Montreal is a bilingual city. I don't mean like, a few people speak two languages. I mean bi-lingual. As in, when you walk in almost anywhere you are greeted with "Bonjour - Hi!." Truly amazing is that over 99% (my unofficial estimate) of the bilingual Montrealers speak both French and English without even a hint of an accent.
It would be easy to start feeling inadequate and/or embarrassed by the fact that you don't speak French, but the people are just so nice. At some point, I plan to write a bit about how it was obvious to everyone we only spoke English when we arrived, but for now, I thought this first post would be a great place to show how two languages seem to come together so well.
Hearing and seeing two languages side-by-side is an amazing daily learning opportunity. As an example, below are few pictures showing my recent trip to the grocery store.
In the parking lot.
The aisle.
Spaghetti my favorite food. It makes my heart happy. I am the only member of my family that likes it, so when I buy my own, I'm looking for greatness. Imagine my surprise when I found I could get the one bottled sauce I love more than Ragu (Meat), Classico (Spicy Red Pepper). You can't find it locally in the last two places we've lived. So, in case you are ever in Montreal and want a bilingual experience and have a taste for one of the greatest spaghetti sauces ever, I'll post the recipe and directions.
Major ingredient #1
Major ingredient #2 (with directions)
Major ingredient #3
As I continue posting pictures in other posts, you'll see examples of this all over. Its a city that truly lives in both languages. I'm sure it doesn't always get along beautifully, but nearly two months in for us and we've 1) had no issues and 2) have come to appreciate the value of knowing two languages, and 3) are actually starting to pick up French. This experience just keeps getting better.*
*and I've had Classico at least once a week while here.
