If you intend to travel to France, I really recommend to learn a bit of French.
Not that you ABSOLUTELY need it, but it’s bond to make your experience of France much more authentic, memorable, and AWESOME.
You don’t need to know it all. In fact, it’s pretty straightforward, and just a few words will get you ahead of the game already. And I wrote about it here.
But a little bit of French goes a long way when travelling in France. Actually, here’s why speaking French in France is awesome and what it can do for you:
It's great for meeting people
Actually, we don’t have that many bears…
You know, in France, people speak well… French (mainly).
So if you want to engage with the locals, especially outside of Paris and Lyon, you’re going to need to dust off your French.
And I insist on the word ‘engage’, because meeting goes a bit beyond the simple exchange of sentences with your waiter.
You could meet wonderful people in France. All sorts of people.
And how amazing would it be to have friends in France? Eh 😉
Maybe you could even have a place to stay with your friends next time you’re coming to France, who knows!
Plus, after all, what makes France so special is its people. It’s the people that cook the food, farm the land, build the monuments, create the songs, sing them,…
Am I getting ahead of myself? Don’t think so.
But hey, if you don’t have any interest in French people, maybe France is not the place to go…
Luckily for you, you could use your French in loads of different countries, all over the world.
You get to have special treatment
Let me explain 🧐
I personally love it when people are making the effort of speaking my lingo to me.
Don’t you?
And therefor, I’m way more likely to like them and give them special treatment (or simply good service if I’m a waiter).
French people have that reputation of being rude and cold. But I’m convinced it’s partly because :
- Tourists mistaken our polite distance for coldness
- And they start their conversations directly in English
If you are in France, you are expected to start your conversations in French. At least for the first three words.
If you start in English, it sounds to us like ‘oh you should be speaking English because my language is more important than yours’.
Yes, I know you don’t mean it like that, but still.
YES, you can totally manage it. Even if you have never set a foot in a French class.
Speaking French will make you stand out from the mass of tourists in France, and grant you access to special treatments.
You'll be getting a real experience
And you’ll feel AWESOME 🇫🇷
Beyond just a simple special treatment, you’ll have get to ask questions and get answers about EVERYTHING.
Not all French people, even in the tourism industry, are comfortable with English. So sometimes, for the sake of being clear, the answers you get are not the full and total picture.
Hell sometimes, the answer is the total opposite because of a mistranslation or misinterpretation.
As a bilingual, this is especially frustrating. When I hear people giving two different answers in two different languages. That’s how you create confusions and myths about people and places.
So by speaking French, you get the right answer and you reduce this possibility.
And that’s going to help you getting a REAL and AUTHENTIC experience of what France is.
In short, you'll have a smoother experience
This is about how you’ll feel 😀
Overall, speaking French in France is going to create for you a smoother experience.
Think about it, no misunderstandings (or very few), friendlier people, communication, easier exchange of information, and a deeper connection with the locals.
Isn’t that why you’re travelling?
Depending on your level of French, speaking French can also be an extraordinary tool to understand France and the environment you’ll be in, and the people you will meet.
Language and culture eh? They are ALWAYS related.
