Speak no French...and I'm scared.

Hello there-

Been lurking around these boards trying to ascertain whether or not I need to take a speed-French course before my December trip. (Just exaggerating...well, sort of) Will be in lovely Paris for 3 days very soon and am absolutely petrified of having to interact with the local folk, since I speak zero French. All the restaurants I want to try seem to require reservations...and of course, I find myself wondering %26quot;can I reserve in English??%26quot;

Anyway, is this going to be a major handicap for my visit? I hate to be that stereotypical American who assumes everyone will accomodate me and speak English.

Thoughts?

Thanks so much...

|||

Don%26#39;t scare yourself! I don%26#39;t know fluent French either. It would be helpful if you can familiarize yourself with a few words and phrases before you arrive though. Even so many locals know English so you won%26#39;t encounter problems at the restaurants. But don%26#39;t just assume they know. Ask first: %26quot;Bonjour/bonsoir madame/monsieur, parlais vous anglais?%26quot;

|||

Hi Paris 1204!!! I believe the correct spelling is %26quot;parlez - vous%26quot;, right?

Of course the pronunciation would be the same.

|||

Merci %26amp; s%26#39;il vous plaît as well as bonjour/bonsoir. And a good phrase book with a menu translator in it, or you may end up ordering something you don%26#39;t like to eat!!!

|||

The answer is already in your question, isn%26#39;t it?! Most of the million tourists who visit Paris every year don%26#39;t speak French. Having said that, there is a world between %26quot;zero French%26quot; and a few basic words, grammatical structures and expressions that can be easily acquired on Lonely Planet%26#39;s excellent phrase books for instance. French is another Indo-European language, you are not learning Hungarian! And 60 % of English vocabulary comes from French anyway.

|||

Hi --

I agree with everyone else, except for one thing - When you say Parlez-vous anglais -- add s%26#39;il vous plait - that%26#39;s please and I%26#39;ve found that it sometimes works miracles. Take a phrasebook with you and don%26#39;t forget your smile - and you should be fine.

Bon voyage

|||

%26quot;A polite smile + s%26#39;il vous plaît + merci beaucoup%26quot; takes you anywhere.

If you are tempted to buy the usual guidebooks for Americans, Rick Steves and Frommer%26#39;s, I strongly recommend that you DO NOT use their %26quot;how-to-pronounce%26quot;-transscript for anything more than absolute basic training. Buy a CD or a DVD-course instead where you can listen to a French person/teacher pronouncing the words.

If you present this orkish gobble for a Frenchman he will not stand a chinaman%26#39;s chance of guessing what you are talking about !

%26quot;spay-see-ah-lee-tay duh lah may-zohn%26quot; = spécialité de la maison

%26quot;oo ay loh-fees dew too-reez-muh%26quot; = où est l%26#39;office du tourisme

|||

Just remember a smile goes a long way! Even though I speak reasonable french I still need my pronouciation corrected frequently - a couple of weekends ago when we were visiting Paris I got an impromptu lesson at a market on how to pronouce various names of cheeses from a stall owner (as well as what sort of milk they were and how to best eat them). It was a lot of fun!

I also think that it is worth knowing how to recognise the following words in French (I am only putting the English here so that you can look them up in a phrase book):

Push

Pull

Entrance

Exit

Ticket

Men/Women

|||

As with any country in Europe, it won%26#39;t be expected that you speak local language because you are a visitor.

If you say hello, please and thank you in the local language with a smile and then explain in English that you can%26#39;t speak further, you will be treated with respect. You%26#39;ll have few difficulties in any major city.

IMO It%26#39;s only people that assume and demand everything is in English that will irritate and get a poor response. It%26#39;s not just steriotypical minority Americans, we Brits have a minority of

arrogant people who are an embarrasment abroad. I can understand why locals sometimes get cross :-)

The fact that you ask the question means you will be fine.

Have a great time, Stoofer

|||

Another phrase - which we find elicits a lot of help is the following:

%26quot;Je m%26#39;excuse - je ne parle pas beaucoup Francais%26quot;

Jeh mexcoose - jeh neh parl pa bowcoo france-ay

Roughly means (because I mean it, lol!!) - %26quot;I apologise, I don%26#39;t speak much French%26quot;

|||

Oh thank you all for putting my nerves to rest. :)