I have been to France my fair share of times. knowing french is more than an asset there. There are many other countries where the citizens have better basic english. I would recomment making a cheat sheet for yourself.. carry it around.. (how much does this cost? where’s the bathroom? which way to _______? I don’t speak French.. etc) if you can’t pronounce the words to people, you can point to the paper and you can get by that way.

Learn the basics – hello, goodbye, please, thank you, how much… But generally you will be fine, even if you have to point and act it out.

Agree with delfrio and Zacshleigh.
I always take a phrasebook and do refer to it often.
My pronunciation is wretched but it does seem like the French appreciate the effort. You’ll get by.

You only need to know two phrases while in France…

A. Biere sebouplet?

B. Take me to the airport, so I can get ouuta here!

I’ve been all around Europe, and I don’t speak most of the local languages. I have a small knowledge of both French and German, but I never had any problems anywhere. The only time I encountered even a slight communication problem was in Czech Rep. But it was minor and not a big deal.

It’s true, try your best to speak the language of the locals and they will appreciate it. Just the same as when you are at home and people try and speak English.

Don’t worry and have fun!!

The only thing that pisses poeple off is if you assume right off the bat they they speak English, and you approach them with "where is the….?"

You don’t need to speak French. All you need to do is be polite and ask people "Exusez moi monsieur/madame, parlez vous-anglais?" (Excuse me sir/madam, do you speak English?) If they do, they will gladly help you in English. If they don’t, they will happily try to find ways to get around the language barrier.

Just don’t be rude. The French don’t kiss ass. They treat you with the same respect you treat them. If you enter their store demanding things left and right, expect the same rudeness in return. If you’re cool, they’l be very warm to you.

quote:The only thing that pisses poeple off is if you assume right off the bat they they speak English, and you approach them with "where is the….?"

quote: Just don’t be rude. The French don’t kiss ass. They treat you with the same respect you treat them. If you enter their store demanding things left and right, expect the same rudeness in return. If you’re cool, they’l be very warm to you.

I disagree with the idea that the French are friendlier if you try to speak their language. I’m fairly fluent in French and I’ve never found a difference in how I was treated that seemed to be based on whether or not I was speaking French. Some people are rude and just don’t want to deal with foreigners. It doesn’t matter if you ask in English, very basic phrase-book French or excellent French with a less than perfect accent. Fortunately, that’s just "some people." Luv is right that whether or not someone is rude to you is usually related to how they perceive you are treating them.

I think that the amount of people who are rude no matter what are a very small percentage, and that these are people who are just like that by nature, to foreigners and locals alike. I also think that it’s very subjective. Culture shock. An American might perceive some French person’s body language as "rude" when in fact, it’s not tat at all. It’s just a cultrual difference. It takes getting used to if you come from a society where people have to put on a fake smile to keep their jobs. The French don’t put on fake smiles, but they demonstrate their genuine warmness in other ways…at least that’s the experience I’ve had. I’ve had a cafe-owner grab my rain-soaked map to place it by the stove so that it can dry…I’ve had a train conductor go out of his way to find me an available couhchette after missing the Nice-bound train I was supposed to be on…the French are very nice people. Don’t judge them by some Louvre ticket-booth person who deals with billions of foreigners each minute.

quote:
I’ve had a cafe-owner grab my rain-soaked map to place it by the stove so that it can dry…I’ve had a train conductor go out of his way to find me an available couhchette after missing the Nice-bound train I was supposed to be on…

I love your stories.

You can easily get by. In fact, w/ me I found the stereotype to be totally off…the French people by and large were extremely helpful. My first day I was lost…this french girl who I stopped to ask directiond walked w/ me like 10 minutes out of her way to take me to my destination…another time, I was meeting someone at the Galeries Lafeyette…but didnt know where it was, I stopped this dude walking…and the guy did the same thing…he didnt just tell me where to go, he practically walked the whole way with me. I’d talk to people in stores..the hostels..or wherever..and they’d always be very nice…and curious about me.

The only one place I encountered any rudeness was at the train station…w/ this one ticket salesman..but he seemed that way w/ everyone…but that’s it.

Here are a couple of words/phrases that may help you: s’il vous plait (see vuu play) is ‘please;’ merci (mercy) is ‘thank you.’ The latter is often expressed as merci beaucoup (boocoo). D’acord (Daacor) means ‘OK.’ Oui (pronounced ‘wee’) means ‘Yes’ and Non (No!) means ‘No.’ And finally: ‘Ou est la toilette?’ (way la twalet?) for the facility.

Je suis d’Australie (swee duh Aous trail ee) might be an ‘ice breaker’ since many French people may never have met someoun from OZ before …

Since you are going to the Riviera, la plage (long ‘a’) is the beach and la mer is the sea.

Good luck!

English is widely spoken on the Riviera, because there are so many tourists—- including Australians— and lots of English-speaking people who live there (ex-patriots).
While it would be great if we could all become fluent in various languages, it’s just not likely to happen for most of us so, as others have said, concentrate on just a few essential words—- you’ll be fine!
I think it’s very hard to acquire facility in spoken French, which most of us filter through our American, Irish, British, or Australian accents. It may help, though, to know what signs mean. There’s avary useful and slim book called "Signposts France" which has photos of signs that you’ll see at rail stations, along the street, etc., and explanations of the meaning of those signs. You can breeze through this book in a half-hour, or during travel time, and you’ll be amazed how much really helpful information you’ll absorb!

this is probably a worthless reply but from being in paris 3-4 days, here was the impression that i got:

it’s better to try speaking french and horribly butcher their language than to just ask if they speak english (even if you ask in french).

i just made a face like i knew how stupid i probably sounded and they always responded in english, or with simple french.

the trip did inspire me to want to start taking french classes again though…

I really liked being in France even though I do not know one word of it. I was in Paris and I was in the French Riviera and in both places people were extremely helpful. For example in Paris we were trying to find our hotel and were clearly lost in a dodgy neighborhood and like 2 cars stopped and asked if we needed help and after another man came up to us and pointed us in the right direction. In Nice we were trying to find a money exchange place and so we went into the pharmacy to ask someone, and we asked the counter girl and it took about 20 minutes before she knew what we were talking about but she ended up showing us on a map where they were and which way we should walk. So there is no problems there and that is why I am going back for sure in 2 or 3 years!

quote: For example in Paris we were trying to find our hotel and were clearly lost in a dodgy neighborhood and like 2 cars stopped and asked if we needed help and after another man came up to us and pointed us in the right direction.

hey I posted about the misconceptions people have regarding the french in this very thread…but something tells me random cars slamming on the breaks to give you directions only happens when you’re a woman haha.