Communicating with the locals in Paris

Paris is perhaps one of the few places in Europe where walking up to someone and accosting them in English, with no attempt at opening the conversation in French, does not always get you the result you want. Paris may be the best example in Europe of a city in which it's better practice to study enough French, before your trip, so that you can, at a minimum, open a conversation with a polite phrase or survival phrase in French (Rick's book gives you these along with a phonetic pronounciation). And you probably want to avoid having your first question in French be "Parlez-vous anglais? If you make the effort to open up the conversation in French, Parisians will often switch over to English (I guess my French is painful to their ears). If you open up in English, it sometimes offends them that you didn't make an effort to speak French. Focus on saying just the key polite phrases given in Rick's books.

Kent's advice is good. To expand, many Parisians understand and speak English, but are proud of language and hesitant to display less than perfect skills.

It is essential to use good manners. Always use the basic courtesies in French - bonjour madame. Learn to say "I'm sorry, I don't speak French". "Desolez, j'nez parlais Francais". Basically, humble yourself so they don't have too. Remember, almost everyone speaks more English than folks in your town speak French. Make sure you express your appreciation. You'll be amazed how easy it is.

Helen,

The advice in the previous replies is spot on. Try to learn some of the common polite greetings, such as please, thankyou, etc. The "locals" will know from your pronunciation that you're not able to speak French, so they'll switch to English if they're able to.

You will undoubtedly encounter someone that speaks NO English. I've found that there's usually someone in the vicinity that can help. If it fits the situation, you could always point to the appropriate line in the Phrasebook, as they will understand that (however you may have difficulty with their reply).

When buying rail tickets on a couple of past occasions, I found that writing my request was more successful than speaking it. I concluded from those experiences that my pronunciation "needs some work" and so I've signed up for a French Level I course this spring. I'm heading back to France in May and June, so figured this would be a good time to get some lessons.

Are there any local colleges or language schools in your area that might offer short introductory courses? Another solution you might try is the Pimsleur language courses (Level I should be enough to get you started).

Good luck and happy travels!

If we approached the shopkeepers with French greetings/phrases, they usually responded in English. It was only when we were in small towns or villages out in the French countryside that we encountered people who spoke less English than I speak French (which is VERY little!). Paris was never a problem for us, and we only learned the basic "survival" French words/phrases.

Not only is it very common to to meet a European who speaks English, but that person will probably also speak French, Italian and maybe even several other languages. Many Europeans are highly educated in languages.

Do you realize you posted your question about Paris in the Italy section of the Traveler's Helpline? The Italy section is called "To the Boot". You want the "To the West" section instead.

Hi Helen,

Absolutely no need to worry about it - though remember the value of at least trying to speak the local language, even just a few words. People will appreciate you saying "Bonjour" or "Bonsoir" instead of just "Hello" right off the bat.

I think it is a little arrogant to assume most people speak english. Some do, some don't and often the ones that do either are very young( under 30) or shop keepers who do understand only a bit .

I think that no matter which country one goes to one should always learn how to greet and accost locals for help politely, and in their language.

To put things in perspective,, do you get alot of Asian tourists in Australia?? Do most Australians speak an asian language?

We get tons, but most of us speak only english here where I live.

Most people in the tourist industries will speak English well enough to function in their tasks, so you should be fine for the ordinary stuff. (English is the universal language of business and is widely taught in schools around the world.) It's when you want to communicate beyond the basics that you need to learn the native language. But absolutely do learn the courtesy phrases. It buys you tons of goodwill.

I went to Paris a few months ago, a weekend trip while studying abroad in Italy. I only knew enough to speak the niceties -- the hellos, and goodbyes, and pleases and thank yous. I also could grasp certain things like "how are you".

I found that running around Paris, greeting people warmly was enough. They were delighted that I at least knew the most basic of basic French, and made an effort to use it. They would switch to English, but would also make an effort to impart some new French phrase or word with me, which I appreciated.

The Parisians really aren't as bad as their reputation. I think that you'll be fine, as long as you have the right attitude.

Helen, go to www.bonjour.com It is a free website that says "you can learn french" It has the common phrases that you will need and you can click on each one and hear the pronunciation as many times as you want. It's fun to see the smiles you get when you say a word or two in French first. And even walking down the street when you need to say "excuse me" or "Good Evening" and you have said them in probably not so perfect French. Have Fun on your trip!