Heading to France and Don't Speak French
 

Can anyone give me suggestions on communicating in France when I don't speak French?
I have heard that the French would rather speak English than have you try to speak French.
How does someone approach someone and ask if they speak English?

Say Bonjour monsieur or Bonjour Madame. Merci beaucoup. =Thank you
S'il vous plait- please
Parlez-vous Anglais? Do you speak English?
I find the French to be very nice, helpful and polite. Have fun and Bon Voyage.

Also learn to say " Je voudrais (Je voo-dray)which means I would like. With this you can order anything in a restaurant. Well of course you need to be able to read the menu but it will come in handy.

Most of them do speak English. Don't bother asking. Say "Bonjour" or "Bonsoir", and then just start speaking English. If they don't understand, they'll let you know one way or another; or they'll get somebody else to help you.

I find that asking "Parlez-vous Anglais" has little function and no benefit, except for them to just say "No".

Hi L,

>How does someone approach someone and ask if they speak English?

Bonjour/Bon soir, Monsieur/Madame.
Parlez vous anglais, s'il vous plait?

They will often say, "A little".

You can listen to the pronunciation at
www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

I disagree. I think you should ask Parlez vous anglais. Try both ways then.

>I find that asking "Parlez-vous Anglais" has little function and no benefit,

Similar to those useless waste of words like "thanks" and "please"

Lat post is arrogant, and explains why some French find tourists annoying.
How would YOU like it if you worked at a restaurant in YOUR town, and some French tourist came in and said " hello , je voudrais une biere est apres ......" get it, a bit presumtious and arrogant.

Always say Bonjour monsieur or madame, and it is polite to say , " je suis desole, je ne parlez pas francais, parlez vous anglais? " It is not too hard to learn that and it shows politeness. And the last poster is wrong, not everyone speaks english..
How rude.

Wow. travelme and I agree on something!

Do not launch into English. It gets right up the nose of many French people. I witnessed a waiter forgetting all his English when a party of Americans opened their discussion in that language.

Greet with Bonjour or Bonsoir (Good day or Good evening). If you cannot get your head or your tongue around "parlez-vous anglais?" then ask in English. Do that, and almost every person you deal with will try to work with you. Even those with just about no English is likely to try to help you. It's all tied up with something that is culturally important in France: la politesse.

I have found the French to be extremely polite and helpful (for the most part). And they DO appreciate it if you say a few words in French first. In Paris lots of people do speak English - but not so much in the provinces (except of course the hoteliers). I love to go where they don't speak any English, so I can practice my (very limited)French!

Wonders will never cease, Padraig. Lets call a truce! Pas de guerre entre nous. Juste de la paix!

When (foreign) tourists have asked me in my (touristy) European home town, if I knew French, Spanish, or English, I rarely heard anything but "Parlez-vous Français?", "Habla Usted Español?", or "Do you speak English?".
I would find it odd if some Englishman asked me in German if I was speaking English. Polite, maybe - but odd and illogical anyway.

The usual exception are Italian tourists who would ask me in Italian anyway -- which I do not speak, but is always fun to see if a mix of French and Spanish gets the job done.

In Europe, we deal with languages and language barriers all the time, so one should not get totally paranoid about it.

But "Parlez-vous Anglais, s'il vous plaît" is indeed a bit too much "please", IMO :-)

Hi Linda, here's my golden rule, when you enter a shop it considered polite to smile and greet the shop staff. Here in Australia, it's not necessarily done and often I wish the staff would leave me alone to browse. However, NOT in France. The staff will generally return your greeting and let you wander around the store, don't forget to say au revoir as you leave. It's a lovely custom and should be encouraged. I agree with Travelme as we also found the French to be extremely polite and very welcoming.Only three sleeps now until we leave for Italy and France - can't wait!!

I have to agree with Bozama, the French are abominably ignorant of other languages (after all, French is the only important language, isn't it). According to a survey reported on the official European Union website (www.europa.eu), less than half of all people in France speak any other language, and only 1 in 3 speaks English.

Fortunately, those French who can speak English tend to congregate around where tourists are, so, if you stick to tourist areas, you should find someone who understands you.

Cowboy1969- to add to this, in Italian, "Parla inglese?" is, "Do you speak English?"

LindaBrinck did not say if she speaks others languages but I think not. I would say in French, "I do not speak French but Italian or English". Nine out of ten times they replied in French to speak Italian. My experiences in Paris and country is what was mentioned above, English is pretty much spoken in Paris but not as much outside it.

I will be there in August and will again use Italian as I do not speak French except for the few greetings mentioned above.

OOps, Cowboy1968 not 1969, sorry!

I reallly feel, if you try the expressions abovementioned and say in French, "I do not speak French, only Enlish" (can someone translate and give pronounciation for LindaBrinck) you will be fine.

"the French are abominably ignorant of other languages (after all, French is the only important language, isn't it). According to a survey " Larryin Colorado wrote
Ok Larry, how many languages do you speak other than English?
Linda, this Larry is suggesting that you only stay in the tourist areas. What a loss that would be! You will be fine to venture out and when you do you will be surprised that you somehow communicate with people. Maybe from now until your trip you could pick up a CD and learn some French or take an adult ed class.

Since everyone else is chiming in with their 2 cents, I'll do so also.

I'd strongly recommend what travelme suggested (learning to say "hello," "please," "thank you," "good bye," "do you speak English" in the local language). That's usually enough. I would strongly advise against simply launching into English without asking first -- I've found it's always wise to ask the person if they speak English first.

My experience suggests that many Europeans (and French people in particular) resent the notion some US tourists have that everyone on the Continent speaks English. While many do, that's just not always the case. But at least trying a little of the local tongue usually produces a friendly and helpful response -- often they'll switch over to English without being asked if you try a little French.

I've also found that in French shops and other places of business, it's customary to greet the salesperson ("Bonjour monsieur" or "Bonjour madame") first thing upon entering. Unlike in the US, it's considered rude not to do so in France.

>>Ok Larry, how many languages do you speak other than English?

Only one other, fluently, although I "dabble" in a third. That's more than half of the French.

I studied Spanish in school for 6 years and enjoy every chance to use it when travelling.

I have enjoyed reading the posts and the dfferent points of view.

I will print the posts and try to get pronunication tips from our tour guide.

MERCI everyone!

Linda Brinckerhoff