Can You Visit France Without Speaking French?

France is one of the most visited countries in the world and it has a bit of a reputation that the locals will only speak French. This can worry a lot of people and make you wonder if you can actually visit without speaking French.

While learning some French is ideal, you can get away with knowing pretty much nothing.

A lot of French people can speak English, especially the younger people, they may not like to, but they can.

Just don’t panic, it doesn’t matter what your French language levels are, you can still visit.  

Why Don’t The French Like To Speak English?

People seem a little bemused by the fact that the French are not really keen on speaking English and they often try and say they are being arrogant.

However, let’s take a second to reverse the situation. Imagine you are in your home town and someone walks up to you speaking a foreign language. What do you do? Suddenly start trying to speak their language that you may not even know… or keep talking in English.

You keep talking in English, right… It’s the exact same for the French people. Like anyone else they are most comfortable with their own language and are going to prefer to speak their own language, in their own country.

To expect anything else form them is actually arrogant on your part.

If you are going to visit France you should be humble. Try and speak as much French as you can and if you can’t, be very appreciative that someone else makes the effort to speak your language.

(If you want to look at the basics, you can look at my Unofficial French Course)

Speaking French in Tourist Areas Of France

As France is such a big tourist place you will find a lot of multilingual people in the tourist areas.

Places like Paris, other big cities, hotels and general tourist attractions are usually where you will find the best English speakers.

As you venture out of these areas and into smaller, less visited places you may struggle to find English speakers, but I think that is to be expected.

The French just want to communicate effectively and if that means speaking English, they will if they can. 

I was once in a busy MacDonald’s in France (tourist area) and heard an English guy attempting to order in French. The girl behind the counter just looked at him and said “Please order in English. I can speak better English than you can French”. There was a large queue and she didn’t have time to listen to this poor man struggle with basic French.

I’m sure she appreciated the effort, but she just wanted to get things done efficiently. 

(You can read more – How To Speak Faster When Talking In French)

Try and Learn Some Basic Phrases

If you are planning on visiting France you should learn some really basic stuff. You want to show you are at least acknowledging their language and this will be appreciated.

Even very simple things like Please, Thank you. Yes, No, Hello and Goodbye are going to go far.

I would stick to some real basic survival phrases, such as being able to ask for the toilets. Just think about where you will be and what you might actually need to say.

You are of course going to have to eat, so I would look at the words for food you like, but you should be fine with this. There are a lot of similarities, pizza is still pizza, but there will be a few meals you should learn the words for.   

(You can read more about  – How Will Learning French Change Your Life?)

Just Be Polite and Humble

If you really don’t know much French, just act humble. Appreciate where you are and try and be very thankful any time any one makes the effort to speak English with you.

Don’t be obnoxious and start repeating things in English, but louder, because a local doesn’t quite get what you said. Always remember that you are in their country, so respect that.

Who Do You Really Need To Talk To?

You are going to have to talk to a few people when you visit France, it’s going to be impossible to remain silent the whole time.

However, apart from your hotel check in and some restaurant waiters, you can get away with talking to very few people.  If you visit a shop you don’t really need to say anything, just smile and hand over the cash. It’s a bit awkward, but I sometimes do that in my home town, so I’m kind of used to it.

Even if you want to use the transport, this can be nearly done in silence. You can buy tickets from the machine (and press the buttons to do it in English) and then it’s clear what a ticket inspector wants. You can just smile and hand your ticket over and hope he doesn’t ask you anything. 

I’ve been to France many times, and actually all over Europe and you will be surprised how little you need to speak people.

I’ve only learnt hello, thank you and goodbye in most of the major European languages and that has been more than enough.  

You just need to smile a lot and say a couple of phrases and that’s all you really need. Okay, so maybe there is a little pointing in restaurants, which isn’t ideal, but you can get by and waiters will try and speak a little English which helps.

Just be polite and thankful and you will be fine.  

Google Translate Will Save You

If you actually need to speak to someone and you have to say something that is way above what you can actually say in French, Google translate will save you.

Google translate is pretty decent with French, so even if it’s not perfect, you should get your main point across and if you are stuck it’s certainly better than hand gestures.

The issue is of course that your phones internet may not work, or you may get charged to use it while abroad, so I would be careful about that. It’s definitely something to check before you go.

Plan Your Trip Before You Go To France

If you are worried about speaking to people as you do not know French, then plan everything before you go.

Work out what buses or trains you need to take. Work out how to get to your accommodation or whatever attractions you want to see. This pre planning is going to help remove the chance that you need to have an interaction with a local.

This can all be done in English, at home. You can even print everything out, and then all you have to do is follow your research step by step.

You should also look on Google street view beforehand so you have a pretty good idea of what you’re doing and where you need to go.

You can also look at restaurants online, to study the menus. Check if it is has things you like, so you have a rough idea of what you can order when you get there.  

This may all seem over the top, but when you get there and get lost, you are going to be pretty stressed. The last thing you want on top of that is have to try and speak French when you don’t really know any.

This preplanning will keep you right, so do it.

How Much French Should You Learn Before Going To France?

I’ve pretty much said throughout this article that you can get by with almost zero French, but if you have more time before you travel, try and learn more.

This website is about learning languages, so of course I’m going to encourage you to learn more before you go, but just know you will never be fluent and that is okay.

You can only do so much, and really anything is always better than nothing. The French will appreciate your efforts, even if they find it easier to speak to you in English.

French is a great language and France is an amazing place. You will have a better experience if you try and learn some French before you go. There is something magical about just communicating with someone in a different language, while in their country.

Just do what you can, and even if it’s just the basics that’s fine. You will probably find visiting will make you want to learn more and more and you will want to master the language.

However, it takes a long time, so don’t worry if you are not quite fully comfortable with the language when you decide to visit.  

 (You can read more about – Advice For Anyone Learning The French Language)