Well, the World Exposition in 1967, I'm not surprised; the Quebec separatist/independence movement was gearing up big-time plus the city was flooded with more tourists than it had seen in a long time. I lived there for three and a half years in the early 90s, and also attended What The Fur in its first two years. It's a nice place full of good people! There's always a small chance you'll meet someone who doesn't like English people, but it's a really small percentage. It's the heart of the province's business community so they don't want to piss off the English community. Still, the government "language police" have done their best to convert all store signs to French; recently they took issue with an Italian restaurent.
Visitors who aren't familiar with Montreal can get an impression of snootiness which isn't true, but arises from a common misunderstanding. Let's say as a tourist you speak passable French and really want to try it out, so you do. No matter what you say, the native Montrealer always replies to you in English. It feels like an insult, your French isn't good enough for them - but actually it's their way of being polite. Any out-of-the-province accent will automatically make them switch into speaking English, they figure it's more convenient for you and makes for a more efficient conversation, but to the visitor, it can feel like your attempt to connect with them in their own language is being blown off.
If you want to be genuinely blown off by modern-day separatists, visit Quebec City on Bastille Day. :P Anyway, Montreal's great - I miss it a lot!
Well, the World Exposition in 1967, I'm not surprised; the Quebec separatist/independence movement was gearing up big-time plus the city was flooded with more tourists than it had seen in a long time. I lived there for three and a half years in the early 90s, and also attended What The Fur in its first two years. It's a nice place full of good people! There's always a small chance you'll meet someone who doesn't like English people, but it's a really small percentage. It's the heart of the province's business community so they don't want to piss off the English community. Still, the government "language police" have done their best to convert all store signs to French; recently they took issue with an Italian restaurent.
Visitors who aren't familiar with Montreal can get an impression of snootiness which isn't true, but arises from a common misunderstanding. Let's say as a tourist you speak passable French and really want to try it out, so you do. No matter what you say, the native Montrealer always replies to you in English. It feels like an insult, your French isn't good enough for them - but actually it's their way of being polite. Any out-of-the-province accent will automatically make them switch into speaking English, they figure it's more convenient for you and makes for a more efficient conversation, but to the visitor, it can feel like your attempt to connect with them in their own language is being blown off.
If you want to be genuinely blown off by modern-day separatists, visit Quebec City on Bastille Day. :P Anyway, Montreal's great - I miss it a lot!