I got a continued aggressive sales pitch and was by no means left alone. Learn please , thankyou , excuse me , good morning and the like. It can have unexpected benefits. And carry something to help you understand instructions on machines such as ticket machines in train stations , signs, and menus. The first thing you need to know is that French education is standardized, meaning that a Parisian is not more or less likely to have studied English than people out in the "boondocks.
Note that the actual places in question are spelled similarly in French and English although pronounced differently , meaning that a French person would understand you if you wrote them out.
Similarly with common greetings: Bonjour good day , bonsoir good evening , monsieur sir , and madame madam. Plus s'il vous plait please , and merci, thank you. Firstly I'd suggest you look an an earlier answer to a very similar question: How to overcome the language barrier when visiting France and Spain? Thinking of Paris specifically, you should find a lot of people who do speak at least some English, generally higher than in more rural parts of France.
However, you'll also come across a lot more people who've got fed up of tourists who've not bothered to learn a single word of French So, I'd suggest you follow the advice in this answer , and learn some basic French! With even a few words you should find things go much easier. Without that, you'll mostly be fine, but may experience some hostility once or twice. As an updated answer to this question I can say that the previous answers still apply in I recently moved to Paris and found that while many French have difficulty understanding English especially when spoken with a Southern drawl or feign ignorance to avoid yet another tourist question, the vast majority of Parisians I have met have tried to accommodate my family and I.
Even if conversation devolves to apologetic shrugs and hand waving, we have managed to order food, arrange hotels, navigate the metro, etc. As others have said, the key appears to be to at least attempt to speak a little French, even if it's as simple as bonjour pronounced bohn joor for Hello, merci mehr-see for thanks, and au revoir ah-voiah for goodbye.
To help Americans get past the cultural wall, note that as children we Americans are taught to say "Please" and "Thank you" any time we ask for something. Similarly, the French are taught to say "Bonjour" when arriving at someone's house and "Au revoir" when leaving. Using those two words alone everywhere has gotten my family past the vast majority of the disdain for tourists we have seen others suffer.
Another tip for those learning French outside of France is to simply repeat whatever you hear the French say. It sounds silly, but it helps immensely with pronunciation which is quite difficult for anglophones English speakers. Many thanks to the French taxi driver living near CDG airport for this tip.
Lastly, a caveat: If you are planning on moving to France, learn at least passable French ahead of time. Memrise, Babble, and a host of other apps are available if you can't afford classes. Due to timing of a series of unfortunate events, we were not able to do this and I can say that attempting to get Internet, a place to live, et cetera, in France without speaking French or without a translator is extremely difficult.
To get internet, you need a cellphone account. To get a cellphone account you need a recent electric bill and a bank account. The electric company is notoriously allergic to English our landlady was kind enough to handle setting up that account. To get a bank account you need a physical address and either the ability to speak French or a translator. French laws require the person signing a bank account to understand what they are signing.
This is a good protection for those signatories, but does create the language barrier as most bank branches do not keep a translator on staff. We visited no less than seven different banks in Paris before finding one which had a person on staff who spoke enough English to communicate effectively with us and knew how to print out the forms in English for us to sign.
Persistence helps too. But don't expect any of this paragraph to happen in August, when many French and most Parisians go elsewhere for vacation to escape the heat. Our account was on hold for two weeks due to that tip. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. France, and in particular Paris, is a massively popular tourist destination, but how widely spoken in English there?
Is it possible to get by with English or is it preferable to learn some French before visiting? English is not very widely spoken overall in France, but is quite widely spoken in the tourist areas of Paris specifically, at the well known attractions and at restaurants and hotels in the capital.
Elsewhere in the country the prevalence of English is far lower and having some basic French phrases will make conversing with French people a lot easier. Therefore France really is one of the countries where it pays to learn some basic French before you go, since you cannot count on it being widely spoken and even where it is, French people much prefer it when tourists at least make an effort to converse in French when asking for help.
English speakers who have visited Paris tend to report the prevalence of English is much higher there and you will have no problems using it in the main tourist destinations like the Eiffel Tower.
This is hardly surprising since Paris ranks consistently among the top 3 most visited cities in the world , with around 20 million tourists visiting there every year, a large number of them English speakers. Therefore these destinations are prepared for English speaking Americans and Brits and will have staff who can speak it as well as leaflets, guide and signs in English as well as other languages. In major hotels and restaurants in Paris you should also be fine, as there will be plenty of staff who can speak English to handle the huge number of American and British tourists who visit the city each year.
In more rural and remote areas you may find hotel staff can speak a little but the general population will be far less proficient. Similarly, older French people will also struggle to converse in English, since many of them over the age of 50 will not have been taught in schools. The younger generation have been more exposed to English, with some learning it as a second language in school, so you will have more luck conversing with people under 40 especially.
Despite the fairly low prevalence, English is actually the most common second language in France, closely followed by German and Spanish. English is only optional though and is not compulsory in France as it is in other European countries so the level of proficiency has improved over the generations but still remains behind other countries.
English is not very prevalent in the French culture as well. For example, most TV shows and movies on TV there are dubbed into French rather than played in English with French subtitles, so people do not get so much chance to absorb English in contrast to other countries like Portugal which take in a lot of undubbed American TV shows.
But before being able to enjoy all the attractions and activities Paris has to offer, finding your way in the city is step one. If Google Maps and other apps are a good way to help, nowadays, the French capital is still a really big city, the third-largest one in Europe after Istanbul and Moscow. If you want to try your luck at asking your way, you may want to target young adults that are more likely to understand English. Staff, there, is often expected to speak English and usually know the city more the pedestrians do.
There are a lot of maps displayed all around the city and especially at the entrance of metro stations. You can also ask for free maps of the city or the district available in all of the most common languages in big shops, metro stations or tourism offices. Going in pair with finding your way in the city is public transportation. Paris transportation is composed of metros, RER trains and buses. Metro stations are hard to miss with one of them having the most beautiful entrance you can find in the world.
Every line has its own color to help you find your way underground and the metro staff, sitting at the front desk, is there to help you at daytime. As of now, only the line 14 is accessible for people in wheelchairs.
The lines 1, 4 and 14 have audio announcements, for visually-impaired people, while lines 2, 3 and 13 have the next metro stop announced visually by a light signal for people with hearing disability.
As a Francophile who has had multiple intimate encounters with the city of Paris for decades, take it from me when I say that you do not need to know a great deal of French language to have an enriching life in the city. I have even met many people who have spent over 5 years in France and are still at the beginner level of French.
Truth is, despite the rich culture, luxuriate lifestyle, and the beauty of Paris, anyone can forge a lovely life for themselves in whatever native language they speak- whether Italian, English, Arabic. Who needs luck when you have Parisians?!
The people are. Despite all you have heard, Parisians are generally friendly and willing to help. You will be amazed by how many of them speak English to varying lengths. In fact, local students appear to be the most willing to help strangers find their way. When you hang out in tourist spots, you will meet several people that speak English as well. Even so, I advise that you exercise patience when asking for helping. With patience, smile a lot too. It makes you likable.
Do not act rudely or arrogantly when asking for help. It is important not to assume that a local speaks English. While many Parisians can speak English, do not approach with that, especially if you can speak some French.
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