EC Montreal students are always asking us where are the best places to shop!  The cost of living in Montreal is much better than other North American cities and students are always looking for good bargains and great souvenirs to take back home.  So, I decided it would be a great idea to come up with a list of suggestions of my favorite places to shop as I am a little bit of a shopaholic! Best Vintage Shops: The best vintage and second hand shops can be found on Mount-Royal avenue in the East end of Montreal.  There are so many one-of-a-kind shops to find unique clothing, handbags, jewelry, records and funky figurines! Best Souvenirs: If you are looking for unique and beautiful souvenirs, my suggestion is to skip the touristy ones along Ste-Catherine’s street and to visit some exclusive boutiques that really showcase Montreal.  One is located in Place Ville Marie, where the observatory is located.  There you can find really special Poutine themed t-shirts and other souvenirs with bagels, smoked meat and construction cones, as Montreal seems to always be undergoing construction. The other souvenir shop is called YUL designs and is located on St. Laurent Blvd., close to Bernard street.  There you can find wonderful Montreal prints, t-shirts and other amazing finds! Best Clothing Shops: The best clothing shops are located right here downtown in the underground city as well as in a shopping mall located in Laval, called Carrefour Laval.  There you will find all the popular clothing shops including the designer labels.  If you are looking for designer labels but you are on a budget, try places like Winners and Marshall’s and pay discounted rates for high end merchandise. Best Cosmetics: You can find cosmetics pretty much everywhere, including pharmacies and Dollaramas, however, my favorite … Read more

At EC Montreal many students and visitors ask us the question; “what does EC stand for?”  It is a very good question, because presently, it doesn’t stand for anything. We are simply and beautifully EC.  It used to stand for European Centers when EC was located in Malta and in the UK.  When EC celebrated its 25 year anniversary in 2016, they released a video entitled “Our Story”.  With this video we learned about EC’s history and how we come from very humble beginnings but we had big dreams.  In the video our Executive Chairman, Andrew Mangion, told the story of how his mother Marguerite planted the first seed and since then EC has grown into a global brand of language schools on 4 different continents and in 24 different destinations. The European EC language school are found in Malta, London, Brighton, Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin.  The North American schools are located in Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, LA, Miami, Washington, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal!  We also have a school in Cape Town, South Africa and 5 schools in Australia and New Zealand in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Gold Coast and Auckland. In addition, EC has Young Learner and summer camp programmes in many of the EC destinations.  EC is still a family run business and you can make friends with people from all over the world by working here.  You can also choose to be a multi-destination student and get a taste of the different EC destinations while still keep your language learning consistent. The EC Montreal school is the only EC center that offers both English and French instruction as well as bilingual options. Now we people ask us what EC stands for, we ask them to tell us what it should stand for?  We have … Read more

  EC Montreal participates in this annual festival every year!  It takes place on St-Laurent Boulevard in the Plateau Mont-Royal.  The Fringe Festival will run until June 23.  It really showcases the bohemian side of Montreal! The festival champions diversity, accessibility and artistic freedom, proudly providing artists of varying backgrounds and disciplines with a unique forum. Everyone is welcome—local, national and international artists in theatre, dance, music and visual arts—to participate in the Fringe. The festival provides a framework in which artists are encouraged to experiment, create and be audacious. The Fringe is, above all, a community. A community where raw talent, emerging artists, and experience come together. Everyone is invited to take part in this multilingual neighbourhood block party, where art reigns and breaks down the barriers of language, to discover unique talent and experience the unexpected. The St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe is more than just a festival. It provides memorable cultural exchanges for audiences in the heart of the lively Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood and supports the local community. We can’t wait to participate in this festival with our EC Montreal students again this year!  You can find the event on the June calendar of events on Thursday, June 6. Join our English courses in Montreal and we will introduce you to the bohemian side of Montreal!

As Iko Tours is not offering any trips this upcoming weekend, EC Montreal has a great suggestion for all of you for Saturday Night!  You can watch the classic movie Grease under the starts at the McGill Molson Stadium, located at 475 Pine Avenue. The funds raised at the event will go towards the Montreal Children’s oncology department. In addition to watching the movie, there will be two food trucks available selling food with portions of their profits going towards the hospital.  The Food Trucks that you may have seen around Montreal are Le Cheese Food Truck that serves grilled cheese sandwiches and Gaufres et Glaces which means waffles and ice cream!  Sound amazing! There will also be a silent auction with items signed by pro hockey players as well as football tickets, soccer tickets, spa passes, restaurant gift cards and other local Montreal items. The event will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2019.  The fee is $20.  You can purchase your tickets online for this very good cause. In addition to this event, we can look forward to many more movies in the park events throughout the summer months.  We really want to take advantage of the outdoors while we can after such a long winter! Study and learn English in Montreal Canada and experience the fun city!

Every week, EC Montreal meets with its departing students to get feedback on their overall EC experience.  We love reading what our students have to say about their time here with us.  This feedback is essential in making improvements to our already superior quality service! This week we met with students from Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland and Colombia.  Here is what they had to say: Anonymous from Brazil I chose EC Montreal because it is a bilingual school.  My first week was in English and I liked very much and even more, Olga’s classes.  EC Montreal has very good teachers who can pass the knowledge and the way of thinking in French.It was a great privilege to be here.  A suggestion that I can provide to EC is regarding the structuring of a more intensive course, which could care a little bit less with perfection and more with more knowledge of the language, however, I have enjoyed the courses.  I felt that they could be less expensive in a way so I could enjoy one more month of classes.  Thank you all! Clelia from Mexico I chose Montreal because I love where it is situated.  I learned how to speak in fluent way and the meaning of certain words.  Also, I learned a lot of grammatical rules.  I love the calendar of activities and the school.  I would recommend EC to my friends.  I enjoyed my time here! Anonymous from Switzerland I chose Montreal because it is not France or the Caribbean and I wanted to be far from home.  I really liked the school, the staff was very friendly and I liked my teachers.  The only thing is most of the activities were in English but I was here to learn French.  My accommodation was great, a very sweet couple … Read more

