Hello all.

I just graduated from College and got my first industry job (actually, first real job at all) in Quebec City. I'm from Ontario and I speak no French (a few phrases I learned in high-school, maybe). The company itself mainly deals in English so I'm not too worried about that. The rest of Quebec though, seems a bit... unfriendly to English speaking people... Got any tips or tricks for helping to learn a language quickly? I'm not looking forward to starving to death because I can't order a pizza in French.

Also, anyone who lives/lived in the area.. I've heard to stay away from Laval University, is there anywhere else I should avoid?

Find a friend or girlfriend that speaks it. AND take classes, online, offline, free, or paid. At the same time.

It's not suitable for a beginner, but what I do to practice language on my own is to take some DVDs of shows that I know (like the Simpsons), and switch the audio track to my language of choice (for me it's Spanish, but French is also a pretty common dub). Then put on the English subtitles, and you can get some really good practice for understanding the spoken language as well as expanding your vocabulary and practical grammar skills.

But there's no substitute for a class, where you are forced to speak/write/read/hear a language, even when you're bad at it. There are several points in learning a language where you'll feel like you've hit a wall, and the only things you can do are to give up or to stick with it-- classes help you to do the latter.

maybe you could try Busuu.com

Immersion is the most important thing, IMO... When I left France to go live in the US with my parents (quite a few moons ago), they signed me up for a month of tennis camp. I was the only kid who didn't speak English there (well, besides 2.5 years of basic school English), and it was pretty tough at first -- I didn't even understand what "pick up the ball" meant; just figured it was important since they kept telling me to do it By the end of summer, I was almost fluent. I could feel muscular pain in my lower jaw just from the fact that English has different stress patterns in its pronunciation! It's amazing how fast you learn when you can't use your native language.

Make friends with (patient) French speakers, listen to them speak, and try to never use English unless absolutely necessary... Just get past the embarrassment/helplessness, use gestures and finger pointing if you can't find a word, and make sure the people around you aren't afraid to correct you.

Also, watch TV in French without subtitles as soon as you're comfortable doing so. It's a great way to absorb the culture as well as the language (the Simpsons taught me nearly everything I know!). Don't be afraid to repeat sentences out loud to work on those specific language sounds that you don't find in English. Newspapers and magazines are also great (reading will help a lot with grammar).

If you really have no basics, I would recommend taking a class initially (French as a second language); on a budget, you can pay French students with English lessons in exchange for French lessons -- I know quite a few universities around here (I'm in Montreal) have weekly "language workshop lunches" where people basically take turns speaking (or trying to speak) each language. I don't know how effective it is because I've never participated, but from what I heard, it's a nice way to make friends from the other side of the language barrier. I had friends who went often, but I think their main goal was to pick up freshly landed Asian girls...

And honestly, if people around here give you the stink eye because you're an English speaker, don't even bother with them; they're just flaming racists. Stick with younger people who don't have this lingering belief that you've come to invade what little is left of their culture...

Find a friend or girlfriend that speaks it. AND take classes, online, offline, free, or paid. At the same time.

This is going to be the most straightforward way. Also carry a dictionary (or load one to your phone) and every time you hear something you don't understand try to look up for it. Write down to a piece of paper a compendium of the most common words (nouns and verbs) you're going to need and practice them at home by naming in french everything you see (if you see something you don't know it's name, write it down).

A MILF private teacher could do *wonders* for your french too

Find a friend or girlfriend that speaks it. AND take classes, online, offline, free, or paid. At the same time.

Luckily my girlfriend is fluent (sort of) and I have a former co-worker on speed dial who also speaks french.

A MILF private teacher could do *wonders* for your french too

I'm sure my girlfriend would appreciate that. lol

Thanks for all the replies, I wasn't expecting so many! Great advice, thank you.