You don't necessarily need to speak French to make it in Montreal. Like others have said, a lot of suggestions will depend on what your ultimate goals are.
I'll throw a suggestion out of left-field. Your age is possibly working in your favor when it comes to living in Vancouver.
If I was interested in gaming, having a good time, and getting in on the ground level in Vancouver cliques, I would consider living in university residence.
I'm not sure what UBC Res has for rules these days, but that is what I would check on first. In many cases, they open up some of the residence choices to "students" who are neither regular nor full-time. So, you could be taking a language or real estate class at Robson Square and you can get in to the student residence selection. They probably won't let you stay in Totem or Vanier (those are for full-time undergrads, generally), but you don't want to stay there anyway. You want to aim for Fairview Crescent or better. If you can get in there, you are talking about paying (possibly) a few hundred bucks a month to live at Point Grey. You are in an extremely nice area and only a few minutes from downtown Vancouver by bus or car.
You could consider a slight variation of this and try to get in to a house-share around Kits Beach. There are a lot of students who rent out 5/6/7/8 bedroom houses in this area and they are often looking for another roommate.
For your consideration, a few websites:
http://vancouverhomestayagency.com/
https://canadahomestaynetwork.ca/
https://www.rentboard.ca/rentals/student...locid=1040
http://www.eslrent.com/
https://www.search4studenthousing.com/
https://www.uvrentsline.com/
I have seen several people go the student(ish) housing route to live in Vancouver on the cheap. If you are looking to have a good time in the city and keeping your budget in control, it is probably the best way to go. I assume (from your age) that you aren't looking to grab a condo in the Shangri-La (yet).
If you are looking elsewhere, obviously avoid Hastings and anything on that side of the waterfront. I would also avoid the 'burbs or Surrey. That's a fairly boring area to be in. North Vancouver might actually be a better choice at that point, as you will be able to get a nice place for much cheaper than the city-side of the bay.
As for women, what do you like? Montreal has more sexually-open, warmer white girls. There are also (my experience) more brown girls in Montreal (Indian, Pakistani, etc.). Vancouver is called Hongcouver for a reason. If you like Asians, go West young man. Mainlanders, Hongkongers, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese. They are all there. If you like the banana-types, they are all over the place. If you like FOB Asian girls, hit up UBC and SFU.
That's all I've got for now.
I'll throw a suggestion out of left-field. Your age is possibly working in your favor when it comes to living in Vancouver.
If I was interested in gaming, having a good time, and getting in on the ground level in Vancouver cliques, I would consider living in university residence.
I'm not sure what UBC Res has for rules these days, but that is what I would check on first. In many cases, they open up some of the residence choices to "students" who are neither regular nor full-time. So, you could be taking a language or real estate class at Robson Square and you can get in to the student residence selection. They probably won't let you stay in Totem or Vanier (those are for full-time undergrads, generally), but you don't want to stay there anyway. You want to aim for Fairview Crescent or better. If you can get in there, you are talking about paying (possibly) a few hundred bucks a month to live at Point Grey. You are in an extremely nice area and only a few minutes from downtown Vancouver by bus or car.
You could consider a slight variation of this and try to get in to a house-share around Kits Beach. There are a lot of students who rent out 5/6/7/8 bedroom houses in this area and they are often looking for another roommate.
For your consideration, a few websites:
http://vancouverhomestayagency.com/
https://canadahomestaynetwork.ca/
https://www.rentboard.ca/rentals/student...locid=1040
http://www.eslrent.com/
https://www.search4studenthousing.com/
https://www.uvrentsline.com/
I have seen several people go the student(ish) housing route to live in Vancouver on the cheap. If you are looking to have a good time in the city and keeping your budget in control, it is probably the best way to go. I assume (from your age) that you aren't looking to grab a condo in the Shangri-La (yet).
If you are looking elsewhere, obviously avoid Hastings and anything on that side of the waterfront. I would also avoid the 'burbs or Surrey. That's a fairly boring area to be in. North Vancouver might actually be a better choice at that point, as you will be able to get a nice place for much cheaper than the city-side of the bay.
As for women, what do you like? Montreal has more sexually-open, warmer white girls. There are also (my experience) more brown girls in Montreal (Indian, Pakistani, etc.). Vancouver is called Hongcouver for a reason. If you like Asians, go West young man. Mainlanders, Hongkongers, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese. They are all there. If you like the banana-types, they are all over the place. If you like FOB Asian girls, hit up UBC and SFU.
That's all I've got for now.
Currently out of office.