Yeah I literally was in Paris for the first time last week. Honestly if you try speaking it that indicates your respect and they will be friendly and look to help you. I also enjoyed speaking as it felt like I was in France and while nervous at first my confidence grew. People complain about having to speak French but when you're a guest in another country you should look to respect it and for France speaking French is doing that.

More helpful French phrases for tourists: - Pardon. (Same thing as "Excusez-moi" but can also mean "Sorry.") - Combien? (How much? - useful for asking about prices) - Au secours! (Help! - very useful in case of an emergency) - Bonne journée! (Have a good day!)

Been to Paris a couple of times. I’d speak my feelings French words. Then I’d throw some LA Spanglish at them for some reason. And then they’d speak English to me. I think they just appreciate someone trying to speak French with them. Side note. People in Paris get a bad rap. In my limited experience they were very nice and went out of their way to help me enjoy their beautiful city.

As a french I totally approve this video! 👍

Hello these few French words can also be used in Luxembourg, in part of Switzerland and Belgium, in Quebec and in African countries which have been French or Belgian colonies

Thanks for this video! As a French I think you’ll help a lot of tourists 😊 In my opinion it’s necessary to just be able to say “hello” or “do you speak english” in French, this will open you a lot more doors. Also one thing I would recommend every native english speaking tourists, speaking more slowly with easy sentences. This will help you being understood and it’s really more polite to adapt your level with the person you’re talking to. I can say there are many reasons why french wouldn’t be happy if you start a conversation in english: 1- we feel very insecure about our level in english 😅 years of school learning it and we still mock each other if we don’t have the perfect accent, so many people are very very shy to respond in english even if they can speak it 2- France and especially Paris is one of most visited place in the world, EVERYWHERE you go there will be tourist… It can sometimes get on your nerves especially in Paris where it’s not really practical to move from place to place and everyone is on the rush everyday… So keep in mind that if you ask someone something, a dozen people before you asked the exact same thing less politely than you… That put French (and especially Parisian) on the defensive 3- French are really proud of their culture, and if they see you don’t even make the effort to say just even “bonjour” they won’t take you seriously or think you don’t appreciate their culture 4- that goes with everything that I said before, When you’re asked the same questions everyday and people don’t make the effort, you kind of feel bad… Like you’re just part of the staff of some giant amusement parc… Some people treat us like robots or NPCs who are just part of the fun place they are in and are here to take pictures and tell them where to go… For exemple: last time I was in the Palais de Tokyo enjoying a gallery with my brother and a woman just asked me directly in english “excuse me where are the bathrooms?” It’s a bit like she expected me to give a service in a language she assumed I was speaking, and a lot of english speakers would not be pleased if you don’t response because they would think you’re doing it on purpose… So I didn’t really have a choice, she didn’t even say thanks or hello… I was in Croatia last month and there was a lot of Americans and they all seam to have the same exact attitude that get on the nerves of the Croatians… I learned my fair bit of Croatian in the plane and a lot of time when I said Hello they thought I was Croatian because the tourists won’t even make the effort to say hello in their language… Americans tend to have a bad reputation all other europe with this attitude, I found British people to make way more efforts

Just landed in Paris, France last night and I’ve been binge watching your videos. Love you Wolter!!!

I'm glad you mentioned the part about greeting shop keepers. That came in handy when I was in Paris. Everywhere I go in the world I learn these phrases in the local language: Do you speak English? Thank you. Please.

Great teacher! 👏🏼

This is so helpful thank you!

Excellent and so helpful! 🙏

Great Video. Thank you for posting.

Really nice video!

Informative video

Thanks, Wolters.

Your guys are awesome! Your kids are so grown up now. Wow.

Thank you sooo much. I can learn this before my trip to Paris in July!!

Merci pour les informations nécessaires !

You did a really good job

I love this- thank you for the tips!

Merci, Mark..

Hello Thank you very much for this video It is really helpful and uses simple words that translate easily in english And yeah if you dont say "bonjour" (hello) and "s'il vous plaît" (please) you will be regarded as not polite. 😊

wow I like your videos, haven't seen one in ages. Hope you're well :)

Cool❤

Your right French isn't as popular in school anymore. I took 4 years of French in highschool and took it in college for my language credits but it's been years since I've used it and when we last visited I wasn't as fluent as I used to be but everyone was great and almost every one spoke decent English.

