Do You Need to Know French to Visit Paris?

Is It Possible to Enjoy Paris Without Knowing French?

As someone who speaks English natively, took German in high school, and currently studies Spanish, I can honestly say the French language gives me hyperbole when it comes to pronunciation. I can’t even begin to understand how to wrap my mouth around the French alphabet. When I had the opportunity to visit Paris for a day (yes, just a single day) this year, one of my biggest concerns wasn’t my itinerary.

My biggest concern visiting Paris was whether not knowing French was going to cause big problems. As it turns out, everyone in Paris knows English, and the old stereotype that the French refuse to speak English to foreigners is completely false. I met exactly zero people who refused to speak English and interacted with just one person who wasn’t having the best day (okay, she was having a TERRIBLE day).

Obviously, I already knew how to say hello, goodbye, and a few other things before we got off our flight at the Paris airport, but was that really going to be sufficient? Could I really visit Paris saying nothing more than please and thank you? Well, it turns out, that’s literally all I needed. I greeted everyone with a hello and always thanked everyone and said goodbye each time I interacted with someone (usually people at restaurants, hotels, and stores).

Where did I learn how to do this? I just copied everyone else’s behavior. It seemed absolutely common and normal to say “merci” whenever you’d leave somewhere, so that’s just what I did. Just bought a cup of coffee and on my way out? Merci. Leaving my hotel for the day? Merci. Departing from the cafe where I just ate lunch? Merci. It wasn’t hard. If you’re an English speaker, let me share with you how easy it is to get around Paris without knowing French.

And just a clarification here as you read this: I’m writing it from the perspective of an English speaker. Just bear that in mind as I describe my experiences!

(note: some of the links here are to websites with which I am an affiliate, and your purchases help fund my website!)

Should You Learn Some French So You’re Not Rude?

There is that stereotype that the French are rude and hate it when people either don’t speak their language or speak it poorly. It seems that you might get caught between a rock and a hard place if you’re not raised speaking French. If you don’t speak it well, you’ll run the risk of insulting someone, but if you don’t speak it at all, you’ll encounter the same exact problem, right? Might as well pack up your luggage and leave?

Well, not so much. As someone who only speaks a few words of French – the major greetings and such – I feel like the prevalence of English speakers throughout France, or Paris at least, ensures that you don’t really need to risk insulting the native French speakers with your poorly formed words. And, from my experience, no one will correct your pronunciation when you say “bonjour,” “merci,” “au revoir.”

In most circumstances, people just want to get on with things, and they’re not going to take the time to correct your speech. Even if you say these basic greetings and any other brief words you speak with a shoddy accent or improper pronunciation, nobody’s going to correct you. And, in the rare case, if someone does try to correct you, they won’t do it in a mean or insulting way.

I think native Parisians love their city, and they want visitors to realize how wonderful it is, too, and loving it doesn’t have anything to do with speaking French properly as a visitor. Now, if you were to suddenly decide that Paris was your future home, I think you’d want to consider serious language training to speak French properly. And France French, too. You wouldn’t want to bring your great aunt’s Québécois pronunciation over.

Is It Just the Major Tourist Attractions Where People Speak English?

If you’re visiting all the major sites of Paris like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame, you’ll definitely hear English everywhere. The people at the airport speak English, the taxi drivers speak English, and it’s easy to find English-speaking tour guides (note that it’s also pretty easy to find tour guides that speak other languages, if your native tongue is something like Spanish, German, or Italian).

I had a few hours to wander around and enjoy the sights during my time in Paris, and I went out of my way to interact with shopkeepers and others who clearly weren’t part of large organizations like big hotels or large touristy restaurants. In most cases, the only people who didn’t speak English were those who were from a non-English speaking country. For example, a Moroccan who knew Arabic and French, but not English.

However, in such circumstances, the ever-popular “point” method was always good enough when it came to purchasing something. While strolling along one of the streets in Montmartre, we passed several small groceries with loads of fruit set up in the front and bought strawberries (I have an unhealthy addiction to strawberries).

The first people we bought strawberries from didn’t speak English, but all I had to do was pick up the container, and the shop owner told me the price in French. If you know your basic numbers in French, you’re golden. I find it’s helpful to know how to count at least to ten or twenty in a language. It really helps with paying for things when you don’t really know how to converse otherwise. Fortunately, I can count to ten in French for some odd reason, so buying small things wasn’t difficult.

What Phrases are Helpful to Know in Paris for Tourists?

I think the word I heard the most often in Paris was “merci.” Not only did people say thank you repeatedly and all the time, but any time someone left a store or anything, they’d always say Merci, too. They didn’t even always say “goodbye.” Sometimes it’s just a thank you. So knowing how to say thank you will get you pretty far when you’re walking around Paris, even if you’re otherwise a single lingual.

The other word you’ll want to know is “bonjour,” which is hello. You can say hello whenever you meet someone, whether it’s someone seating you at a restaurant or greeting you in any sort of circumstance. You can choose to follow it up with “parlez-vous Anglais,” which is “do you speak English” in French, but you can also just ask that question in English, too. Just do a Google search if you want to know how to pronounce it.

You can also pick up some small phrases like “I don’t speak French,” “good evening,” and “a table for two,” but you’ll probably find that if you’re an American, Parisians will recognize that you probably speak English and will simply address you in English. You won’t even have a chance to practice your French or ask them anything in French.

I will say that from my day in Paris, it was definitely easy to soak up some phrases while I was there. Paris is so busy, and people LOVE to talk, so you’re always hearing people speak. You’ll rarely walk down an avenue in Paris and not hear a couple or a small group of people in an animated discussion. People just love discourse, and you’ll benefit from hearing people speak and say familiar words.

Don’t Feel Stress Because You Don’t Speak French

About four years ago (as I write this), I planned to go to France for the first time and visit Paris for a few days. I had the whole itinerary planned out with visits to all the big sights. Unfortunately, that’s when the COVID pandemic decided to hit, and all my plans were canceled. In the months before my trip, I spent quite a lot of time trying to learn French.

After my trip was canceled, I eventually stopped my efforts and refocused my attention on Spanish. I’d already been trying to learn Spanish since it was the most useful secondary language I could learn as a resident of Southern California. However, when the chance to visit Paris again came about, I started getting a little antsy about learning French again.

Did I need to start learning it again? Was it necessary to become as fluent as possible before I landed in France? Would I find myself completely unable to communicate if I couldn’t speak perfect French? Well, all of my fears were completely ridiculous, as it turns out. All the stereotypes about Parisians were wrong. I loved the French people, and the only unfortunate part of my trip was that it was so abominably short!

I think you’ll find it helpful to know a few phrases of commonly spoken French, but don’t give yourself an aneurism trying to perfect the language before you depart. Learn what you can and try to solidify the main greetings, and you’ll do just fine when it comes to interacting with French residents. The French love their country, and they will appreciate the effort you make to learn French but won’t treat you poorly if you’re not fluent in it.

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