MelissaHI

I'm going to Paris in late Sept/early Oct and my friend would like to tag along with her 13 year old daughter. The problem is, she's deaf. She can read lips, so that's a plus. And, her daughter has been very adept as serving as her "little secretary" since she was a toddler.

The other problem is, none of us speaks French! I've been to Paris several times and this has not been a problem, but I'm worried for her, on days that we are on our own.

I'm going to have a flash card (in French) made to say, "My friend is deaf but she can read lips," since I notice many people tend to talk to her back while she's shopping. And a couple of flash cards and dictionaries for her daughter. Outside of that, do you have any tips for us?

travelbunny

What good would a sign in French be? Your friend can not lip read French. I am not hearing impaired but I do know that when a French person does speak English the "accent" results from the vowel or consonant being generated slightly differently so I think even if he/she was speaking some English it might be difficult for her to lip read. That being said, go and enjoy but travel in tandem (either you or her daughter with your friend).

mahya

I think I mentioned on another thread that I have a friend who is totally deaf - wasn't always, but some kind of ear virus when she was in her 40's. She had the cochlear implant operation which is about the price of a fully loaded sports or luxury car....and I can tell you - she's still reading lips. If you talk to her not facing her, the implant really is not doing its job - at all. Nevertheless, keeping that in mind, and helping out when she doesn't "get it", you and she can still have a ball - as we did on our last trip.

I don't know about a card saying " I am deaf". My friend would not have liked that - although I did explain to people who were talking to her to face her so she could read lips. I'm not so sure there would be a problem reading lips that move with an accent - after all, Americans from different areas of the country have different accents, for instance Texans' drawl would certainly be different than my yankee speech.

nessundorma

Yes, the card needs to say -- in French -- that your friend's daughter is deaf but she reads lips in English.

Many French people not only speak English, but they prefer speaking English to non-French speaking Americans. Most of us who speak a little French have a lot of difficulty getting accepted by Parisians. Please reassure the 13-year-old not to take it personally!

Does the girl use sign language? I would have thought that was a universal language.

nona1

Sign languages are specific to countries and not international, just like spoken languages. In any case how would that help? Only other speakers of that sign language would understand, in which case the mother could talk to them directly and not need the daughter?

nessundorma

Thanks, nona1. I thought sign language was a universal language. I've surprised by the number of non-deaf people I know (all English speakers) who know some sign langauge.

lmlweb

I am deaf myself, and will be travelling to Paris this fall by myself. I don't think I will allow this to hinder me, but I do know a few French, and one of them is "Je suis sourde, et je lis sur les lavres" - I am deaf, and I read lips.

Sign languages are specific, but from what I understand, there is "Gestuno" - similar to Esperanto, and not widely practiced.

Incidentially, Paris Tourism and Convention Board has a page that lists "tourism and handicaps" information about certain sights: http://en.parisinfo.com/guide_paris/...model=p_detail

I don't know what that means for us deaf people, though, as far as what kind of services. Perhaps some sort of radio for hearing aids, or a sign language interpreter. But it's worth a starting point.

lmlweb

Here's an article your friend might be interested in: http://www.deaftoday.com/news/archives/002525.html

lmlweb

Me again - I was just checking to see if it was still open. It is, and the URL is: http://www.cafesignes.com/

bellastarr

Hi MelissaH,

I was checking out the website for cafesignes suggested by lmlweb, and it sounds like a wonderful idea for a place to go to have lunch with your friend and her daughter!.
Perhaps they will allow you to "tag along" with them!

Of course I don't know your friend, but I suspect that she might have her own, well-informed ideas about how she might want to work with this challenge, and she is probably better equipped to come up with potential solutions (such as your flash card idea) than a fully hearing person. Hopefully you will discuss your fears and worries with her beforehand to avoid any tension they might generate during your trip. . And listen to her advice about trying to help out-she probably knows best how to navigate many situations and has good creative ideas about how to deal with the trip.

Then you can decide together about flash clards and dictionaries.
Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

laclaire

I can't see how traveling with a deaf person abroad would be much different than traveling with them in the home country. I mean, the mistakes are all the same, the only problem being that you cannot explain the plight, nor can the daughter.

I think the sign might be a little unnecessary. Just learning the sentence is good enough to make the situation understood. I mean, just you might want to try it out, but I imagine myself tapping a salesperson on the shoulder and handing them the sign. . . feels sort of absurd.

I would not treat this as a particularly extraordinary situation. There are deaf people in France and your friend knows how to manage herself and her daughter. Considering that the deafness is not a problem (we all live with what we have), the only thing here is that you don't speak French and the entire board will tell you that many make it over there without a snag.

