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Moving to Quebec - Advice?

the west island of montreal is mostly anglo. That includes, Ste anne de bellevue, baie durfe, beaconsfield, pointe-claire, etc..

Metroman: I think what someone said is true above, alotta quebecois will be interested in how you perceive them,and they will be likely very open to an anglo that is trying to learn about quebec
 
To learn French, I've chosen "Rosetta Stone". I'm so impressed with this program. It works just as well as advertised. I went in skeptical but their "Dynamic Immersion" method works incredibly well.

I've been using the program only 30 minutes at night every night and I'm retaining everything I learn and being able to use it in practice right away and for days after. If I keep this up, I'll be having functional conversations by the summer.
 
Absolutely Ganjavih. I'm telling anybody who will listen to use Rosetta Stone as if I were a shareholder (I'm not. Are they public?). They've truly uncovered a system that works. It's such a simple concept that somebody should have thought of long ago and should be the basis of every language curriculum.
 
Rosetta Stone is a great program, I used it to learn arabic.
If you need to take courses in french your best bet is YMCA. Though i'm not sure about Trois-Rivieres. You can also take night courses at some universities as well.
I'm in the opposite situation of you. I was born and raised in Montreal and looking to move to Toronto.
As far as rent goes Trois-Rivieres should be dirt cheap. But whoever said you can get a 1bedroom for 900$ in downtown montreal near mcgill is dreaming. I'm renting out a condo near the baie and mcgill and it's for 1100$ a month and from the research i've done i could still ask for another 100-200 easily. If you are looking to stay in montreal we can talk and see for 2011 if you're interested.
And regarding the french issue, you will encounter people who will give you a hard time and treat you as a second rate citizen but there's still some who have class and will respect you.
Good luck to you.
 
I currently live in Gatineau, across from Ottawa. I don't have too much to offer in terms of everyday living as it's really all just Ottawa (which comes with it's own set of frustrations separate from those an Anglo in Quebec would find and separate from a Franco in English Ontario would find).

There really is plenty to like. Québecers, like anyone else are quite warm and pleasant, fun-loving, and insanely hospitable. I would lying if I would say that there is no undercurrent of linguistic angst, but West Quebec is as friendly in that respect as it gets! It's also worth mentioning that the price of renting a place is much cheaper over on this side of the river - the idea that attracted my wife and I in the first place (1300 sq. Ft. / $1000mo). Further to that, I've noticed that, in general, the prices of most daily consumer goods is quite a lot lower than in Ottawa.

What I have seen, however, is that provincial government services are poor in general (let alone the level of service and information easily available in English). To use a more specific example, my wife has an ongoing and regular need for health care. We pretty well always have to get it in Ottawa because the level of service in Gatineau is appallingly bad. There aren't walk-in clinics available for example - you have to call the CLSC to see if there is a clinic available to see you - usually there is not. When there is, it has been quite a distance from us. In general, it seems like the majority of people on this side tend to use the Ottawa hospital system for their medical attention.

To add to the problems, the RAMQ is famously stingy with insurance payments, so fewer and fewer Ontario doctors accept Quebec's health card. We've already lost doctors over it.

The income taxes really are much higher too. I had to pay much more on my meager salary this year.

I say none of this to dump on Quebec. Like I pointed out first, there is plenty to like - it just seems like their government services are far more frustrating than anything I've experienced in Ontario. I'm assuming that it's better around Montreal, however.

With all that said, we're looking forward to our move to Toronto next month.
 
Thanks for your continued input guys. It's been very helpful in realistically assessing my odds of succeeding in QC. As the prospective move inches closer, I'm getting a better idea of how to go about this.

I'm leaning towards an incremental approach. I'm thinking of moving to Montreal first. I'll have a way better chance of finding work and I can progressively learn French but still have the ability to fall back on English until I'm fluent.

My decision is also affected by what I believe will be better for my relationship with my girlfriend. If I move to Trois-Rivières, she'll be the only person I know there and I have to admit that I will end up smothering her. A move to Montreal will allow us to visit each other on weekends or on the spur of the moment. Being in Toronto and seeing her once every month or two is not helping. I can move to Montreal a lot earlier than Trois-Rivières because I don't have to worry so much about being fluent in French before I go.

I'll keep you guys updated on the big adventure. In the meantime, any advice is appreciated! :D
 
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Did you end up moving to Trois Rivieres?

Hi Metroman,

I am thinking of moving to Trois Rivieres as well and while looking up information on the internet, I came across your thread and since I am more or less in the situation you were in in 2010. I am wondering if you have any information to share. I moved to Gatineau a year ago to learn French but because it is so easy to fall back on English,my very basic French is still very much that - very basic. I am now thinking of registering in the French immersion program offered by the University in Trois Rivieries and moving there for a year to be fully immersed in the language so any info would be appreciated, I will not need to find a job there as I will be in school full-time and have saved enough to get by for a year. So looking for info on how accepting they are, is one year enough to become fully functional in French, is rent really that cheap .......
 
I was going to post a reply but realized all of this was from 2010.

How did it go? Still in Quebec?
 
It was quite introspective to read this entire thread again years later. It's a little time capsule of my mind at that moment.

I ended up not going for a couple of reasons. I found it really difficult to break into a business without a few steady clients and it appeared that I would be quite isolated to within the group of my girlfriend and her family for the first year while I learned the language and adapted to the culture. It also became apparent that with all the effort I was putting into this, I wasn't getting the same kind of compromises on my girlfriend's end.

... So my reason for moving to Quebec was gone.

Since then, my thirst for getting closer to Canada and its different cultures has strengthened. In the past few months, I've spent a lot of time out west, going to Vancouver 3 times and Calgary twice. I've driven to Banff and Lake Louise twice and spent some time familiarizing myself with the culture, and falling in love with Western lifestyle and the Rockies. A few days ago, I did the "Canadian", a VIA Rail train from Vancouver to Toronto with stops in every province and will complete the rest of the route from Toronto to Halifax in the next week or so. We really do have an awe inspiring country. I can't wait to see more of it!

My desire for learning French remains and I've determined that the only way to really learn a language at my age (or any age really) is to become immersed in it full time. I'm no longer considering Trois-Rivieres and feel that Montreal would be too much of a cop-out (too easy to bypass French) so I'm considering spending a year living between Paris, Barcelona and Lisbon. I speak Portuguese fluently and my Spanish needs a little polishing but learning French while in Europe will be my goal.

Good luck Adventurer. If you're still around UrbanToronto when you move, I'd love to hear how your story goes which could have well been mine.
 
Thank you very much guys for share your opinions. Actually i am also going to Montreal (quebec) for job in real canadian super store. But french language is also a main problem for me. I am learning now but not fully understand. I am worry what i 'll do there how i 'll deal to customers? I have read percentage about quebec languages at web that is..
French 94.55%
English 1.46%
I want to know which people are have french mother tongue in quebec, they can't understand to english??
please reply me.
 
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