Paris is a relatively easy city if you speak English and no French. Yeah, you'll run into some rude people as you would in any very large city, but they're rude to everyone, not just anglophones.

A few tips:

- Ask (in French) if someone speaks English before you start speaking to them in English: "Vous parlez anglais?" (voo par-LAY anh-GLAY?)

- The big department stores all have tourist desks. Stop there first, and you can get 10% discount coupons for anything in the store, and you can get information from English-speakers. (Don't expect all of the sales clerks to speak English, though.)

- Many restaurants, especially those in the areas where you're likely to find yourselves, will have menus with English translations. When you order, be sure to point to the item on the menu (so that the waiter can read it for himself, in French).

- 90% of your success will be from having a positive and polite approach, and a sense of humor. Most people will be willing to cut you some slack, and if you do the same toward them you'll be just fine.

Chere Madam,

Pas se soucie de ne parlant pas Français. Nous connaissons des barbares, hiques et yoquels.

Please explain to me why it is necessary to ask in French if English is spoken. Won't you know just as well if the question is posed politely in English?

Asking in English is assuming that the other person speaks English. There are people in Europe who don't speak English. If you happen across one of them and ask them an English question, you'll get nowhere. If you ask in their native tongue they'll know what you asked and be able to tell you "no."

Besides, if you ask in a person's native tongue you get an "A" for effort. It shows the person you're speaking to that you at least tried a little. If you ask in English you flunk the effort part. This helps in any language, not just French.

We were in Paris about 10 years ago and I remember an American we were travelling with complaining that things in Europe should be more like the states. He said using different money was annoying and everyone should use US dollars. He also loudly proclaimed that everyone should speak English. With an atitude like that I don't blame Parisians for being a little rude.

When we were there we used our limited French. It was so poor that the French people quickly spoke English to us (I guess it was painful to litsten to). They seemed to appreciate the effort and were most gracious. You won't have any problems.

Your reassuring replies are most appreciated! I'll definitely look into the "In-Flight French" CDs and keep studying the books we've already picked up. Both my husband and I are happy travelers and I know we'll love this exposure to another place new to us. Merci!

Ira,
Gotta love FreeTranslation.com:

Chere Madam,

Pas se soucie de ne parlant pas Français. Nous connaissons des barbares, hiques et yoquels.

=

Dear Madam,

Does not be concerned with not speaking French. We know barbarians, hiques and yoquels.

indytravel, my post was poorly phrased or interpreted. Whether you ask "Pardon, parlez-vous anglais" or "Excuse me, do you speak English" should provide the same answer. In my experience in most of the countries of western Europe asking the question in English was never treated with anything but courtesy. The answer was either (1)yes, (2)a little or (3)a shrug of the shoulders, a shake of the head accompanied by what I assumed to be an apology for not being able to help. But then, I'm a nice person who inspires gracious replies.

In a little town where we landed to tie up the barge for the night "Chalon Sur Soane", the port-master came running down to us...I grinned and nodded "bonjour monsieur" ... he back and started to "conversate"!!!!! Now I stood there like the proverbial deer in headlights! I can ask for a glass of wine, but to respond to a conversation?
At least I got the gist...he was warning us that the electric unit we were about to plug into was faulty and wanted us to use another and to tell us the showers would be closed at 10:00

don't worry. be polite, learn to say please, thank you, how to order red wine, a cafe au lait and a croissant.

babaldas:

You will be just fine. My French vocabulary is limited, my grammar mangled and my accent atrocious. But I never had ANY problems whatsoever in Paris.

99% of the time, I found that approaching people with "Parlez-vous Anglais" garnered a response of "a little." Which, in reality, means "Quite a lot, actually. You will be impressed!" Only, like, 2 people didn't speak ANY English (or at least said they didn't) and with them I just kind of mimed what I wanted and used my broken French to get my point across.

Additionally, I found that the people I came across were actually very patient and indulgent with my attempts to speak their language.NO ONE was rude. Basic indifference was the worst attidude that we encountered. And a surprising number of people were downright friendly (Quelle surprise!) Anyway, don't let people scare you off from the Parisians.

Finally, I second the suggestion to pick up a copy of the In Flight French CD. I used a copy of the Italian version for the Italy leg of our trip and it worked great. I got by just fine.

Have a wonderful time in Paris!!
Jennie :)

In answer to the question "why learn how to ask (in French) if they speak English?," consider the following:

While walking down the street in your hometown, someone stops and says "Anata wa nihongo go wo hanasemusaka?". There's a good chance you wouldn't know what s/he's saying or asking -- it could be innocuous or it could be urgent.

But if the same person asks, even in a heavy accent, "Do you speak Japanese?," then you'd at least have a clue. Plus, if you spoke no Japanese, you might even
be able to point the individual toward someone who can.

Rather than learn the language, first read Polly Platt's books to understand why the French consider Americans to be the most rude etc. You will learn the "magic phrase" that will always get you help and a smile. And remember, they all studied English in school and have some degree of proficiency in our language. These humorous books will tell you why they usually will not let you know this.

Rizzuto: Thank you for kindly providing the Japanese phrase for getting started in Paris.

Otherwise, I would have to use the only Japanese phrase I remember: watakusi wa anata o aiyisimasu

(I love you)

which probably wouldn't get me too far! :)

easytraveler

I am in the process of hiring the local high school French tutor to teach our family some French before our trip in March. I wouldn't do it if it were just DH and I, but I think our kids will enjoy the trip more if they can speak a bit of the language...plus, I'm trying to expose my kids to several foreign languges before they have to choose one to study in high school. (Plus I'm hoping people will be nicer to us if there are 3 cute kids trying to speak French with a Texas accent!)

Hi Babaldas,

>Gotta love FreeTranslation.com:

Right. That was a pretty good English-French-English translation.

While the information here may be good, it is a 10 year old thread.

> While the information here may be good ...

Advertisement? Am not sure but the URL Gerrit posted says ..
"Stop! The rest of this lesson is only available to AL French Pro members. Upgrade to AL French Pro now and get full access to all our amazing audio files and learning resources. "