France & getting by with limited french

[althebike]

I have been looking at options for a train to the far south east of France, cycling to Calais , ferry to England and cycling home.
There are organised tours that offer a similar program, but the cost is around three times the price of a holiday in the Caribbean .
The trip south looks easy by train from London, so an unsupported ride looks dooable but
I have had about 3 years of trying to learn French and I have no ear for it. I can recall oon bottle of plonk civ oo play and that is about as far as I got.
So would my linguistic skills be a huge obstacle or could I get by OK. It would be a credit card tour, not camping.
What are your experiences?

[bohrsatom]

Of course language skills will help and you're not likely to find English spoken outside of the larger towns and cities, but you'll get by just fine with a few basic words and lot of miming/pointing.

If I tour in an unfamiliar country I find that I soon learn the words and phrases I need to learn to get around on a bike: sandwich, beer, 1 night, how much, etc etc.

I do recommend taking a copy of an English-French bike dictionary. It's hard to mime that your pedals are making a light clicking noise every third revolution but only when going uphill with the panniers attached. The Sheldon Brown one is great (https://www.sheldonbrown.com/eng-fren.html).

[Cyril Haearn]

Spending time in the country and being exposed to the language is the best way to learn, you have to "get wet" and invest some energy
I bet plenty of young people speak English

France is not so strange or difficult, imagine going to China or Peru where the language is very different and where you would be identified as a stranger by your appearance alone

[foxyrider]

The only line you really need to master is 'parlez vous Anglais sil vous plais', well that and 'bonjour' - politeness costs nothing in any language. If the answer is 'yes, a little' it generally means they speak English better than you so don't be put off. English is taught as second language throughout Europe so most people under 50 will have some understanding if not confidence to converse in English.

Useful things to remember are terms such as Menu, toilette, petit dejeuner, chaambre. I use the Collins Little Gem phrase books which tend to avoid the schoolboy drivel. If you visibly use the book the other party won't assume your fluency after you get out your perfectly memorised sentence!

I've been to France, Holland (2 languages), Belgium (2L), Spain, Andorra (which is different to Spanish), Switzerland (5 l), Wales, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Austria - the only language I have more than two words of is German but i've managed to eat, drink, sort out accomodation, catch trains etc without too much issue in all of them. It's my experience that you probably know more of more languages than you ever think! (must admit to defaulting to pidgin German regardless of which country i'm in!)

[robing]

Try Duolingo, it's a great app and free. I suppose I am a bit of a polyglot. (French, German, Spanish and a bit of Italian).
My tips would be try and not translate word-for-word but think of phrases and let words flow together. You don't think or talk in English word by word.
I didn't do any French at school but am pretty competent at it now and it improves each time I visit. As others have said, a little politeness goes a long way and they still use Monsieur, Madame a lot. So a cheery Bonjour Madame/Monsieur etc will go a long way!

[simonhill]

Its easily do-able without the language. I agree that a few pleasantries are worth having. Bonjour and merci are essential, apart from that a bit of smiling always helps. You'll pretty soon know if there are any particular phrases you use regularly eg "where is?".
"how much?".

A dictionary will help - I reckon they are better than phrasebooks, because often the phrases are inappropriate for budget tourists. With a dictionary, you can often point at one word to make your point. If you have a mobile device, then something like google translate may be useful/indispensable.

At one time very few French people spoke (or would speak) any English. However,in the last few years, I have been surprised at how many mainly young French people I come across outside France who do speak good English, although after a recent trip to non tourist France I realise that most French people still don't speak English - its only the ones that travel, so don't bank on it.

Obviously its good to learn a bit, etc, but don't worry. You can book your hotels on an English language hotel booking site. You can specify if you want breakfast at time of booking.When checking in its fairly obvious what you want - just identify yourself and pay.

You can buy much of your food in supermarkets where you don't need any language. If on a budget, look out for Lidel or Aldi. They do ready made sandwiches for the lunch and reasonable microwave meals for the evening, plus plenty of other stuff including baguettes and booze. Many of the cheaper hotels have microwaves to use.

I don't know how often you will be eating out as you are on your own, but obviously restaurants may be more of a challenge, although plenty of the fast food type outlets will have picture menus. During the day you can get a fixed priced lunch menu for Euro10 - 15, but this may be too much for a lunch when cycling. A Lidel microwave is about E2-3.

As said above, you can read the script so road signs, place names, hotel names, etc are no problem. Also you can always write what you want if you are not sure about pronunciation.

Go and enjoy.

[althebike]

Thank you all for your encouragement and helpful tips.

[teamonster]

You'll be fine +1 for duolingo it's a great way to learn a bit of the language, although it is not that tailored to tourist phrases. Don't forget Google translate if you have a smart phone, not only is it good for phrases, but you can point it at text and it will have a good go at translating. Although beware it sometimes mangles it a bit ! Having rode from the south of France to the North this year I can highly recommend it !

[Cunobelin]

[youtube]wFsBi7ht_rg[/youtube]

[iandriver]

If you have an android phone, download the latest version of Google translate and offline download French. It can even scan text with a camera and translate it on the fly, dead handy for signs etc. You can type in whole phrases if need be and just show it to a person, such as a hotel receptionist.

[ossie]

I've toured all over France with an extremely limited French vocabulary and had no real issue other than two pizzas arriving on one occasion rather than one. I can literally say no more than a few words or jumbled sentences.

I do make an effort and that is usually well received with a smile....'parlez vous anglais' is my opener and it is usually well received.

I do however feel guilty as I can imagine someone rocking up in deepest darkest Dorset or Yorkshire asking a local if they speak French...its no different.

[Cyril Haearn]

One gets much more from the holiday if one tries to learn the language, buy a newspaper or childrens comic and try learning to read, it is not difficult
Had French at school until 1975, a lot of is still in my head
"Bouleversement" is my favourite French word

[crazydave789]

if you did french at school it's surprising just how much comes back. I think they reckon you can get by with 200 words in any language the problem is understanding the replies, many shops you just go through the motions and waiters are often prepared to sit and go through translator apps with you.

as long as you try though. usually you tell them your french is terrible can you please help.

sesame street used to be ideal for learning language in forn places.

[thirdcrank]

... I do however feel guilty as I can imagine someone rocking up in deepest darkest Dorset or Yorkshire asking a local if they speak French...its no different.

You'd be surprised where you might meet French speakers.

[bigjim]

Buy this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Point-Travellers-Language-Dieter-Graf/dp/3980313026/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KGY38VM8P7DY9326CYH0