| Travel tips and advice posted by real travelers and Paris locals. • 34 Photos
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 | Paris Parlez vous francais? Reviews | 31 - 40 of 115 |  |
 by stonefree
I stayed in 19e where a lot of Asian people are living so some people didn't think I am a traveller. Such things often happend. Learn your host's language. Leave a Comment
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Make sure you know how to be polite..in French. Hello, goodbye, thank you and please go far to make you a happy tourist in France and especially, Paris. Leave a Comment
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 by larsyLeave a Comment
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 by sunnywongLeave a Comment
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 The place where it happened by asturnut
I've got a really funny story about the speaking french thing. My group arrived early from the airport, so the rooms at our hotel were not ready yet. They took our luggage and suggested we go find a place to eat. This sounded like a good idea, since we were all starving. So about 15 of us trekked off into the city unescorted. We found a place that looked good and sat down. Then the menus came, and UH-OH! none of us speak french very well and no one at the restaurant spoke english. Okay, no big deal, we'll just get out our french dictionaries right? Wrong--- they were at the hotel in our luggage a mile away.
So, we struggled for a good 20 minutes trying to patchwork our french to figure out what was what. What we didn't know was that in French 'entre' means appetizer (in english) and 'appetizer' means entree )in english). Talk about confusing! So, we all ended up ordering measly portions of food when we were starving to death. All the while we were struggling, this man was sitting at the bar laughing at our follies. After a while, he got up and in perfect English said 'have a nice day'. The jerk sat there, laughed at us and watched us struggle and order the wrong food, and never once offered to help. Thus, we were introduced to the famous Parisian snobbery. And this was just the beginning.... Lesson learned: Always pack your dictionary in your carry on!!! Leave a Comment
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 Snowmen at Disneyland
Paris...they can melt! by JulesHLeave a Comment
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Be polite! Make sure you say hello, please and thank you (preferably in French.) It goes a long way. Leave a Comment
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If you speak to the french in their language they will answer in English (if they speak the language!). Personally I have never had any problems with the people in the city ... but I do have a reasonable knowledge of the language. Leave a Comment
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Learn some French. REALLY. It's not hard to learn some simple french words and phrases. I have NEVER had a bad experience with french people while travelling, but I know many Americans who have. I am convinced it's because they won't learn any french.
There have been people who have said rude things near me (but not to me) because they didn't think I understood, but that only happened twice a long time ago. The people in Paris are lovely, and helpful.
And I try to blend in more than any place else I go. This has worked very well, and it makes it feel that much more like a second home. People are always asking me directions, and I even managed to help straighten out a problem at the post office for someone who didn't know enough french. (My french wasn't great, just better than hers.)
Even if your french is bad, people find it nice that you are making the effort. It can dramatically change your sense of the city if everyone is nice to you :)
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Let the French know that you want to speak their language. they'll respect you more for trying to speak than avoiding the language. Be open, happy, don't yell, be too loud, or too angry. Leave a Comment
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