Paris and Language Concerns

I've heard many a rumor about what its like to be a visitor in Paris, particularly if you're American, and particularly if you are not fluent in French.  Prior to actually visiting Paris myself, I believed the majority of these rumors.  So I thought I'd do a blog post that addresses concerns that I had about visiting Paris, and the actual experiences - in regards to French.  Obviously, things may be different for different people in different areas, but this is what it was like for me.

I had heard that people in Paris could be very tough on those who didn't speak French, or who weren't fluent.  I had heard that Americans were not exactly well liked (although that is not really a France-specific concern).  When I went to Paris, I went with three others - two did not speak a single word of French and one knew some French.  I have studied French for quite a few years but was not confident in my abilities and so I was concerned.  The friend who spoke some French and I decided to try and teach our non-French speaking friends some French words that would probably come in handy.  My main concern is that I had heard that if you entered a store and didn't say 'Hello, how are you?', that the storeowners may decide to not let you buy from them (or something along those lines).  So that was my main concern for my friends.  I had also been taught in French class that if you didn't ask for help in a very specific way, that a French person may just ignore you completely. 

My experience in Paris was that essentially, it was not necessary to know any French.  Most people visiting Paris are in tourist zones, and most people that we encountered in tourist attractions or surrounding shops either 1) spoke English 2) spoke enough English to get by or 3) it just wasn't necessary to speak, as clearly you were buying what you brought up to the counter, and the rest is just money.

During the regular part of our visit (see my post about coming home from Paris if you're confused), I spoke French once.  To a woman selling food in a cart thing (?) because my friend had a question about the price and sizing. 

I did have to use more French at the end of our trip but it still probably wouldn't have been super necessary.  The fact that I could speak French didn't REALLY help us get out of our situation.  But who knows.  Oh wait, okay, one situation in this part that French helped was in the hotel that we ended up staying at, the guy didn't speak any English.  But after a few minutes, he went and found some guy who did speak English so boo, that was no fun. 

To sum it up... don't avoid Paris because you don't speak French.  A lot of people speak English, and I know that sounds really American or something to expect people in another country to speak English for you, but if they're already speaking it, why not take advantage of it, right? 

However, I do recommend learning a couple basic words because that will make your encounters with people much easier.  Even if you don't pronounce things right or say the "right" things.