You know you are in Montreal when you are greeted with “Bonjour, hi.” To converse in French you respond, “Bonjour.” To converse in English you respond, “Hi.”
Canada is officially bilingual and so federal matters are presented in two languages. Each province can decide what they want to do on the provincial level. Quebec recognizes French only; New Brunswick uses both French and English. The other eight are officially English speaking. Yet there is such a strong desire to be accommodating that official material might also be presented in Arabic or Mandarin or whatever language is spoken by a significant size minority group in the area.
Native English speakers amount to only 15 percent of the population of Montreal, but the tourism trade operates quite happily in English. There are over 40 festivals a year, with many free events. One intriguing one is an international pyromusical competition. Imagine night after night major shows over the St Lawrence River of fireworks displays set to music.
Montreal is also a university town, and in 2016 it was ranked No. 1 in the world, beating out Paris, which has been traditionally ranked first. Students like the way of life here.
We don’t have near enough time to do more than a sampling of Montreal. Tomorrow we’re on the move.
Canada is officially bilingual and so federal matters are presented in two languages. Each province can decide what they want to do on the provincial level. Quebec recognizes French only; New Brunswick uses both French and English. The other eight are officially English speaking. Yet there is such a strong desire to be accommodating that official material might also be presented in Arabic or Mandarin or whatever language is spoken by a significant size minority group in the area.
Native English speakers amount to only 15 percent of the population of Montreal, but the tourism trade operates quite happily in English. There are over 40 festivals a year, with many free events. One intriguing one is an international pyromusical competition. Imagine night after night major shows over the St Lawrence River of fireworks displays set to music.
Montreal is also a university town, and in 2016 it was ranked No. 1 in the world, beating out Paris, which has been traditionally ranked first. Students like the way of life here.
We don’t have near enough time to do more than a sampling of Montreal. Tomorrow we’re on the move.
No comments:
Post a Comment