How well does Google translate work in Paris?

It'll "work" just as well in Paris as it does anywhere. Honestly, unless you have a very specialized mission, it's highly likely that every person you will deal with in Paris will be able to speak and understand English (most of them about as well as you or I do).

Google Translate can come in handy in a pinch -- I once relied on it to buy an expensive musical instrument in a Tokyo specialty instrument shop where nobody spoke a word of English (I speak no Japanese), and it was good enough for my negotiations there. But as a tourist in Paris, you are probably going to only encounter people whose English is perfectly good, if not perfect. Yes, it's nice to memorize a handful of "polite words" and phrases, but using a gizmo for basic conversations is awkward. I'd put away the digital crutch and just be polite, you will be fine. Maybe there will be a unique technical term you need (as I encountered in that musical instrument store) and you can resort to the device if needed, but for the basics, for almost every tourist, I think one should just go with the few French words you do know/can learn (it's not hard), smile, be friendly, and make conversation as best you can. Start every encounter with a smile and a cheerful Bonjour! and sprinkle "merci" as needed (they appreciate the small formalities more than we might expect).

It's hard for me to imagine that someone really had trouble finding anyone who speaks English in a Paris train station. There's really very little language barrier.

I would cross this (how well Google Translate works in Paris) off your list of things to worry about. Bon chance!

Thanks, that’s exactly what I thought but then I saw the comment under the post about getting to Chartres and it made me wonder. OK thanks!

While we had a bit of a miscommunication with the ticket seller in Paris for the Chartres train, we were able to finally get our ticket. it sometimes just takes a little patience. I really don't think you need google translate. I believe Rick Steves guide tells you what window to buy the train tickets in our at least it used to.

Thirty plus years ago, I made my first visit to France. No one spoke English. Or if they did, they wouldn't.

Fast forward to today, and I found most people who deal with tourists speak enough English. I'm more prone to use Google Translate when trying to read something in another language.

I've rarely used the "speech" function of Google translate. I remember once, in the UK, I needed something from the housekeeper. She spoke no English. I found out she was from Romania. I spoke English into the phone, and out it came in Romanian. It must have worked because I got what I needed.

English is the most popular "second" language in the world.

More important is to follow the customs of greeting first, question later. This is a real conversation I overheard in a cafe:

Tourist to waiter: "Toilet?"

Waiter (in English): "No, Monsieur, I am not a toilet, I am a waiter."

I also found that when trying to converse in my rudimentary French, they switched to English. I didn't take it personally.

A few people have told me they would let me try speaking or listening in French if I wanted, but that I should feel free to ask in English if I didn't understand. I appreciated their patience as I tried!

"A few people have told me they would let me try speaking or listening in French if I wanted"

It's all good, as long as you're not holding up a line of people.

It's highly likely that every person you will deal with in Paris will be able to speak and understand English (most of them about as well as you or I do).
This is a common misconception and it just isn't true. Yes, there are good chances that people that can help you get what you need. Servers and hotel workers are going to be hired for their extra linguistic skills but your average Jacques only took English in school and is probably as bilingual as the majority of people on here who took French, Spanish, or German in high-school. The notion that everyone speaks English now is such an American point of view. I witnessed a table of Americans yesterday trying to joke around with their waiter - he smiled and laughed a lot and the anglophones seemed oblivious.

Ha! Well I have the google app on my phone just in case I need the translate function. It may just come in handy!

The notion that everyone speaks English now is such an American point of view.

Nobody ever said that "everyone speaks English."

But as a foreign tourist, doing typical foreign tourist things, pretty much everyone that you would need to/want to interact with, will understand and speak enough English for you to get by. Because that's what they do every day. And using an electronic device for conversations instead is going to be awkward, will probably seem weird, perhaps rude, to many people (not just Parisians).

The larger point remains: Nobody should worry about some great language barrier. There isn't one. Apply a little common sense, a good attitude, common courtesy and a few respectful words, and any monoligual English speaker will be able to get by just fine. Be polite. It's considered polite to begin any conversation -- even a quick interaction in a shop or at a ticket window -- with a friendly "hello" or "excuse me", and end one with "thank you" and/or "goodbye." That will help smooth over most encounters, even if every other word you speak is in English (simple, slow, clearly spoken, unaccented English -- that's also respectful, since you are implicitly asking them to help you by speaking your language...rapid, strongly-accented English filled with slang or complex constructions only makes it more difficult for them to help you, so keep it simple). If it's all you can manage, do memorize bonjour, pardon, merci and au revoir -- and use them liberally.

No, of course "everyone speaks English" is not true. But enough of the people that tourists will encounter do, and with just a tiny bit of effort on your part, that's enough to get by without much trouble. If you have to resort to an electronic aid, you can always do that, but it's rarely necessary.

