Some people will tell you that Montréal is a bad place to learn French.
It’s a very common myth, one that’s easy to believe if you don’t take a closer look.
If you’re serious about learning French (and by serious I mean someone who’s committed to learning over the long term), then Montréal is a wonderful place to learn French.
It doesn’t matter that there are anglophones in Montréal. It doesn’t matter that some bilingual francophones may switch to English on you.
Why don’t these matter?
First, look at the language situation in Montréal.
Who speaks what native language in Montréal
(and why it’s not a problem)
If the city of Montréal (not including the metropolitan area) were reduced to 126 people like in the image above, roughly 66 of them would speak French as their native language, 17 would speak English, and 43 would be native speakers of some other language, most of whom have also learned to speak either French or English, or both.
Montréal is clearly not exclusively francophone. You may be looking at that image thinking, “oh boy, look at all those people who don’t speak French as their native language!”
It doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter that not all people in Montréal have French as their native language.
Why?
Because there is simply no shortage of francophones to speak with.
You choose who you let into your life. If you want francophones in your life, go find them. There is no shortage in Montréal.
What about the language switchers?
People in Montréal have a high rate of knowledge of both French and English. This may lead to some francophones switching to English on you in the beginning stages of your learning, especially if they do not know you very well.
Learning French is a long-term endeavour requiring a long-term approach.
The best way to learn French (or any language) is to develop a strong bond with someone who speaks it.
Why a strong bond is important
A strong bond isn’t just a girlfriend or boyfriend. It can be a close friend.
A person who you share a strong bond with is far more unlikely to switch to English on you. In a certain way, that person accompanies you on your journey to fluency over the long term.
There is a vested interest between the two of you.
There is also regular contact between the two of you, which is essential in maintaining the “fire” to learn French.
If you’ve got a strong bond in your life, it’s much less of a concern or annoyance when someone else (a weak bond) switches to English on you. Learning French through weak bonds is not an ideal long-term approach, no matter where in the world you learn French.
You just need at least one strong bond with a francophone in your life. A few more people are good too — but you can start with just one.
The bottom line
In reality, you can learn French anywhere. All the francophones in Montréal are just icing on your cake.
If you’re in it for the long haul, learning French in Montréal is a wonderful choice.
Here’s what you need to do:
Make at least one of the very significant people in your life a francophone. Montréal has nearly one million of them to choose from.