MelissaHI

Thanks! Just to clarify, I'd ask if the person spoke english. And, she does not know much sign language, which she says makes her a bit of an outcast in the deaf community. She also tends to live life in hyperdrive, so if people keep talking and she doesn't understand, she just nods her head (because she doesn't have time to ask people to repeat themselves) and ends up missing details. ah, well, her daughter and I will keep her in check.

bellastarr

I agree so much with laclaire's view:

"I would not treat this as a particularly extraordinary situation. There are deaf people in France and your friend knows how to manage herself and her daughter. "

To be honest if I was to worry about anything at all,
it would the use of the phrases "tag-along" and also "keep her in check". So I think the best tip is to reexamine your approach to make sure that you are showing respect for your friend as a completely equal adult person who happens to have different attributes than you do. That may be the main factor in assuring a good travel experience for all 3 of you.

MelissaHI

Gotta love fodors for this--seriously, don't read too far into this post (psychologically, emotionally, whatever) than I've posted. When I said "Tag along," that was her words, and I just put them directly onto my post without thinking that anyone would scrutinize me for saying that.

Also, I have known her for decades and we've traveled before, which is why I am aware of the obstacles AND the fact that she lives in hyperdrive and misses details. Someone will be talking and she'll nod her head, and then I'll say, "What did they say?" And she'll say, "I don't know, I just nodded my head!" And then off she goes, sometimes getting into trouble. So her daughter (who is like an old lady!) often has to rein her in and back on track. I didn't mean to say it like I'm annoyed; I shouldn't have even mentioned it in fun if I knew I'd be criticized. I'm just looking for constructive tips on making this trip easier for us. Thanks to all of you for your helpful advice to my original post.

FainaAgain

Melissa, sorry, don't have any advices for you, just want to say it's great you're taking your friend along, who wouldn't go otherwise or it would be so much more difficult for her!

bellastarr

Thanks so much for clarifying things, MelissaHI.
It's true that when you put something in a post here that it is out of context, so it sounds quite different to an uninitiated ear.
What passes for teasing within a personal friendship can easily be misconstrued by some stranger who might have hearing impaired family members or friends.
And to clarify my own statements, I sincerely hope you have a fine time, all of you!

As for missing details, sometimes that may even be an advantage, you never know!

Anca_Niculin

Hi! I am almost deaf and in Paris for 1/2 year. My advice is to not do anything. Just because it is France one assumes one has to be able to communicate orally. Just imagine that you are in China instead.  Although I can hear a bit, my French is excellent and I have spent a lot of time in France over the decades, because of my hearing impairment I cannot understand what people say, no matter in what language. So non verbal communication comes into play most of the time and I adjusted to the lack of conversations. I am sure your friend has too.

Lip reading for your friend would be useless: it s hard when it s with an accent you are not familiar with, even in your native tongue and in does not work in hurried situations.

There are other, more serious considerations when non-hearing people travel, like not hearing the traffic, announcements, calls for attention.

So just let her be, as if she were travelling in a country whose language is totally exotic. Paris is so amazingly beautiful; she'll have a blast just looking around, and that she probably does better than others.

If she does want to meet local people, she could visit the school for the deaf, easy to get to, in the city center (close to Luxembourg)  
http://www.injs-paris.fr/
The Langue des Signes Francaise is different from ASL but there is a significant intersection and she might be able to make contacts with people her age.  There are many organizations for young Deaf in Europe, international festivals, various meeting places, bars, etc.
This is a sign language restaurant:
http://www.europeonwheels.net/signes.htm
The bar Paris Halles at 41 bld sébastopol 75001 Paris.
has, every Monday between 19h00 à 23h00, an evening for meetings between deaf and hearing

adrienne

This is a 5 year old thread.

jet_gypsy

I am sorry to make a bit of a joke, but the French talk so fast it doesn't matter if you can hear them or not. And, my French is a joke so I use a lot of improvised sign language.

The only difficulties that are different than in the States are that she could get run over by crazy drivers, sometimes even on the sidewalk (but not often) or hear people on bicycles who ring their bells when coming past you. It is very common for European girls to hold hands or walk arm in arm, if that might help. And, she won't be able to use headsets in the museums.

Other than that, most of the goodies in Paris are visual (or food related).

Juan_Tello

I would recommend this website if you are deaf and wanting to travel to france...however realize that being deaf doesnt mean your friend is dumb, she will be able to get by just as you would since you dont know french either therefore you are equally as incapable of comunicating in France as your friend is...just enjoy the trip! Worst case senario if your friend gets into any legal troubles say "il faut savoir qu'
Elle est sourde et elle aura besoin d'un interprète de langue des signes américaine" and then call the american embassy, besides tht you will be fine.

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