Lots of people in shops speak no English especially if you don't live in tourist central and if they do, their English may be very limited -- to just the most common transactions they do. Just as my French is very limited.

Google translate works for simple things but it is unsophisticated and often can't effectively translate what you need. One example. We were seated to the left on the balcony for a theater performance and our ticket described that in a way I didn't understand. Google translated as 'left trash basket' --

We used Google Translate mainly to translate the signs. And it works well doing that. We set up Google translate to access our cameras on our phones and when we pointed the camera at the words on a sign, it would translate it.
For example, we pulled into a parking spot in Germany. There was a sign that warned of something "verboten" so we used the camera to translate it and it said "Don't park backwards". So we knew we could park there.
As for trying to use it to speak to other people, we never found a need to use it. But we were in tourist areas where they are used to dealing with tourists.

We were seated to the left on the balcony for a theater performance
and our ticket described that in a way I didn't understand. Google
translated as 'left trash basket'

"trash basket" is the translation of the French word "Corbeille".

This word has two meanings in French, the one found by Google translate, the container in which you throw papers, but also in a theater it designates the first floor (or balcony)

Know that your seat location has been simplified, instead of "left" he could have mentioned "Coté jardin" (garden side) which refers to the entire left side of the theater. The right side is called "coté cour" (yard side).

And just to complete also know that the level above the balcony is called "Le Poulailler" (The henhouse) because in the past there was a grid at this level to prevent disgruntled spectators from throwing objects or food .

So you could have had a seat called "Poulailler coté jardin , which is translated by Google " Chicken coop on the garden side".

And you might have thought that Google translate had gone crazy

you might look for the Monty Python translation sketch. My hovercraft is full of eels ...

@phred LMAO!

I, too, find the hovering function of Google Translate to be very handy for signs and menus. I have used it to speak for me before. I told my Uber driver in Paris that I thought his car smelled good. He chuckled after I played the translation for him. 😊

I took several years of French in junior high and high school, but that was back in the 80s. I have been refreshing my French through Duolingo. But back in 2018, when I stayed in Paris for 4 days, I still struggled a bit. I was speaking Frenglish. 🤪

your friends seem to speak French I see.

I think it was Rick who made the point that if you're willing to act like you're 5 or 6, and point and pantomime, you can communicate pretty well anywhere. And not to keep beating this empty bag, but most places that encounter tourists have to have some level of comprehension of the most popular languages. I've been doing this long enough to remember when my wife would go into a LV store in Paris and it was full of Japanese tourists, and whaddaya know the salespeople knew enough Japanese to earn their pay. Now it would be Chinese.

Re: "if they did, they wouldn't. " No doubt that has happened to me too. I am sure that in the course of travels in France I have come across that too, especially one time in Metz in 2001 at check-in when the woman saw my US passport.

On the other hand, on "or they wouldn't" I have been told this , both times different occasions by French women, who were fluent in English, that why should the French speak English " when it is you who has the language problem in France ? Just to placate the Americans?" Hearing that answer I saw the validity of their point.

"The notion that everyone speaks English now is such an American point of view." How true !

"The notion that everyone speaks English now is such an American point of view"

While it's not everyone, it is the universal language of aviation, of business, of diplomatic affairs, and ESL is probably the number 1 choice of languages taken by grade school students, worldwide ... UNLESS it's forbidden by the dictatorship of the day.

I am not sure I understand the latest comment... Many people live in Paris without speaking French, and they get by. As a tourist, you will have even less trouble. I cannot imagine many situations here, where you, as a tourist, would interact with someone who does not speak English and is unable to ask for the help of someone who does.

And the few people who seem gruff or rude when you speak English to them, are probably just as rude in French!

"I am not sure I understand the latest comment"

What is it you don't understand?

And the few people who seem gruff or rude when you speak English to them, are probably just as rude in French!

Good point! You can (and will) meet many people all around the world who respond the exact same way -- including native English speakers right here across the USA, speaking your and their first language.   It's got little to do with any perceived "language barrier."

I didn't have trouble in Paris using English, but stuck to Spanish when I was concerned about appearances.

A month ago I spent 3 interesting hours at dinner with a Ukrainian family using nothing but Google translate. Awkward but it worked. But that wasn't in France, so who knows?

“More important is to follow the customs of greeting first, question later.”

What Frank II said is the most important advice of all. Always say “Bonjour Madame/Monsieur” before you say anything else, even if you have to speak in English after that.

JoLui, that is so interesting, and so funny.

English is also the universal language in the computer/video games/tech world.

@periscope, the comment I did not understand was not yours, it got deleted since!

For improving my language skills I hope most of the time no one speaks English in France, for that Paris is not the best place nowadays. Learning a language goes better if you have nothing to fall back on, you get more focused and somehow it works (for me). Sometimes I have mixed conversations, switching from French to English and back if it becomes too difficult.