Bojour Wolters ... Merci . thank you for a bit lesson french language

5:18 Wolter gives us a great pick up line.

Perfect channel bro. Good luck.

😃Merci !

Love the older clip; such a baby 👶 face.

Excellent :-)

One thing. In cities where there are often many tourists, a waiter who's professional will ALWAYS bring English written menu. Around a decade ago, tips were still wide spread. But because officials wanted to tax that part and non customer staff wanted a share despite a way better base salary, it was decided all bills would mention "service included 10%". Now I haven't been in a restaurant in a long time but I'm quite surprised it's now 15% (one year ago, in fact, considering the video date). Another thing to point out is that French (in general) complain that tourist don't make any effort to at least try speaking French. And they are in the top of rude people visiting another country without making the effort to learn basic words. Overall, good advice. It's a liitle effort to learn a few basic words. It helps when you ask for your way, but except for businesses with only old people, people whose work gravitates around tourism (restaurants, hotels and other) are very open minded and aren't offended easily unless you're really rude. Older workers are less forgiving and understanding. As for passerby young people will be eager to talk in the language they have learned. Because not many had the chance and means to study or travel abroad. Generally speaking, those who speak a foreign language will speak English. But depending on the region, it will be a majority of German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian. So yeah, in the end, it's still better to start by a greeting in French.

vous savez quoi? tu es mon type, ours potelé.. 🐻🐾

In the evening you say "bonsoir" instead of "bonjour", while "merci" can also be interpreted as "non merci" or no thank you

So that French I learned from the Moulin Rouge song isn’t appropriate? 😂

"Where can I get California wine"?😆

I studied four years of French in high school and my pronunciation was good since I'm fluent in another European language. Things must be different in Paris than when I was there in 1990. If I tried to speak French to someone in a store, bakery, etc. they would reply back to me in English.

C'est du gâteau.. c'est fastoche.. 🇫🇷

And the sky is blue

If I may... Instead of "l'addition, s'il vous plaît" if you want your bill, you can say "Je peux vous régler ?" (Can I pay?)

Heh. I remember being in the market in Nice once and overhearing a young American couple. They were looking over these bags of flavoured salt, and one was labeled 'pour les viandes rouges'. Which one of them confidently said meant that it's for putting in red wine, and promptly bought it.

3:57 is this tartifette or however you spell it?

Who's the young guy who appeared at the very end of the video?

👏👏👏👍👏👏👏

I’d add in: well done. As in how I’d like my steak or burger.

If you replied “salut” instead of “bonjour” would that be ok? In Italian “salute” is a little more like “hello,” not the same as “ciao”

You can run together the “je ne” in “Je ne sais pas français,” to “Jene sais pas français.”

The only thing I remember from French lessons at school is “avez vous un sandwich au jambon sil vous plait”. Which is useless to me because I’m vegetarian.

1:49 Il y a une faute là. Anglais.

I read somewhere if you try to speak French, they will be keener to help. If you try to engage in other languages, they will try to speak English. But don’t ever start out speaking English! 😂

Bonjour: Good Day Merci: Thank You S’il Vous Plait: Please Oui: Yes Non: No Je Ne Parle Pas Francais: I don’t speak French Parlez Vous Anglaise?: Do you speak English? Excusez-Moi: Excuse me Je Veux: I want Je Voudrais: I would like Excusez-Moi, Je Voudrais Manger Ici: Excuse me, I would like to eat here Ou est: Where is? Ou Sont Les Toilettes?: Where is the bathroom/toilets? Vin: Wine Vin Blanc: White wine Vin Rouge: Red wine Specialite Locale: Local Speciality L’addition S’il Vous Plait: The bill please Au Revoir: Goodbye

You do need to try your best with pronunciation. Don’t pronounce “je veux” as “j’ai vous.” That means “I have you.”

OMG, how are you mispronouncing French so badly?

My experience is that most French people don't like people butchering their language. They find it beautiful and if someone can't pronounce things correctly, it's about as bad as someone throwing soup on a lovely painting. I think they would mostly prefer you just speak English, and then just enough to take care of business.

Dang it your a two weeks too late.

The best? Celebrating massively in the Catacombs of France, the giant Cemetery underneath the City

Enjoy it with Hairy legged women with mustaches and berets