Speaking French

Observe these common French courtesies and you'll do fine: 1. When you enter a store, even if you don't intend to buy anything, greet the clerk with "Bonjour, madame/monsieur." When you leave the store, say "Au revoir, madame/monsieur." 2. Make liberal use of "s'il vous plait" and "meri beaucoup." 3. Always ask, "Parlez-vous anglais?" before launching into English.

When you show respect for the French language and culture, you most likely will be greeted with a smile and a genuine offer to be of help. Once you've made an attempt to speak a little French, people who are comfortable with English will likely answer in English.

Ellen - last time I was in Paris (about 3 years ago) I was surprised at how much more friendly and accomodating everyone seemed. I had a not as good experience as a young woman but thinking back I realize that I was so shy about my lack of French that I really never tried even the most basic of phrases. This last time with a few more countries and many more years under my belt I still had the same few words and sentences available to me but I spoke them often - including the one that says "I am sorry, my French is very bad" - said with a big apologetic smile. Attempting to order in French even if it means pointing and saying "ques que c est" or "what is that" seemed to be much more polite than automatically speaking English. Of course, 9 times out of 10 the waiter, salesperson, would respond to me in very good English. Paris is a big cosmopolitan city very used to it's many visitors who speak German, Italian, Spanish, and yes, English. Speak the little that you know - you'll be fine!

Whilst we were only in Paris for 5 nights, and none of the family speak any French - I did German at high school, we didn't have any trouble. We did attempt to learn a few basic words and phrases and managed quite well. I was quite concerned at our lack of language before we went as I had heard the urban myth about the French being so arrogant, but didn't find this and actually found everyone very helpful even when they also had limited English.

first I want to give you an example of how "rude" the French can be. read the post at http://tinyurl.com/3cb5cr

But here's where it gets MUCH better. This guy is actually a language teacher, a Canadian who speaks french fluently BTW and has a company teaching english to immigrants. Yet he still blew it. His problem was he ignored the common rules of courtesty. As others have pointed out, no matter what the emergency (including being on fire) the first word out of your mouth is ALWAYS "bonjour". I have also read this in the fascinating books by Polly Platt for people moving/visiting France.

Before I went to France a few years ago I worked thru the first 8 lessons of Pimsleur. I could say "please", "where is", "how much", and not a lot else. But I almost always found that if I started in French the people were willing to meet me way more than half-way. On the other hand, I saw them quite irritated with people who's first words were in english.

I agree w/ other posters that speaking basic courteous phrases in French before asking if the person speaks English works 99% of the time. My standard "line" is: Bonjour, madame/monsieur. Pardon, je parle un petite, petite francais (using thumb and forefinfger to show a small amount.Parlez-vous anglais? Almost always the person would slowly say they had a little English. Smiles, pointing to items, saying "merci, s'il vous plait" often has worked well except for the occasional rude person who would be rude no matter where he/she lived. I keep my phrase book w/ me always and pointing to a word/phrase in this also helps. Bon voyage!

Je suis desolée, mon français est très mauvais.

Ellen, don't worry about your French language skills in Paris. You'll likely encounter a few people that aren't able to communicate in English, but I doubt you'll have too much trouble.

With the people I encountered, I found varying levels of skill - some were very proficient in English, while others had to struggle with it (much the same as I am when speaking French). My "high school French" didn't help much - I'll have to work on that before my next visit to France.

It's a good idea to at least make an effort with basic greetings and so on, and also to speak slowly and clearly without using abbreviations or "slang".

Good luck & happy travels!

Ahh, the French! They have too many vowels and pronounce none of them just as the Slavic languages have too many consonants and pronounce them all. Every time we have gone to la belle France we have enountered lovely, polite wonderful people who, if they don't like Americans, are at least polite enough not to show it.

On the other hand, on my first trip to France I was so excited to see the Eiffel Tower that I jumped into the first taxi and excitedly asked to be taken to the Eiffel Tower. The driver did not move or look in my direction. He said only, "NO!" I tried several more times. Finally he reluctantly said in fractured English, "I will not take you until you pronounce it correctly!" and he was not laughing when he said it. I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "You ignorant Americans! Eet as Eiffel!" (pronounced as Gallic as you can imagine). To which I replied by getting out and hailing another cab. Don't you love the French!

Ellen, Twenty words you're perfect !!!!

Just returned from my 3rd visit with a similiar vocabulary and had a Great time.

As long as you try, that's all that counts.

20 or more sentences is probably 5 times as many sentences as the average tourist can say in Paris!

I will echo the thoughts of the other readers. I knew almost no French on my recent trip to Paris, however, I used the basics liberally (Hello, please, thank you, etc) and found everyone to be quite helpful. Remember, Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world. Many people are trying to communicate to the locals. You will not make a fool of yourself. Be confident to use what you know and learn from your mistakes.

Bon voyage!

How easy to enjoy with no French? I really think that depends on attitude, not skill.

So don't worry! Be a cheerful, a little humble, say things like, hello, excuse me, please, thank you, and you will have a ball.

Ellen, I well remember my first trip to France and being very nervous about speaking French. I need not have been. If you have the chance, before you speak, go over in your mind what you are going to say in a particular situation. Rehease it out loud a few times. Then address the person as madame or monsieur, s'il vous plait. Never ever say je veux(I want),instead say je voudrais (I would like). Another tip: try working on numbers. They are words you'll use often, and doing this forces you to think in French. Bon voyage.