Uh, I’m no French language expert (obviously). I most recently took Italian but I’m going back to learning French on Babbel. Here are things we need to make sure to say in France.
So Italian was great – they pronounce EVERY letter/combination. French is complex – you have to know when they are going to pronounce the last letters or not… Example: see #10 below, “comprends” specifically. You do not pronounce that final S. 😳 But let us not fret too too much about that. Usually making an effort to speak a foreign person’s language helps to ingratiate yourself with the other speaker…
- Madame, mademoiselle, monsieur – always address people with respect. “Bonjour madam!“
- “Je ne parle pas Francais, vous parlez Anglais?” I don’t speak French, do you speak english? The “vous” form is formal. Tu would be informal, to use with friends. We should just stick to formal since we’re Americans who never take the time to learn other languages. Could also say “parlez-vous Anglais?“. Je=I and you can probably leave that off as well.
- “S’il vous plaît” Please
- “Excusez-moi” Excuse me
- “Pardon” Sorry “Pardon, excusez-moi”
- Oui! Non!
- “Merci” Thanks “Non merci” “Merci beaucoup!”
- “Au revoir!” Goodbye!
- “De rien.” You’re welcome.
- “Je ne comprends pas.” I do not understand.
- “Je voudrais…” I would like…
- ⚠️ “Verre de vin” Glass of wine! 🍷🍷🍷 “Je voudrais un verre de vin, s’il vous plaît“
- ⚠️ “Bouteille de vin” Bottle of wine! 🍾
- “Combien ça coûte?” How much does it cost?
- “L’addition, s’il vous plaît.” The bill, please.
⚠️ OMG DO NOT FORGET: once we book our airfare, learn key phrases for any layover countries JUST IN CASE you get stranded there for the night. I studied hard for Italian & then we got stuck in Frankfort… I had no internet access on my phone anymore & knew ZERO German! I was horrified. (so I mean, I knew good morning and thanks but that was it. and no, I’m not going to attempt to spell them here thank you very much.)
Neuy Travel 