It's absolutely worth the trip. One of Montreal's secrets is that half the place speaks English, but the signs have had to be in French for so long that visitors think everything is only in French.

Montrealais have a very intricate dance when it comes to language. I've studied it for years. Francophones are far more annoyed with a lifelong resident that still hasn't learned enough French to buy a bagel than they are with an American that isn't aware of the battle lines.

Then again, francophones are not interested in letting you in the club. Deep down, Quebec is very northern New England... and you aren't of the body. They get annoyed that movies from Quebec gets subtitles in France, even though there are six million francophone Quebecois speaking what could be summarized as Ozark French versus sixty million French citizens wondering why these people haven't given up to the damn Irish already.

Thus you get a plateau problem (especially in The Plateau, one of the nice parts of town). Either you're a total foreigner so we'll just speak English with you, or you've been in Montreal long enough that "keh ska zzi luh" should mean something to you. ("Qu'est-ce qu'il a dit, là?", "What'd he just say there?") Everything in between is "ça m'tente plus de practiquer la belle langue a'c cette tête carrée, hein?" (I'm fed up with practicing Molière's tongue with this block head, eh?).

In summary: you're a tourist. Feel free to speak English. Just overdo your American accent.

Oh, and "stationnement interdit" means no parking. They've changed all the "Attendez les clignotants feux verts" (Wait for the flahsing green light) signs into symbols. Oh, and a flashing green serves the job of a left turn arrow. Oh, and just like New York City: no right on red on Montreal island.

I have a horrible problem that my English heads into the local anglophone accent when I'm there too long. All of the sudden I'm the kid from Ontario that I always wished I had been when I was a kid watching the CBC out of Kingston.