputation with some of the locals for a very good reason, a lot of McGill students are pretty ignorant when it comes to Montreal beyond Cresent, St. Laurant, St. Catherines and Sherebrooke. Solin is probably the residence that most resembles reality so it can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what kind of person you are.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Grade Deflation
McGill (and most Canadian Universities) tend to have grade deflation. It does mean you have to work harder to get a good grade. However, I'm sure that many grad schools are aware of the situation and will take it into account .</p>

18

<p>Glendalais, what is the neighborhood around Solin like? Is it still urban? I think that is in the west part of the Island, so is it mostly English speaking? After first year, how hard is finding a good, cheap apartment in Montreal?</p>

19

<p>glendalais89, every post of yours is so very informative. In fact, the CC forum, in my opinion, is one of the best, if not the best, for students and their parents to address issues and find excellent solutions to some of the unknowns!</p>

<p>Best wishes</p>

20

<p>Like redknight, I am also interested in any comments or advice anyone might have about renting a good, cheap apartment in Montreal that is nearby campus.</p>

<p>As a transfer student into my sophomore year, I'm unlikely to be assigned to residence, so I need to seek out information on apartments already. Thanks.</p>