EC Montreal has been hosting a lovely couple from Brazil for the past two weeks.  Sadly, it is their last week at EC Montreal.  Here is what Jose Carlos and Maria Dulce had to say about their EC experience: Jose Carlos I chose Montreal to practice my French while studying English.  Considering the tiny time I spent here, I got a great improvement and learned how to learn.  My favorite activity is the class because I can’t feel the time passing.  I liked most the great teachers I had.  My accommodation was very close to the school.  I will surely recommend EC Montreal.  I didn’t quite make friends here I’ve been on my own most of the time.  I will remember the crazy changing of the weather in the day time and the huge cultural difference between here and my home country. Maria Dulce I chose EC Montreal because this city is a big one in the world.  I learned many things in English.  Now, I am speaking more fast and understand how to listen because the pronunciation is very much improved.  I really liked my teacher Jayson.  I will recommend EC to a friend.  I had friends from Brazil and Colombia.  I liked very much the director of the school.  She speaks very well and easy.  I will remember the friends, teachers and the joy of the students. Study English abroad and choose Montreal!

EC Montreal has been hosting a family from Brazil for the past two weeks.  Sadly, this is their last week at EC Montreal.  Here is what they wanted to share about their EC experience: Teresinha Marques Nobrega From Brazil I chose EC Montreal because it was recommended to me by my friends.  It has been a very good experience for me.  My English skills improved by at least 70%.  All the activities are wonderful because we had a good teacher at the school.  The school and the lessons were all very good.  I will recommend EC to my friends. Yvettelane Nobrega From Brazil I had a great experience.  I learned grammar and vocabulary and I improved a lot my grammar.  My favorite activity was the grammar exercises in class because the teachers are very good, especially Dariia and Subarnasree.  This is a very good experience.  The staff is always available and there are many activities.  I will recommend EC to my friends.  I made friends from Venezuela, Korea and Brazil.  I will always remember my good classes and the good places I visited. Veriana Marcia Nobrega From Brazil I preferred EC Montreal because my English teacher in Brazil recommended it to me.  I learned very much how to listen to other people and to try to speak in English.  I learned different ways to learn English; exercises, pictures, conversations.  I think that I improved very much my skills, about 80%.  My favorite EC activity were the classes with Dariia and Subarnasree.  They teach very good!  I will recommend EC to a friend.  My new friends came from Korea, Colombia, Congo, Mexico, Japan and Brazil.  I will remember the education, organization, security and beautiful city of Montreal! Choose EC Canada and come to Montreal!

Henrique Gomes is a student from Brazil participating in EC Montreal’s intensive programme.  Sadly, Friday is his last day at EC.  Here is what he wanted to share about his EC experience: My experience at EC Montreal was good.  I cold learn more about language and to know different people of other parts of the world.  At EC Montreal, I love to listen and to speak and live with native speakers.  I would like to stay for at least 6 months but I can’t, unfortunately. I hope to come back in other opportunities to learn French and continue to improve my English skills. Thank you. Check out our Montreal English Academic year option and improve your English!

EC Montreal staff and students participated in a dynamic self-defense training session this afternoon as part of our May Health and Fitness month! This week was about learning a new skill. We hired a professional instructor who holds a black belt in martial arts to run the class. His first lesson was if any situation arises, the best thing to do is try to run. Don’t be a hero. The whole point of self-defense is learning how to get away from the attacker. We learned that self-defense is working on the defensive and using your own body’s strength to unbalance and weaken the attacker, so you can put them down and get away. We learned several different moves including how to defend yourself against someone holding a weapon, specifically a knife, how to lock someone’s arm and how to use your strength to defend yourself from an unexpected assault. We had 18 students participating and all did such an incredible job with all the defense skills.  They had a great time learning and you can tell they felt much more confident and powerful at the end of the session. Thank you to the wonderful EC Montreal team for organizing the lesson and for all the other healthy activities organized throughout the month of May. That’s a wrap for our health and fitness month! We look forward to June’s festival season at EC Montreal!

Hello Young Learners! My name is Lera Davliatshina and I am the new Student Services Coordinator for EC Montreal’s Young Learners program! Along with Taylor Lowe, the Young Learners Program Manager, I wanted to take a moment to express how excited we are for the program to start! We are currently working on preparations to make sure our Montreal Young Learners have the best summer yet! Our preparations so far have included finalizing weekly themes, which will be involved both inside and outside the classroom through lessons and projects, as well as afternoon activities and field trips. Our themes for this year are: Create a Nation, Media, Inventions, Dining, Power, and Art! We hope to use these fun and exciting themes to help engage student language learning – whether it’s English or French – and help stimulate conversation between students and their teachers, activity leaders, and Taylor and I! We have also completed our Young Learners Activity Calendar, which has our daily afternoon activities (and weekend trips!) scheduled. We can’t wait for the students to try some of our new activities available for the first time this year, such as the Apple Coding Workshop, a guided tour of Montreal’s City Hall, and a visit to local TV studio MAtv. Other than that, we have some classic favorites returning, such as: Laser Tag, Kickboxing and Go-Karting! Attached is our sample Activity Calendar for July and August! On another note, Taylor and I are feeling extremely confident in this year’s EC Montreal Young Learners team. Taylor has prepared an intensive 50-hour training schedule for our team, as we believe proper training is necessary to ensure the success of any program. Our training will include valuable workshops for our staff such as: Mental Health Training, Anti-Bulling and Violence Training, Risk Mitigation, and Effective … Read more