Surviving in Paris Without French
“Do you put condoms in the jam, Madame de La Charriere?”
This was my translated attempt of speaking French and asking my host if she adds preservatives to her homemade jam -- an embarrassing language lesson for me, as she stifled her laughter and leaned over to explain that préservatifs actually means "condoms" and that the word I was looking for was conservateurs.
I am a traveler, love adventure, and am not afraid to push my own boundaries and accept new challenges. I have traveled to several non-English speaking countries, on my own and with friends, and have never had a difficult time communicating with others. Through all my travels, I never felt constantly self-conscious about not being able to say the right thing like I do here in France.
Experiencing a country as a tourist is very different than living in one, immersing yourself in the culture and language with a limited knowledge of the spoken language. In my case, the barrier is French.
Can you actually live in Paris without speaking French? According to New York Magazine and many other publications, you can. Even though the article gives helpful tips on how to “fake it” when living in France, it fails to provide examples of real-life people living in Paris; the American expats mentioned in the article are all celebrities who probably have a wide network of support without a language struggle.
For we common folk, even simple tasks like buying SIM cards and installing Internet can turn into major moments of frustration without the languge skills. They require patience, desperation, and, when all else fails, resorting to tourist sites where English is more likely to be spoken.
This brings us to the stereotype that the French don't like to speak English. Is it true? Paris is one of the most, if not the most, visited city in the world. As a popular tourist destination, shouldn’t there be more chances of finding someone who speaks English? According to French Together, that is not necessarily the case, “Imagine you meet a French tourist in your country. He obviously doesn’t speak English that well and you happen to know some basic French. You could probably speak French with him and help him. But wouldn’t you be afraid to speak French? A language you don’t speak fluently. What if you make mistakes? If you are like most people, you certainly would be.”
When deciding to live long term or even temporarily in a foreign country, some of the challenges and adventures will entail learning through mistakes, embarrassing moments, and frustration to accomplish the littlest things one may take for granted otherwise.
(Photo: Flickr)
