Before any trip abroad, it’s a good idea to know how well the locals will speak English. Before my first trip to Paris I remember wondering: can I get by with English in France?
Yes, you can speak English in France and almost always get by. In general, you will have an easier time in cities and with younger generations. However, speaking English will hurt your rapport with locals. Don’t expect to make a lot of friends without at least trying to speak French.
Table of Contents
Will hotels and hostels have English speaking staff?
Most hotels and hostels in staple cities will have staff that can accommodate you in English, or at least understand enough to sell you a room.
Personally, I have heard French staff speak English at hostels in Paris, Strasbourg, Metz, and Reims, as I live near the North Eastern region. I also have friends who traveled to Normandy, including to the famous Mont Saint Michel (pictured below) and the D-Day beaches. Both had English speakers.
But most decent hotels will have English speaking staff regardless of where you are in the country, even in the southern cities like Nice and Marseille, which are known for lacking in English.
On the other hand, you’ll want to be careful about making stops in smaller town hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, and countryside inns, as the chance of finding and English speakers is much smaller. Depending on where you are, they may find it too uncomfortable to help you.
This happened to me when I first went to Paris and before I became fluent. I was visiting Giverny (the home of Claude Monet) from Paris and missed the last train into the city.
I tried to buy a room for the evening at a small hotel nearby, but the staff were so uncomfortable in English that the discussion was over before it even started. Thankfully I ended up catching a bus back to the city.
That story was a moment for me to really understand how the French countryside necessitates at least some degree French.
In short, and assuming you plan to stay in major cities, most hotels and hostels you visit will have English speaking staff. The big exception to this is countryside and small town hotels.
Are restaurant menus in English?
In touristic areas such as Paris, restaurants will usually have dedicated English menus. On the other hand, authentic restaurants and non-touristic restaurants will likely confine themselves to French.
Menus that have English translations are hit or miss. Sometimes they will directly translate words that don’t carry meaning in English. For example, a restaurant might translate “croque monsieur” to “crunchy sir,” whereas any native would obviously call it a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. You’ll have to do your best if you find youself in that situation.
Menus without English are tough. Personally, I’m not very interested in food. Even in English I could struggle to identify simple meals. That means I struggle even more in French. You may be more well-versed, and I recommend following through with your knowledge and being comfortable with these common meals:
Tartare de boeuf – beef tartare. A raw beef chopped patty that’s stuck together. It’s actually safe to eat, and sometimes even comes with a raw egg on top.
Boeuf bourguignon – beef burgundy. A beef and vegetable stew, cooked in red wine and a small amount of flour for texture, is one of the most common French dishes.
Foie gras – usually keeps the French form. Translation is fat duck liver. Foie gras is the quintessential French appetizer. It’s very common around Christmas and New Years. It’s my favorite small French. The down side to this dish is how it’s made — farmers force feed the ducks until they’re very fat, kill them, and use the liver to make foie gras. It comes raw, half-cooked, and fully-cooked, and it is either a solid liver or a mix of livers from multiple animals.
Crepe – small pancake. These small pancakes are just as they sound — a very thin layer of pancake batter on a wide, flat pan (shown below). Their thinness counterintuitively makes them stronger than a normal pancake, so you can layer on Nutella, butter, jelly, peanut butter, fruits, syrup, and other toppings, flip the crepe over, and eat it with your hands or utensils.
Magret du canard – duck filet. This is popular Southwestern meal. A lot like beef, duck filet it a slightly more luxurious choice for meet eaters. If you like meat and find yourself stuck without knowing what’s on the menu, just look for the word that looks like “Margret.”
Galette – small savory pancake. There really is no equivalent for these in English. Just imagine a thin layer of bread. A typical galette has an egg, ham, and some cheese it it.
Chocolate soufflé – warm melted chocolate cake. A whipped chocolate cake-like desert than transcends cultures.
Crème brulée – burn cream. Crème brulée usually comes in a wide, short dish that’s thick enough to hold in the heat on this creamy desert. A chef literally torches the top to burn the cream — hence the name.
In short, you will come across menus with English translations in most touristic restaurants. However, many of those translations will be deceptive. Menus in less touristic places will not likely have English translations. In any case, you should be familiar with the words above just in case.
Do French tourist attractions have English audio and paper guides?
Yes, every tourist attraction I have visited has had an English paper guide at the very least. You may run into some cases where the only audio available is in French, but this is generally only in small towns.
For example, if you visit a small castle in between two major cities, the staff may only give guided tours, so you’ll be out of luck to have an English audio guide. However, almost all informational boards will have an English translation, even if it’s iffy on the grammar.
What can I not do if I don’t speak French?
The most significant holdups you will have in France if you don’t speak the language are in some ways the most important elements of living in or visiting the country. If you don’t speak French, you can’t:
Get directions. If you find yourself wandering about French country roads in your rental car because you didn’t yet purchase a European SIM card and you don’t know where to go, you might want to ask for directions. Depending on the people you talk to, you may not be able to ask for directions, much less understand them if you somehow did communicate what you need. This can be frustrating. You would simply have to keep looking for someone with some English skill.
Talk to bakers and other small shop owners. In my opinion, one stereotype of French people that holds true is their love for bakeries and other small shops. While they are not as open to strangers as anglophone cultures are, it’s nice to have some rapport with them. It would be an opportunity to ask questions about their craft, whether it’s a baker, a butcher, a barista, or other, and you could do so if you spoke some French.
Discuss with authority figures if you run into trouble (even the police). I’ve never had an urgent problem, but you would be hard pressed to find an everyday police officer that’s comfortable enough to work with you. If ever you had an issue, you would likely need to go to the police station to file your complaint directly with them.
Get to know French people. You could meet someone at dinner, or in line at DisneyLand Paris, or at a coffee shop if you spoke French. If not, it’s tough to build any kind of sincere rapport with French people. This is true even for English-speaking French people. I think you would have a hard time building a rapport with any French person without speaking their language because they are very proud of it.
Hear the way French people think. In addition to the previous point, you would not be able to hear the way French people think. You would have a hard time adapting to their culture and understanding their norms about religion, sexuality, education, fashion, and the rest without having authentic conversations in French.
“Getting by” is not the same as “enjoying”
If you’ve read this far, it’s because you understand that while you could “get by” in France with English, you may not truly enjoy the country. Getting by means taking care of your needs. It means being able to get food and shelter, as well as navigating to the places you want to go.
The truth is that you may find yourself disappointed if you don’t have at least some French in your pocket when traveling or living in the country. You won’t be able to enjoy the subtle things that make the experience really worth it. The good news is you can learn French pretty quickly. I advocate for picking it up in 1 year with a calculated mix of listening, speaking, reading, and writing practice.
Check out the homepage here if you liked this article.