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Summer French Immersion Camp in Montreal


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I've heard of this camp before, but only through publicity. I don't know anyone who attended. Articles in newspapers have raved about it, because it fills in a need. The school system isn't that great here, and the summer camp basically does the school's job.

 

You might want to look at this camp here too:

http://www1.cisscanada.com/programme.aspx?p=61&e=12&m=49&t=76

From 9 to 17yo, this is an actual French immersion camp, with French classes. This is a sleepover camp. The previous one is not, so you would get your daughter back in the evenings.

 

As for you, I would recommend this one:

http://www.ymcalanguages.com/en/cours/adultes/francais/cours.asp#programme_extra

It's the local YMCA. It offers a variety of options, and you're on your own for lodging, of course. The One-week-

Mini-Conversation sounds like what you might be looking for.

Have fun!

 

 

ETA:

I just found this one which looks like a lot of fun!

http://www.langues.jazz.uqam.ca/en/index.asp

Although it may not be what you're looking for, if you get your daughter back in the evenings.

Edited by CleoQc
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Cleo, do you know about neighborhoods in Montreal? Is Longueuil a safe neighborhood? Or what about the area around Autoroute Papineau and Rue Fleury Est?

 

I was thinking of staying near the St. Katherine shopping and have access to the orange line to go to the Rue Fleury camp. But that seems far. Didn't know about the caliber of kids at either location.

 

Thanks,

 

Lesley

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Generally speaking, Montreal is a very safe city. Even our worse neighbourhood isn't that bad.. That said, the level of education will vary wildly from one neighbourhood to another.

 

Papineau and Fleury would be in the 'average to low' education level. Not drastically low, but the 'brightest heads' don't come from that area. On the other hand, it's probably one of the least bilingual areas of Montreal. You will be in actual French immersion! I haven't been in that area much in the last 10 years, and I don't know how many immigrants moved in, if any.

 

A little east from that place is St-Léonard, known for its Italian immigrants, and north of St-Léonard is Montreal-Nord, known for its black population. Unfortunately, Montreal-Nord is a bit of a hotbed (nothing compared to a regular American city!) Two years ago, a black teenager was shot down by the police and there was rioting (like in LA eons ago). The people involved are still being investigated. We do things on a smaller and slower scale, I think ;)

 

ETA:

you will be heading into a neighbourhood with a strong Quebec accent. Maybe not what you want...

If you want to be somewhere with less of an accent, try looking at Outremont. (Cote Ste Catherine, not to be confused with Rue Ste Catherine). You may be able to get lodging at Université de Montréal. People in Outremont would tend to be more educated, but also more bilingual.

Edited by CleoQc
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I don't have the exact camp address for the Longueuil location. It is closer to downtown I would assume.

 

The Rue Fleury location with its total immersion would be best I think. I don't think two weeks of Quebec accent would undo years of Parisian accent. But, not sure.

 

I'm a bit worried about waiting for a bus in a bad neighborhood near there. The location is not right on a metro stop, so we'd have to transfer to a bus. (Or rent a car, but would prefer to save money.)

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Question for Cleo...

 

At a French camp in Montreal, would there be any effort to bring in French speakers from France to try to avoid Canadian dialects? or would that make it harder for English speaking Canadians to integrate in Quebec (eg if they then had a Parisian accent)?

 

Joan

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I have a question about French immersion programs abroad. Have you read/heard about the camp in Martinique?

Just wondering. Our kiddos have been taking french (private tutor for 3 yrs) and my husband was surfing the web, and said "hey, Martinique is much cheaper than france!"

PS I prefer france but it is so pricey for a family of 6 to travel!:)

Thanks a bunch

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I don't have the exact camp address for the Longueuil location. It is closer to downtown I would assume.

I'm a bit worried about waiting for a bus in a bad neighborhood near there.

Longueuil is technically closer to downtown but it's not on the island. Therefore there are only a few ways to cross the water. It's a bit of a pain. Plus I've always disliked the Longueuil metro, I've never felt safe there. Nothing has ever happened to me though.

 

During day time, I would not be worried at all about waiting for a bus on Papineau. At night would be different but the worst that would happen is a stolen purse (still a pain but nothing bad)

 

Question for Cleo...

At a French camp in Montreal, would there be any effort to bring in French speakers from France to try to avoid Canadian dialects? or would that make it harder for English speaking Canadians to integrate in Quebec (eg if they then had a Parisian accent)?

 

There would be *NO* effort to have French/France speakers. In fact, people with the worst accent are those that are the most proud of it. Quebec is very nationalist, and promotes its accent heavily.

 

I know someone who moved in from Switzerland. When she put her child in the local school, she mentionned to the director she was worried about the accent. The director's answer was "don't worry, little lady, in a month from now, your son will speak just like the rest of us"

 

I have a question about French immersion programs abroad. Have you read/heard about the camp in Martinique?

I don't know anything about camps in Martinique. What I do know is that Martinique *is* France. You'll have something much closer to the standard France pronunciation. It's warmer than Quebec, and the sea just looks better ;-)

I haven't been to Martinique in 30 years..

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Longueuil is technically closer to downtown but it's not on the island. Therefore there are only a few ways to cross the water. It's a bit of a pain. Plus I've always disliked the Longueuil metro, I've never felt safe there. Nothing has ever happened to me though.

 

During day time, I would not be worried at all about waiting for a bus on Papineau. At night would be different but the worst that would happen is a stolen purse (still a pain but nothing bad)

 

 

There would be *NO* effort to have French/France speakers. In fact, people with the worst accent are those that are the most proud of it. Quebec is very nationalist, and promotes its accent heavily.

 

I know someone who moved in from Switzerland. When she put her child in the local school, she mentionned to the director she was worried about the accent. The director's answer was "don't worry, little lady, in a month from now, your son will speak just like the rest of us"

 

 

I don't know anything about camps in Martinique. What I do know is that Martinique *is* France. You'll have something much closer to the standard France pronunciation. It's warmer than Quebec, and the sea just looks better ;-)

I haven't been to Martinique in 30 years..

 

I just had to pop in to this conversation and tell you what a beautiful place Martinique is (or was when I was there, yikes, 19 years ago, am I really that old?). In Paris, I had a roommate from Martinique, and when I graduated from college in the U.S., I went to visit her for a week. What a wonderful place. There is definitely an "accent martiniquais" that is noticeably different from a French accent of the "Métropole" but they speak very standard French because it is a French département (politically though not geographically part of France itself) and so the school system is exactly the same as in France.

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