Used your 'excuse me I'm an idiot..." phase a couple of times (or some garbled version of it) earlier this year to the amusement of a few Parisians. If nothing else, it got a few smiles and maybe a head shake or two.
Hello these few French words can also be used in Luxembourg, in part of Switzerland and Belgium, in Quebec and in African countries which have been French or Belgian colonies
I'm glad you mentioned the part about greeting shop keepers. That came in handy when I was in Paris. Everywhere I go in the world I learn these phrases in the local language: Do you speak English? Thank you. Please.
More helpful French phrases for tourists: - Pardon. (Same thing as "Excusez-moi" but can also mean "Sorry.") - Combien? (How much? - useful for asking about prices) - Au secours! (Help! - very useful in case of an emergency) - Bonne journée! (Have a good day!)
Yeah I literally was in Paris for the first time last week. Honestly if you try speaking it that indicates your respect and they will be friendly and look to help you. I also enjoyed speaking as it felt like I was in France and while nervous at first my confidence grew. People complain about having to speak French but when you're a guest in another country you should look to respect it and for France speaking French is doing that.
Been to Paris a couple of times. I’d speak my feelings French words. Then I’d throw some LA Spanglish at them for some reason. And then they’d speak English to me. I think they just appreciate someone trying to speak French with them. Side note. People in Paris get a bad rap. In my limited experience they were very nice and went out of their way to help me enjoy their beautiful city.
Bonjour: Good Day Merci: Thank You S’il Vous Plait: Please Oui: Yes Non: No Je Ne Parle Pas Francais: I don’t speak French Parlez Vous Anglaise?: Do you speak English? Excusez-Moi: Excuse me Je Veux: I want Je Voudrais: I would like Excusez-Moi, Je Voudrais Manger Ici: Excuse me, I would like to eat here Ou est: Where is? Ou Sont Les Toilettes?: Where is the bathroom/toilets? Vin: Wine Vin Blanc: White wine Vin Rouge: Red wine Specialite Locale: Local Speciality L’addition S’il Vous Plait: The bill please Au Revoir: Goodbye
Your right French isn't as popular in school anymore. I took 4 years of French in highschool and took it in college for my language credits but it's been years since I've used it and when we last visited I wasn't as fluent as I used to be but everyone was great and almost every one spoke decent English.
Why are a lot of french words pronounced TOTALLY different to how they are spelt? There's also a lot of words where the half of the letters aren't even pronounced at all. Take train for example, spelt train pronounced tra (sort of 😂) I could never learn french by reading it!.... Spanish is say what you see pretty much.
Thanks for this video! As a French I think you’ll help a lot of tourists 😊 In my opinion it’s necessary to just be able to say “hello” or “do you speak english” in French, this will open you a lot more doors. Also one thing I would recommend every native english speaking tourists, speaking more slowly with easy sentences. This will help you being understood and it’s really more polite to adapt your level with the person you’re talking to. I can say there are many reasons why french wouldn’t be happy if you start a conversation in english: 1- we feel very insecure about our level in english 😅 years of school learning it and we still mock each other if we don’t have the perfect accent, so many people are very very shy to respond in english even if they can speak it 2- France and especially Paris is one of most visited place in the world, EVERYWHERE you go there will be tourist… It can sometimes get on your nerves especially in Paris where it’s not really practical to move from place to place and everyone is on the rush everyday… So keep in mind that if you ask someone something, a dozen people before you asked the exact same thing less politely than you… That put French (and especially Parisian) on the defensive 3- French are really proud of their culture, and if they see you don’t even make the effort to say just even “bonjour” they won’t take you seriously or think you don’t appreciate their culture 4- that goes with everything that I said before, When you’re asked the same questions everyday and people don’t make the effort, you kind of feel bad… Like you’re just part of the staff of some giant amusement parc… Some people treat us like robots or NPCs who are just part of the fun place they are in and are here to take pictures and tell them where to go… For exemple: last time I was in the Palais de Tokyo enjoying a gallery with my brother and a woman just asked me directly in english “excuse me where are the bathrooms?” It’s a bit like she expected me to give a service in a language she assumed I was speaking, and a lot of english speakers would not be pleased if you don’t response because they would think you’re doing it on purpose… So I didn’t really have a choice, she didn’t even say thanks or hello… I was in Croatia last month and there was a lot of Americans and they all seam to have the same exact attitude that get on the nerves of the Croatians… I learned my fair bit of Croatian in the plane and a lot of time when I said Hello they thought I was Croatian because the tourists won’t even make the effort to say hello in their language… Americans tend to have a bad reputation all other europe with this attitude, I found British people to make way more efforts
Thank you for going to so much trouble to explain things from the point of view of a French person. I am from the UK and spending some time in the Indre. I find the language very difficult, but I do like the French way of life so i hope to persevere. Merci.
@@connoroleary591 thank you very much for your comment 😊 The language is hard even for us, that’s also why we appreciate so much the effort foreigners would do to speak French, we know it’s hard Usually french are very proud of foreigners specking french or really really impress I’m french and Belgian and have a lot of family in Kent (I’m in love with the UK ❤️) I wish you all the best in Indre ❤️😊
I'm an American that just got back from Croatia yesterday - I learned some of the phrases in Croatian and used them whenever I had the chance. Just so you know - I tried.
Hello Thank you very much for this video It is really helpful and uses simple words that translate easily in english And yeah if you dont say "bonjour" (hello) and "s'il vous plaît" (please) you will be regarded as not polite. 😊
I studied four years of French in high school and my pronunciation was good since I'm fluent in another European language. Things must be different in Paris than when I was there in 1990. If I tried to speak French to someone in a store, bakery, etc. they would reply back to me in English.
I love that you are in Alsace! For the pronunciation of "vin", it is more of an "i" or smiling shape with your mouth otherwise it sounds like you're saying "vent" (wind).
One thing. In cities where there are often many tourists, a waiter who's professional will ALWAYS bring English written menu. Around a decade ago, tips were still wide spread. But because officials wanted to tax that part and non customer staff wanted a share despite a way better base salary, it was decided all bills would mention "service included 10%". Now I haven't been in a restaurant in a long time but I'm quite surprised it's now 15% (one year ago, in fact, considering the video date). Another thing to point out is that French (in general) complain that tourist don't make any effort to at least try speaking French. And they are in the top of rude people visiting another country without making the effort to learn basic words. Overall, good advice. It's a liitle effort to learn a few basic words. It helps when you ask for your way, but except for businesses with only old people, people whose work gravitates around tourism (restaurants, hotels and other) are very open minded and aren't offended easily unless you're really rude. Older workers are less forgiving and understanding. As for passerby young people will be eager to talk in the language they have learned. Because not many had the chance and means to study or travel abroad. Generally speaking, those who speak a foreign language will speak English. But depending on the region, it will be a majority of German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian. So yeah, in the end, it's still better to start by a greeting in French.
I read somewhere if you try to speak French, they will be keener to help. If you try to engage in other languages, they will try to speak English. But don’t ever start out speaking English! 😂
The only thing I remember from French lessons at school is “avez vous un sandwich au jambon sil vous plait”. Which is useless to me because I’m vegetarian.
Jesus loves you! John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Heh. I remember being in the market in Nice once and overhearing a young American couple. They were looking over these bags of flavoured salt, and one was labeled 'pour les viandes rouges'. Which one of them confidently said meant that it's for putting in red wine, and promptly bought it.
My experience is that most French people don't like people butchering their language. They find it beautiful and if someone can't pronounce things correctly, it's about as bad as someone throwing soup on a lovely painting. I think they would mostly prefer you just speak English, and then just enough to take care of business.
