Just bought a French phrase book for simple conversations, eg asking directions, order food, etc. I am sure I will need to pull out the phrase book a lot while Paris.
My question: is it rude to pull out my book and check a word when I am trying to talk to people? (say I am in a restaurant trying to order and forgot the word %26quot;chicken%26quot;. Can I pull out my book check it quickly and say it to the waiter? )
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NO...you are a tourist making a valid attempt to communicate. It%26#39;s not rude. BUT...don%26#39;t be offended if someone you stop on the street simply says %26#39;Non%26#39; and walks away. Most people you encounter will make an effort to assit tourists...but bear in mind that a lot of people have busy lives to attend to and are not on vacation and really don%26#39;t have the time to spend in protracted, fractured conversation. It%26#39;s not personal.
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That is an excellent question, and one I hadn%26#39;t really considered, even though I%26#39;m sure hubby and I will be pulling out our phrase books rather frequently. Anyone who has ever attempted to learn a foreign language immediately has sympathy for someone else attempting to speak a foreign tongue. KDK does make an excellent point, also, in that people on their way to work, to pick up their kids from school, on their lunch hour, running errands, etc. may well not have time to try and muddle through an attempt with you, so it is important to keep that in mind and not get offended.
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It%26#39;s great that you are making an effort to communicate to the locals in French and that will be appreciated alot. However, many waiters speak English fluently or at least a little.
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I wouldn%26#39;t think so.
I saw many people using phrase
books and map when trying
to communicate. Good show.
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Using the phrase book and making an attempt to speak French is a very good effort and would be appreciated. However, I think in many situations, you could simply ask, %26quot;Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?%26quot; Chances are the person you%26#39;re speaking to will be able to answer you in english without a long, drawn out attempt on your part to say a simple word you can%26#39;t think of.
Additionally, keep in mind that in my experience, most Frenchmen/women appreciate a %26quot;Bonjour%26quot; or %26quot;Bon soir%26quot; before just jumping in with %26quot;Do you speak english%26quot; especially if asking directions or if you have a question in a shop.
Have a good trip!
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I like KD%26#39;s warning. Sometimes those of us who are on vacation have a lot more time to kill than those who are in the cities who are working or have some place to go. We have to learn to pick and choose the locals carefully. Not to expect someone who looks rushed to stop and help us. Or a couple in a long romantic embrace to drop what they%26#39;re doing to assist us in directions.
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Dont worry,as soon as I said bon soir in my finest aussie accent the waiter would invariably reply-and the english menu for monsieur.We never had a problem and found the waiters to be extremely polite and helpful.
The only time I was aware of an attitude was when a frenchman at the next table laughed loudly at my attempts at murdering the french language.
All I did was look at the phrase book before going out.A word of warning-you may recognise a meat,say veal,but always ask how it is prepared and what part of the animal,its not always what you think.
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Doctor Ron ~%26gt; That%26#39;s sort of rude of the fellow to laugh at you. Doesn%26#39;t sound like you were attempting to murder the french language, you were politely attempting to communicate.
We%26#39;re fortunate here in Canada that even if we%26#39;re weak in french we may have a better understanding of pronunciation. I think that pronunciation is quite often what catches people all the time. People may not be murdering the language as much as how the language is spoken. Still an attempt is good.
A good tip for people. Listen to how you say your English words like Good day, Hello, please, excuse me etc. Listen to the expression in your voice. Then try to say the French equivalent with the same expression. If you do that you will end up feeling more confident about the tiny words that you know and then you may possibly get better responses from others.
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A couple of quick comments:
Most people will probably find it easier to say %26quot;Parlez-vous anglais?%26quot; than %26quot;Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?%26quot; They both mean the same and are equally polite.
Second, when you say %26quot;Bonjour%26quot; or %26quot;Bonsoir%26quot; to someone, try to remeber always to add monsieur/madame (or less frequently mademoiselle) as appropriate. The French tend to be more formal in their manner of address than we English speakers.
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I was absolutely astounded at not only the proficiency of the english in almost everybody but their undying desire to stop and help strangers. It almost seems like it ammused them and helped ad interest to there day. Still its good to have the book handy because in the airport we needed the bus and the workers spoke no english at all, my friends daughter whipped out her book and showed him what we wanted to which he replied and laughed, I still don%26#39;t know meaning he didn%26#39;t know the answer to the question. I actually forgot about the madame/monseuir at the end of a phrase but handeled myself thus, %26quot;pardon, sil vous plait%26quot; and would use one english word that would do the trick like %26quot;toilette?%26quot; Infact the french were so polite and friendly that when I said things like %26quot;pardon%26quot; in the street many answered in english I felt to show that they appreciated my attempt now here was theres.
Anyway, try your best and don%26#39;t worry. bring your book as a backup. there are a few occasions where people either don%26#39;t speak and have limited english like my favorite lunch spot (I would tell you but I never learned the name) completely french and the waiter knows about two words of english. I asked him to tell me what Water was in french and he kept telling me the name of the container. Finally the other waiter caught on and told me, they found this really funny and were great sports but the book would have helped.
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