My husband and I are planning a trip to Paris for my 40th birthday next July. I'm a little afraid to go to a country where I don't speak the language.

Will we be ok or do I truly have something to worry about?
Thanks,
Beverly

Absolutely nothing to worry about.
Of course you have plenty of time to learn a few phrases and the French will love you for speaking a "bon jour" to them. I've been many times, and I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I haven't gotten a lot further with my lanquage skills, but it certainly has never been a problem.

Please try to learn some basic words like please and thank you before your trip. As long as you are polite, people will be helpful and you should have a great time!

Hi ff,

Lucky you.

You have plenty of time to learn a few basic phrases.

Many of the people with whom you will come in contact will speak reasonably good English. Some of them will speak English very well.

Bon journee.

PS

>I'm a little afraid to go to a country where I don't speak the language.<

I moved to Georgia.

Ira!!! You crack me up!! I felt the same way when we were first transferrred to FL 35 years ago! It took me weeks before I could understand what anyone was saying...and then we got transfered to TEXAS!!

Even after 6 years od French in middle and high school..I can read fairly well..but spoken French eludes me! Just learn the basics and learn to pantomime!

I think it is scary the first time you go to a country where you don't speak the language, as you don't understand what's being said around you, nor what is written in many cases, and worry about how you'll manage. After the first time, you can see lots of folks do it and you see how you can cope, although some places are easier than others.

YOu won't have to worry about Paris, just be sure you have a hotel reservation and a plan for getting into town.

You have a whole year to learn some French. Do it - you'll have more fun.

I wish I had signed up for a Continuing Ed class in my town (for Italian), but I didn't have time. I used CDs which were OK, but have the big disadvantage of not giving you practice talking with other people.

Call your school district, or any other local adult education place you can think of and see if they have a quickie French class. Can you get by without it? Yes, but you really will have a better experience if you can get engaged a little.

If you decide to learn a little French before going, I'd suggest taking a course in conversational or travel French rather than a basic French course with conjugating nouns and other grammatical stuff. Spoken French is a different animal.

You will be fine IF you don't let it worry you. My dad knows a couple of phrases, that's it, but never has any trouble conversing in the universal language: signing. He's become quite good at pointing and smiling.

On other other hand, my cousin went with her family, and felt completely out of her element until I showed up, due to what she perceived as a language barrier.

This isn't covered in many Conversational French courses, but it's <b>extremely important</b>:

Whenever you have any kind of exchange with a French person, always start off with <i>bonjour, monsieur/madame/mademoiselle</i>. Always.

No matter if it's a cop you ask for directions, or a subway ticket seller. Always. Ditto when you enter a little shop where the only clerk is probably the owner. <i>Bonjour, monsieur.</i> Always.

When you finish an exchange, you always say <i>merci. Au revoir.</i> Always.

And if you ask <i>parlez-vous anglais?</i> instead of &quot;do you speak English?&quot; they will usually be more tolerant (even if they don't).

If you commute to work, there's a little CD from Berlitz called Rush Hour French that will give you some basic phrases and vocabulary in 15-minute chunks.

<i>Bonne chance!</i>

I find even better than a simple ..Parlez-vous Anglais...

try, Je suis d&eacute;sol&eacute;. je ne parle pas fran&ccedil;ais... parlez- vous anglais?

And inflection is most important! down on desole , down on francais, up on anglais!

A few polite phrases are always a nice gesture, and those, with a smile, will help a lot.

But don't make yourself nuts over the learning and the inflection, imo.
A Bonjour Madame or a Bonjour Monsieur will pretty much get you any thing you want--if that person can't speak English, someone else close by, can. If you're traveling by cab, you can always have your hotel write down your destination on a piece of paper to give to the driver.

Here's a fun mini lesson to get you started:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj/pronunciation/

I beg to differ...inflection is most important in trying to communicate in French!

Robespierre has said it perfectly. My first trip to Paris for a month, mostly on my own, I learned the basic polite phrases, altho' I admit I had a hard time remembering the &quot;madame, etc.&quot; after bonjour. So used to saying hi or hello at home without the male/female following. One time, while stumbing over ordering a glass of wine in French, the waiter said &quot;just speak English&quot;! Kinda rude but just shows how many French people speak English.

You will have no problem. If you'd like to learn some French words and even hear the pronunciation go to travlang.com. You can get all the basics.

Do not worry about knowing the language. You will love Paris.