We are coming in on a cruise ship in November, and hoping to rent a car in Le Havre to tour the area (Honfleur, Etretat, Fecamp,possibly Rouen). We do not speak fluent French. Do the French people speak English, or will language be a major issue? Will there be a language barrier and will we feel unwelcome?
Thank you
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Do the American people speak French?
The answer is that you cannot generalise about a complete nation but some people do speak English.
But you would be best to try and learn a few phrases such as Hello (Bonjour) Goodbye (Au Revoir) Thank you (Merci) Please (Sil Vous Plait) If you get yourself a little French phrase book, it will help a lot.
Also familiarise yourself with French roadsigns and rules and regs if you are planning to drive.
Also remember that if you go into a shop or establishment, you greet the person there
%26quot;Bonjour Monsieur%26quot; (Hello Sir) or
%26quot;Bonjour Madame%26quot; (Hello Madam)
Of if there are both its
%26quot;Bonjour Madame Monsieur%26quot;.
Will you feel unwelcome? Why would you feel unwelcome? Could you generalise and say a or any French person would feel unwelcome in the United States?
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You might want to do a search of the Forum as this has been covered many times. Here%26#39;s my two cents:
Most people who visit France are not fluent in the language and get by quite well. It%26#39;s about attitude. And since you%26#39;ll be in the tourist milieu you%26#39;ll find that many people you encounter will have some English but don%26#39;t count on it right off the bat. Learn the basic phrases and how/when to use them. And always keep in mind that, like most cultures, they are more reserved and polite than we are - don%26#39;t mistake that virtue with an unwelcome attiude.
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Ha, ha, ha! Why would anyone feel unwelcome in France? If there is one city that does a good job of making tourists feel unwelcome, it is Paris. By the way, most French people speak English, but pretend not to. Also, if you speak French to them, they will ignore you because your accent is not quite %26quot;perfect%26quot;. And they are defensive about why more people around the world do not study French. The French do a very good job of crushing any enthusiasm a visitor may have about their culture, language, food (which all are amazing, by the way). I am sorry to be critical, but I read this post and it struck me as so funny, I had to respond.
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I didn%26#39;t really think French were unwilling to help even if I spoke English with just a typical few phrases of tourist French. If you are polite and smile often despite the misunderstandings, you will get by just fine.
Where it really helps to know some French is at a restaurant so you don%26#39;t get something unexpected. A small phrasebook could do the job.
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I agree with posters 1, 2 %26amp; 4. If you have a good attitide, show respect, make a basic effort to say the magic words (that%26#39;s very important), you will be fine, and treated well.
-- Jake
http://parisandbeyondinfrance.blogspot.com/
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Ignore LynnDB%26#39;s post. It certainly does not in the least correspond with my experience or that of the vast majority of visitors to Paris. Think of it in terms of simple economics. If LynnDB%26#39;s statements were in any sense true Paris would not be — year after year — the world%26#39;s premier tourist destination. Yet it is...
To the OP: there are millions — if not tens of millions — of visitors to France every year who do not speak fluent French. Somehow they manage,l andf most of them have a winderful time. To be honest it is mostly a question of your attitude vis-à-vis the people you encounter. If you treat them politely and with respect they will almost always respond in kind. Not that you can%26#39;t occasionally find some over-worked, underpaid employee in a dead-end job who is having a bad day and takes it out on you (and probably everyone else) but that happens everywhere including Florida, Texas and Ohio...
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As has been said, you can%26#39;t generalise about a whole nation. However, what you will find is that if you insist on speaking ONLY English you will be met with a blank wall. There again, if a French person came to the States and only spoke in French I am sure they would meet with the same reaction. Just TRY and speak a few words, you will be amazed how people respond to it, no matter how bad your French (I agree, ignore LynDB%26#39;s comments, not all French people can speak English, in fact very few do and it is because it is so bad that they won%26#39;t admit to even the small amount they do speak. Like us, they are frightened that if they speak to you in English you will launch into a great long speech that they do not understand.)
