Question: Can I learn a little French before my trip to France

Filed Under Everyday France | 3 Comments

I got a new idea.. since there hasn’t been much activity on the site, I haven’t been posting! It’s quite simple really, with 2 kids, work, and a career change in progress, it’s hard to dovote time to the blog if I’m not seeing any evidence that people are reading it.

So, if you’re out there reading the blog, post a comment or send me a private message. Tell me what you’d like to see. Ask me some questions. If we can get this more interactive then I will be motivated to spend more time on it. This blog is for you the reader. Help me make it better.

Today’s question comes from William. He asks:

I am planning a trip for January to France, but do not speak any French. I
am linguistically challenged, but between now an then I should be able to
learn a few common phrases. Can I make it with a limited language
connection?

Hi William, thanks for your question. I make it a point to learn a few words and phrases whenever I visit a country. As an example, in Turkey I really loved their coconut icecream. So I asked a vendor to teach me how to say it. Then whenever I needed an ice breaker with a food vendor I’d ask him if they had coconut icecream in Turkish. It was a big hit. They loved it. How could an American know the word for coconut icecream in Turkish?

I also learned basic phrases like “thank you” that I remember to this day. Here in Paris when I go to a Turkish restaurant (Turkish sandwhich places are all over the place) I try to work in a “thank you” in Turkish. They love it.

Back to France, I’ve used the same technique in every country I’ve visited. It always works. People love it when others make an effort to speak their language, especially languages that are uncommon to Americans. The French are very proud of their language so they love it even more.

You definitely want to start now. We learn words and phrases through repetition. Think of how a baby understands his first words. It’s because she’s heard them hundreds of times. My older daughter (almost 3) doesn’t usually ask what a word means. She just gets it through context and reptition. Which is why I recommend Pimsleur. I’ve used Pimsleur to relearn Spanish and also I tried to learn Mandarin with it. I had to give up on Mandarin because it was impossible to learn the tones without practicing with a native speaker (actually I got a native speaker but even with lessons I couldn’t do it!). Don’t worry, French is much easier than Mandarin.

French I, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs is the best if you’re serious about learning some French. It may seem expensive but in my opinion it’s not because it is much cheaper than French lessons with a native speaker.

French I, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) is a cheaper scaled down version. I’m not sure exactly what this very covers so I’d read the reviews of both before making a choice. My guess is that the cheaper one will leave you wanting more and you’d have to buy the complete one, so why not start with the complete one to begin with?

There are other packages out there such as Michel Thomas but everyone agrees Pimsleur is the best.

The most important phrase to learn is: “Excuse me for bothering you, could you please help me” - “Excusez-moi de vous deranger, pourriez vous m’aider?”. The second is “Do you speak English?” - “Parlez-vous anglais?” (Most young French do and they love to speak English, but older people don’t like it when people assume they speak english). With those two you could also say “Excusez-moi de vous deranger, parlez-vous anglais?” You win them over with those two, and in most cases that is the only French words you’ll need because they will immediately recognize your English accent and want to speak English!

Here is a list of other important words:

  • Thank you - Merci
  • Please - S’il vous plait
  • Hello - Bonjour
  • Good evening - Bonsoir
  • Bye - Au revoir
  • I like _____ (you can point to what it is) - J’aime
  • tapwater - l’eau du robinet (to keep them from selling you expensive bottled water. France has great tap water, as good as Evian and the other bottled waters.)
  • Mister - Monsieur
  • Mam - Madame
  • The check please - L’addition s’il vous plait”
  • How much is it? - C’est combien?

You should be able to learn these from any French language tapes. The key is to pronounce them well. Even after living here 8 years people who aren’t used to an American accent often don’t understand me the first time and I have to repeat myself and then they understand.

Let me know who your learning goes and how the trip went once you return.

Bon voyage!

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