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Anybody here ever traveled/vacationed in Quebec? Am planning a vacation there (primarily in Quebec City) come August or September, and was wondering - especially outside of the cities, how much do the natives expect visitors to try to speak French to them?

I know some simple French phrases, and I assume my accent is terrible - but am nowhere near fluent.

KurtZeller 5 Feb 11
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1

I just finished all of Louise Penny's mystery novels set in Quebec, and I want to go! My French is good but don't know how close to Quebecois it is.

1

there are some nice falls out side of QC. try to stay in the hotels behind chateau laurier [ or is it frontenac ] around the square. montreal is pretty cool too

1

They speak English beautifully, with almost no accent, due to growing up bilingual, tv/ radio all bilingual. Signage is almost 100% in both languages as well. If you attempt to use your high school French, your accent will be so wrong you will usually be misunderstood....after years of listening, the best way I can explain it using English is, English-speaking New Yawker, very hard on the vowels!

1

My experience, now old, is that most can speak and understand English but will not admit it.; especially if it is a situation where you can make a fool of yourself. Here is an example: My son-in-law played in an adult hockey league. They had a weekend tournament in Quebec. At breakfast he ordered wheat toast. An order is 4 slices. The order was confirmed. In French, "ouight" is eight. He got 32 slices of white toast. (For those who are curious, he immediately realized what had happened and he smilingly sat there and ate every slice, and complimented the cook.)

This makes no sense, as in french #8 is pronounced "wheat" more or less.....i think they confused the type of bread with the amount...i have found All Canadians to be excessively polite, always!

@AnneWimsey ?? That is the point. He,made an order for wheat toast. He wanted wheat toast. They heard eight orders of toast. When he saw the 32 slices he realized what had happened. 🙂

@Dick_Martin she stated he got White toast....

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