We have had many US military personnel staying at our B%26amp;B who have asked similar questions about how welcome will they feel. I am pleased to say that without fail they have all come back after their first day out with all their fears quashed.
If you respond in a friendly, open and polite manner then on the whole you will be treated the same.
By the way, as was said earlier, it is normal to say Bonjour when you walk into a shop (not a large supermarket) but you say it to everyone present, not just the owner but any other shoppers. And if there are men and women present it is more normal to say Bonjour messieurs-dames (pronounced bonjour m%26#39;shur-dam)than Bonjour madame, bonjour monsieur (and it%26#39;s quicker and trips off the tongue easier!!)
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%26lt;%26lt;By the way, as was said earlier, it is normal to say Bonjour when you walk into a shop (not a large supermarket) but you say it to everyone present, not just the owner but any other shoppers. And if there are men and women present it is more normal to say Bonjour messieurs-dames (pronounced bonjour m%26#39;shur-dam)than Bonjour madame, bonjour monsieur (and it%26#39;s quicker and trips off the tongue easier!!)%26gt;%26gt;
Thiaumerie, this is a perfect example of how the French people are kind and considerate to those of us who pretty much strangulate the language with mistakes and poor pronounciation. I%26#39;ve always found that people will go out of their way to help and to use what little English they do have. I%26#39;ve never found myself feeling anything less than welcome in shops or other establishments.
But I think its a case of many people engaging in the self-fulfilling prophesy phenomenon. If they expect people to be rude and unfriendly (as per an earlier post) then they behave in a way that facilitates others being rude and unfriendly towards them.
At one stage in our lives, Hub and I would regularly eat out with a group, among whom was a specific couple. The female of this couple was always complaining about rude staff and poor food quality (didn%26#39;t matter what restaurant we were in). But the reality was that she was being so rude to the staff that she was actually getting the service she deserved. None of the rest of the group ever had any problems, and we haven%26#39;t spent much quality time with this couple in some time (better food and service in restaurants lol!!)
FlaTraveler, come to France with an open mind and some phrases and a small pocket phrase book, embrace the culture, smile, and I promise you, you will love this wonderful country. You will want to come back more and more.
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I agree with most of the comments on this topic. Having first visited France about 50 years ago with very little French to the present day, I can say I can%26#39;t remember anyone not being helpful. Yes, anyone can be having a bad day in any country, but rude etc - not that I can remember. Being a glass half-full type of person always helps, wherever you are in the world.
Beanalainn summed it up in the final comment:
%26#39;%26#39;FlaTraveler, come to France with an open mind and some phrases and a small pocket phrase book, embrace the culture, smile, and I promise you, you will love this wonderful country. You will want to come back more and more.%26#39;%26#39;
Jo
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Thank you for all your wonderful comments and suggestions.
A number of years ago, we travelled thru the northeastern part of France (from Amsterdam to Trier, Germany) and came away with mixed reviews on France. In a restaurant, we ran into a server who was RUDE to the point that it disrupted many tables around us. An Englander stepped over to our table and helped us out. The server continued in his rude manners, slapping our food on the table, etc. We ordered...ate...and left with red faces. The next day, when my glasses broke, we found an eyeglass store, although no one spoke English and we knew no French, thru hand-gestures, they fixed my glasses and charged me nothing!
We are world travellers, been in many countries, but have stayed away from France because of the reputation they have in the U.S. as to how they treat us. Yet, I%26#39;ve also heard that us %26quot;Americans%26quot; have a rude reputation of being loud and unruly, and %26quot;bring attention%26quot; to ourselves - wherever we travel! My husband and I usually travel by ourselves, are respectful of the country and the people we are in. And WE have seen the rude Americans who draw attention to themselves. We are coming to France on a cruise ship in Nov. and have the opportunity to see a portion of France at 2 ports. We could do it the %26quot;safe%26quot; by going on an excursio...or experience the country the way WE enjoy, by driving a car and really seeing France and the way the people live. I want to see France thru the eyes of the French....
Thank you for all the wonderful advice. Looking forward to France!
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