Lesl

Hi,

I'm a new Fodorite. We moved from the US to Montreal last year and enrolled our twin son & daughter (they're 12 now) in the French school system since we plan to be here long-term.

They've been such good sports about having to learn a new language that my husband and I have agreed to take them to Paris next summer. We have been to Europe before (Berlin), but none of the four of us has ever been to Paris outside of the airport. The kids speak a great "pre-teen" French, I can muddle along, and my spouse understands most everything but doesn't speak French that well, yet.

I have a couple of questions. We'd like to do all of the standard first-timer things (Eiffel, Louvre, shop, eat, wander), but we'd really like to do them IN FRENCH, which means we'd like to stay out of the North American tourist pack when possible. If people switch to English the minute we open our mouths, we're going to start to wonder why we left Montreal!

Any thoughts, suggestions, personal experiences?

Also, we are looking for an apartment to rent for about 2 weeks, end of June/beginning of July, budget US$2000/week. I'm thinking somewhere near Luxemburg gardens but I don't know Paris very well so I'm open to suggestions. Has anyone had experience with a good broker or apartment manager for this sort of thing?

Also, are we going to just MELT from the hot weather in July?! I've heard a lot of complaints about this, but late June is the earliest we can leave.

The other possibilty for us is to go in early March, but then we would only have one week free and I think with kids it would be fun to be able to wander around outdoors. I have seen the thread on Paris in March--sounds a little iffy weather-wise.

Bonne journée,

Leslie

rex

<<If people switch to English the minute we open our mouths, we're going to start to wonder why we left Montreal!>>

Ca ne passera jamais...

Meilleurs voeux,

Rex

ira

Dear L,

The folks in Paris are perfectly happy to speak to you in French, as long as you are reasonably fluent and take an interminable time to think of a word and don't have an abominable American high-school accent.

StCirq

I don't think there's a good answer to the French-speaking part of your question. If you want to do all the usual main sites of Paris you're going to automatically find yourself at least occasionally in the North American tourist pack. You can speak whatever language you choose to. You can grab the French audioguides at museums. You can see things with a French-speaking guide. You can order food in French. You can speak French among yourselves. But you can't necessarily make people respond to you in French, and in Paris if your grammar or pronounciation is poor, some people will inevitably try to speak English to you. So I don't know how anyone can give you much advice about that aspect of your trip.

It may be sweltering in Paris in July, or not. I'd recommend you find an apartment with A/C to be safe, though.

cocofromdijon

Bonsoir Leslie
when people start to answer you in English, just say " en français s'il vous plait, mais lentement (ou pas trop vite)"
I always find it cute when tourists make that effort...

bonne chance et bienvenue à bord!
corinne

Dave_in_Paris

If practicing French were your primary goal, I'd advise against staying in the St. Germain section of Paris, and suggest an arrondissement outside the "core" ones, like the 11th or the 20th. That would help to a certain extent, though the best way to avoid the shift into English is to go to the provinces.

Also, while I don't want to discourage you, you may find that Montreal French is difficult for some Parisians. French films from Canada are subtitled here!

AnselmAdorne

Lesl, I am an anglophone born in Montreal, raised in Quebec City, and now a resident of Nova Scotia. I am a frequent visitor to both Paris and Quebec. While there is an exception to every generalization, I think you will find that any attempt to initiate a conversation in French will be welcomed in Paris. In fact, both my wife and I have remarked that francophones in Montreal and Quebec switch more quickly to English when they hear my accent than has ever occured in Paris.

I think it's a great idea to take your kids to France. Our daughter went through French immersion here in NS and felt a lot more confident of her second language skills when we first took her to Paris. (And the immersion program worked--she's taking political science courses in both English and French at U of O and is planning an exchange year at a Science Po faculty in France next year.)

Anselm

PatrickLondon

You could also try making sure your apartment doesn't have Anglophone TV channels - or at least that you only watch the French ones.

JeffreyJ

Also, while I don't want to discourage you, you may find that Montreal French is difficult for some Parisians. French films from Canada are subtitled here!

Yup....recently I attended a lecture, in French, given in local Scottsdale, Arizona chapter of the Alliance Francaise. Afterwards I was asked by a couple of Parisian ladies if, given that my French is far from perfect, I had difficulty in following the talk. "Oh, I got most of it, but I found his accent a bit difficult" I replied....their reponse was a hoot of laughter and "NOUS, AUSSI!"

Christina

well, my experience is the contrary of some above. Mainly that I find people in Montreal and Quebec City are much less likely to switch to English when I am speaking French in those cities, than the do in the very central part of Paris. I don't have a French Canadian accent, I'm American, but most people talk to me in French in Canada.

I think you are going to find that in central Paris, they are going to switch to English A LOT, and there's not a lot you can do about it, except keep trying in French. Especially since from your description, none of you are very fluent in French.

I have met native French speakers from Montreal and Quebec City who told me that Parisians have even told them they couldn't understand their French. These were fluent speakers who have spoken French from birth.

The one thing you can do is stay in an arrondisement out of the center. You will be able to practice French more if you do that, in both eating establishments and stores. I like the Left Bank, specifically 14th-15th arrondisements, myself.

Lesl

None of us have been learning to speak French for more than about 2 years, so our anglo accents will be much more of an issue in Paris than whether we`re speaking Quebec French. I think the differences between the two ways of speaking French have more to do with pronouciation than with vocabulary anyway. I've certainly noticed some vowel-shifting in the way my kids speak (for example, in Montreal, the "ai" in "saint" is pronounced pretty much like it would be in English, a long A sound), and with a language that emphasizes vowels so heavily, it doesn't take much to become hard to understand! On the other hand, I can follow Parisian French just fine when I hear it on the radio/TV/movies, and I think most Quebecois would say the same thing.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, folks. It sounds like we could do our vacation "in French" if we make it a priority. I guess the main thing is to just start conversations in French and to try not to test people's patience too much with hemming and hawing.

Cheers,

Leslie

WallyKringen

Let the children do the French talking. If they politely and nicely, upon entering a shop or approaching a ticket window or whatever, say Bonjour Madame or Bonjour Monsier or Bonsoir or whatever, followed by s'il vous plait, and address their concerns nicely in French, they'll have success 9 times out of 10, even if they're a bit slow about it.

But if it comes to asking a French person to humour you while you hem and haw, that's asking too much - it they know English, they want to get the conversation over with and they will switch to English.

But even the busy and harangued everyday French are ever so indulgent with (well behaved!) children and with dogs. (Does yours speak French? Just kidding.)

WK

Dave_in_Paris

WK hits upon another reason why you'd be likely to have a little more success in an "outer" arrondissement: shops and restaurants there aren't as overwhelmed by visitors, and the people who tend them have more time to listen to "slow French."