Learn French in Paris

It is a must to learn French in Paris; consider it one of your main things to do
Today is the international day of Francophonie; we celebrate the 220 million people speaking French throughout the world.

If you would like to be one of us, here is a short guide for you that can help in learning the rudiments. The French language has the reputation of not being the easiest to learn, and I think that there are a lot of rules that are hard to understand.

But here, I am not going to tell you about all the subtle rules of the French, but will instead give you a survival kit that you can use in the French jungle and that will help you to blend in the Parisian crowd.

The map of the French throughout the world:

Basically, the easiest way to learn French in Paris would be to take up lessons, but if you do not have the time to do so, here are a few words and exchanges of courtesies that you will need during your stay. In Paris, but it is true all over France, there are some habits you can learn easily and that will change the way people are going to see you.

The first thing is that when you go in and out of a shop, we are used to saying “Bonjour” and “au revoir” which just mean ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. This is the very first thing you can say when you go in a shop.

However, do not try to say it with a French accent as your foreign accent will notify the owner of the shop that you are a tourist and he will probably help you more than he would do if he thinks you are a Parisian. Also, the owner of the shop will be happy to know that even foreigners know the French etiquette.

When you are at the restaurant and have finished to order, the French way to say please is “s’ilvous plait” and then, when the waiter brings your dish you can say “merci”. Otherwise, if you are very hungry you can say “merci beaucoup” which means “thanks a lot”, but it depends on how happy about the service you are.

At the end of your meal, the typical French way to ask for the bill is to ask it with a coffee and the sentence “un café et l’addition, s’ilvous plait” (= a coffee and the bill, please) is the best for you to get both your bill and your coffee fast.

Here is the moment when you can say “merci”:

But these are the very basic ways to show that you know the French habits; they do not help you to understand French better. Actually, there is no peculiarity when you learn French in Paris; the best way would be to buy a small book for learning the language and to read it so that you can learn the basics before coming to France.

One thing you can be sure of and that will probably save you from disappointment is that you will not be able to speak French at the end of your stay. Something that I used to do whenever I traveled abroad is to spot the words in the menu translations at the restaurants to understand the language better.

It might be helpful when the menus are not translated, but you have guessed that it might not help you talk French, but it will at least help you not to be lost in the restaurants.

As you cannot speak French, if you come from Europe or speak a European language, you might at least be able to understand it.

In France, we do not speak so fast, and we speak loud, that is why you can hear the conversations of the people around you in the restaurants, the bars, or the cafés. Also, because it sounds like Spanish or Italian, you might understand the main words we speak.

Speaking Spanish or Italian is a very a good way to start speaking French because the words are similar and the way we make our sentences is really close.

If you already can manage the rudiments of French, do not hesitate to speak with a Parisian and here are the best tips to learn how to make local friends in Paris (lien vers article de Marco sur la façon don’t on se fait des amis à Paris).