French · Québécois · Canada
Learn Quebec French — Québécois the way it's spoken in Montréal.
Québécois French is not French with an accent — it's a distinct dialect with its own vocabulary, grammar, and sound. LocalLingo's AI coach speaks the Montréal version, from tabarnak to dépanneur.
How Montréal French actually sounds
The distinctive Québécois of Montréal and Québec City — diphthonged vowels, English-borrowed vocabulary, and Catholic sacres used as swears.
Phrases you'll actually use
Comment ça va, là?
How's it going?
The tag 'là' at sentence ends is quintessentially Québécois.
J'vais au dépanneur
I'm going to the corner store
'Dépanneur' — Québec's word for a convenience store; nobody in France uses it.
C'est ben l'fun
It's really fun
'Ben' (bien) + English-borrowed 'fun' — quintessential Québécois blending.
Tabarnak
F***
Québec's famous sacres come from Catholic liturgy — powerful and specific.
Cé toé?
Is it you?
'C'est toi' compressed and diphthonged the Québécois way.
Pronunciation habits of Québécois
- Diphthonged long vowels — 'père' can sound like 'paèr'.
- Preserved 't' and 'd' before 'i' and 'u' — 'tu' sounds like 'tsu', 'dire' like 'dzire'.
- English-borrowed vocabulary integrated into daily speech (fun, cute, spot, chum).
- Sacres — Catholic-derived swear words (tabarnak, câlisse, ostie) — used freely.
Learn Montréal French if…
- Moving to Montréal, Québec City, or anywhere in Québec.
- Working with Québécois teams or in Canada's French-speaking economy.
- Watching Québécois cinema or comedy (Bon Cop Bad Cop, Xavier Dolan films).
- Wanting to be understood by locals, not just tolerated as a Français de France.
Why a live AI voice coach for Québécois?
Because Québécois isn't in your textbook — and the parts that are, aren't spoken the way they're written. LocalLingo runs a Google Gemini Live coach with a Montréal-specific prompt profile: vocabulary, phonetic habits, slang, and the small conversational habits that make you sound local. You speak, the coach replies in Québécois, you save the phrases you fumbled, and you come back tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
Will French from France work in Québec?
You'll be understood, but flagged as an outsider immediately. Vocabulary differs (dépanneur vs supérette, char vs voiture), pronunciation differs, and Québécois are famously proud of their dialect. The coach teaches genuine Québécois, not French-with-a-Canadian-tint.
What are sacres?
Québec's unique swear system, built from Catholic liturgical words — tabarnak (tabernacle), câlisse (chalice), ostie (host), sacrament. Their intensity comes from centuries of Church dominance. Use with care.
Is joual the same as Québécois?
Joual is the most colloquial, working-class register of Québécois, historically associated with Montréal's east end. Modern Québécois is a spectrum from formal (news broadcasters) to joual (casual speech). The coach handles the middle-to-casual range by default.