Hullo, I took classes at Centre Saint-Louis last year from May to November full-time and I was funded by emploi-Quebec. I'm Canadian, from Ontario, and no one ever tried to tell me that I couldn't get funding (I was not eligible for EI). The only catch with emploi-Quebec is that you have to study full-time. 8:30-4, 5 days a week. I will admit that I was surrounded by immigrants in class, but there were several Canucks (like myself) around too.
The program is great if you don't know any French. The grammar was very helpful. However, I left after 6 months in the program because I was still poor, even with emploi-Quebec! :P You're better off getting francophone friends to help you practice with your speaking, because the program doesn't allow you to speak enough...and that's supposed to be the point. :3
That's exactly what I'm taking (and want to be taking!), full-time class from 8:30-4! What on earth did you say when you went to Emploi-Québec?? Can you give me any tips? I've lived on MUCH less than what their stipend is, so I would be just fine!
I have francophone friends and I do practise diligently. I just need more in the way of actual grammatical structure. I'm the rare type who does better with class than just being thrown out there - I'm vastly braver if I can be sure that my sentences are correct! :P
Did you go to EQ first or try going through the school, for the funding?
When I went to emploi-Quebec, I was recovering from a serious illness (I had to leave my job the year before because of this). I had applied for EI, but received a letter stating that I did not qualify for assistance, because I hadn't worked in Quebec long enough. You need to have physical proof that you applied for EI, but were rejected. That's all you need to get emploi-Quebec assistance. Also, see if you qualify for welfare, I didn't qualify for that because I'm married. My husband was with me when I applied, so I didn't have to prove that
( ... )
Thank you hugely for this!! Okay - I'm now positive that I won't qualify for EI because I've never actually worked in Québec (at least not *cough* in a tax-declared sort of way... seriously small stuff, though, just singing gigs here and there), so I guess I just have to wait for that rejection? I'm already enrolled in class at the school on Papineau, it's just a question of how to get some freaking funding so that I don't starve to death and get evicted in the meantime!
Thanks a ton for your help! I'm in level 5 right now and was hoping to maybe be able to get by after this, but still - I need to pay some rent and bills before the end of February!
I had heard from several people that the Plateau office was the only one that ever gave out funding to Canadians to take French. I realize that they're probably supposed to turn people away if they possibly can, but the lady I had an appointment with either lied to my face, or was totally clueless. She said there was no funding of any kind, for anyone of any age of nationality, period. Argh!! I hate being given the run-around!
I'm not under 25, but I wonder now if my one friend is on that particular program, because I think he is. Huh. He gets $1000 per month from them.
Thanks, about Centraide. I've never even considered going to a food bank or applying for welfare, even at my poorest (and trust me, classical musicians tend to know poverty quite well :/). Thanks for all the tips! I appreciate it hugely!
I don't have any advice unfortunately, but I feel your frustration. I've been here for over 2 years and have yet to learn a word of French because I have to work full time the the inexpensive classes available to me don't really work for someone who has a full time job. I'm from Ontario. I tried everything people told me - watch French television, listen to the radio in French, have francophone friends. This stuff doesn't really work unless you have some knowledge of French, which I have *NONE*.
It frustrates me immensely that as a Canadian citizen, born and raised, I do not have the same access to French classes as immigrants do.
Anyway, just wanted to say - you're not alone. I hope you find a solution...I'm still looking for one but I refuse to pay $400 a semester to take Saturday classes at McGill. The way I see it, if the QC government wants me to speak French, then they can pay for my classes.
Ahh, thanks for the commiseration! It really is tough. For me, I really do better with classroom learning than on-the-street learning, because I really do need to learn the grammar rules and such in order to know how to put a sentence together. I mean, when I first came here, it was to go to McGill, which is all English, my friends were mostly Americans, and I was a busy masters student with no time to take French on top of all of my program requirements. After I graduated, I moved back home (to Winnipeg), and by that point, sure I had learned lots of French words, but nothing about how to say anything. When I decided to move back to Montréal, I enrolled myself in three weeks' worth of an intensive in Québec City (I wanted full immersion, damn it! And you can't get that in Mtl!). Three weeks was all I could afford in terms of tuition (it was $250/week, plus I had to live!) and all the time I could miss from work, so yeah. I whizzed through their levels like crazy; I had a serious agenda to learn as much of the language as humanly
( ... )
About work: Apply for a part time job around Concordia or McGill or in other areas where you'll find a lot of English-speakers, but still a decent percentage of French. With your Teller background I assume you've got numbers down, and with something like a coffee shop you can learn the menu. This is how my out-of-province classmates in university got by. They took jobs at places like Chapter's, Couche Tard, worked as bus boys, ushers/box office at English theatres, etc.
Thanks for the suggestions. :) I'll give that a shot! I have applied for a whole whack of jobs like that before, but the lack of French has always tripped me up. I've worked in retail a ton (including in management, so I have handled tons of money outside the bank job, too!). It's not that I would mind a barista job or something; no one seems willing to give me one, that's all! I'll keep trying, though!
are you bilingual now? : )ext_860021October 1 2015, 20:06:43 UTC
i've just now been tracking your thread from three years ago, as i am about to embark on the same journey as you in the coming months, and i can't help but feel i've been left hanging! : )
how did the remaining chapters of your french journey in montreal fair? are you still there? do you have more than $60 in your pocket atm?
Comments 27
The program is great if you don't know any French. The grammar was very helpful. However, I left after 6 months in the program because I was still poor, even with emploi-Quebec! :P You're better off getting francophone friends to help you practice with your speaking, because the program doesn't allow you to speak enough...and that's supposed to be the point. :3
I went to the Verdun office. Bonne chance! :)
Reply
I have francophone friends and I do practise diligently. I just need more in the way of actual grammatical structure. I'm the rare type who does better with class than just being thrown out there - I'm vastly braver if I can be sure that my sentences are correct! :P
Did you go to EQ first or try going through the school, for the funding?
Reply
Reply
Thanks a ton for your help! I'm in level 5 right now and was hoping to maybe be able to get by after this, but still - I need to pay some rent and bills before the end of February!
Reply
Reply
I'm not under 25, but I wonder now if my one friend is on that particular program, because I think he is. Huh. He gets $1000 per month from them.
Thanks, about Centraide. I've never even considered going to a food bank or applying for welfare, even at my poorest (and trust me, classical musicians tend to know poverty quite well :/). Thanks for all the tips! I appreciate it hugely!
Reply
It frustrates me immensely that as a Canadian citizen, born and raised, I do not have the same access to French classes as immigrants do.
Anyway, just wanted to say - you're not alone. I hope you find a solution...I'm still looking for one but I refuse to pay $400 a semester to take Saturday classes at McGill. The way I see it, if the QC government wants me to speak French, then they can pay for my classes.
Reply
Reply
This is how my out-of-province classmates in university got by. They took jobs at places like Chapter's, Couche Tard, worked as bus boys, ushers/box office at English theatres, etc.
Good luck!
Reply
Reply
how did the remaining chapters of your french journey in montreal fair?
are you still there?
do you have more than $60 in your pocket atm?
warmly,
-L
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment