Brush Up Your French Before Traveling to France

Want to tune-up your French before your upcoming trip to France? Get advice from a native Parisian on what to focus on.
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Are you busy preparing a trip to France soon? How exciting! In between packing and doing some research, you probably want to spend a bit of time brushing up on your French skills. And if you learned a bit of French back in college or high school, those language learning apps probably aren’t giving you what you’re looking for.
In today’s lesson, I’ll help you refresh your memory with go-to phrases and vocabulary that you’re actually likely to use on your trip. I’ll share what you should be focusing on to revive your French before your travels, going beyond the textbooks to dive into the practical essentials that will make your journey smooth and memorable.
Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.
Géraldine

[@tr9066]

While in Paris, I asked a waiter where to find the facilities, in French. He proceeded to rattle off directions very quickly and I had no idea what he said! Lol. Luckily, I walked in the correct direction and found it downstairs almost in the middle of the restaurant.

[@paulus4734]

I'm new in France and one of the first new words I learned was cash payment. So far never heard liquide, but always en espèces.

[@mikecos6986]

Merci Geraldine. J'aime the idea of 'scripts", mais je trouve that je ne suis pas pret pour la reponse. Perhaps you could do a lesson on 'Le Scripts" and the expected responses? Merci encore!

[@sa21g22g23]

Merci beaucoup pour pouvoir enseigner cette nouvelle leçon de cette belle langue française pour pouvoir apprendre la belle grammaire française

[@ThinkermanQuindo]

I so wish I had learned all this at school. At school it was all written and very formal - too formal - French, and the French A level has an oral exam you must pass. French is spoken very fast and has a lot of very awkward vowel sounds.

[@catherinegreen8440]

Merci!!!!! I love your lessons, Geraldine.

[@lamtuvi]

Thank you so much for your very useful video lesson !

[@eprohoda]

Comme-omg. epic .

[@dev5963]

Merci. I enjoy your videos - always practical with real life examples. I have practiced several important scripts for years. As you said, the person will generally smile and appreciate the effort. While in Paris or other metro areas, they frequently respond to me in English and sometimes French. However, I struggle when they respond quickly or complicated French. At that point, I respond with "Je parle français comme une vache espagnole". That usually gets a smile. One suggestion. When asking "Pouvez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît", I suggest including "lentement". It's easier for me (and I assume others) to understand when someone speaks slowly. Also, when someone asks me to use English (or I have to), I try to speak clearly, slowly, and avoid informal English. I struggle outside of metro areas but that's my fault so I have to use my phone to translate. But "bonjour" and other la politesse must be used.

[@djdag2000]

Great! I am going to Paris Thursday next week!

[@maltiagarwal6740]

I am in Paris now pls help me to talk. Francais

[@sabrasanwal4711]

A quelle heure est-ce qu’on commence à utiliser “bonsoir” et la fin de “bonjour”?

[@texastea5686]

Well, I PLAN on going to Paris in October 2023, but I'm watching the news about all these riots and I'm like hmmmmm, maybe I should wait, but then the Olympics are there next year and everything will be super expensive and overbooked. I don't speak French, but as a Mexican-American here in south Texas, I do speak Spanish. I'd like to be able to be polite and show the locals that I'm trying and that they can instantly tell I'm a tourist who needs help and hopefully they'll respond slowly lol

[@claudiaramos8357]

I just got back from France. Spent over a week. Paris in particular was extremely enjoyable. No one was protesting. I only saw a large volume of law enforcement patrolling the Arc de Triomphe area. Everywhere else police prescence was according to what one would normally see in a large bustling city. I travelled to northern parts of Paris, outside the touristy zone - no issues there. Then in Strasbourg by the cathédrale my family and I noticed two officers patrolling, which seemed to be the norm. Everything seems to be under control and I felt totally safe everywhere I went in France that were tourist hotspots.

[@LearnFrenchwithLexie]

Don't worry about the riots, you'll be completely safe. As you speak Spanish, you won't have any trouble learning French. Just be careful not to use your Spanish knowledge to pronounce the French words. Many words look similar in French and Spanish but they have different pronunciation! I hope you enjoy Paris😉

[@emerprendiville1515]

Respond slowly...mmhhh 🤔🤪!! Bon chance ! Enjoy if you go.

[@tomp66]

just back from normandie - is bonsoir after 18.00 only or is there no actual rule? sometimes bonsoir responded with bonjour even after 18 from a local or vice versa. or am i just overthinking and its whatever you like way round ? 😅

[@LearnFrenchwithLexie]

There is not a hard and fast rule for when to use "bonsoir". We usually use it after 6pm. But it varies also in winter and summer. In winter, it gets dark around 5pm whereas in summer it gets dark around 10pm. So, we tend to use "bonsoir" earlier in winter, around 6pm, while in summer we can use "bonjour" up to 7/8pm... It honestly depends of the speaker ;)

[@ian_of_glos]

what is the difference between y and la? for example Je reste la and je y reste?

[@michaelcrummy8397]

y is here, and la (with accent), is there.

[@ian_of_glos]

@@michaelcrummy8397 Yes I know there is an accent but that character is not available on my keyboard. The reason why I ask is that my french friend says viens la when she means come here. shouldn't it be viens ici?

[@michaelcrummy8397]

The only thing I can say is that sometimes it’s more important to get the idea of what someone is saying, rather than insisting on a word for word, literal translation.

[@lisalu910]

"Là" is used when you are indicating a place (like here or there) and "y" is a pronoun that refers back to something already mentioned. Tu es allée là? Oui, j'y suis allée. (Notice it isn't "je y" but "j'y")

[@lisalu910]

@@michaelcrummy8397 Not exactly. "Là" can mean here or there depending on the context (Je suis là = I'm here) "Y" is a pronoun which replaces something already mentioned - either a place or an action that takes the preposition à. Tu es déjà allée au Canada? Oui, j'y suis allée l'année dernière. Tu as pensé à tout ce que je t'ai dit ? Oui, j'y ai pensé.

[@VerasakSahachaisaree]

Try already. Quite hard. May be use google glass.

[@travelsaddict8952]

We say "brush up on" my French and not "brush up" my French.

[@yostevedotcom]

Every time i say IL fait beu, nobody knows what I'm saying

[@DE-iv8if]

Very good Video !!! So helpfulll !!!! Thank You !! :D

[@bytheway1031]

Merci Géraldine👍

[@Aannon]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Merci!

[@EleanorLiebman]

This is excellent. Too difficult for me,but I need more of this. Hope to listen to this multiple times.

[@maveric2881]

Thanks Geraldine for sharing this video. Your examples are practical and contemporary

[@dianepowell5315]

merci je viens d'arriver a Paris en Septembre

[@ayeshajarrett2398]

Merci pour votre leçon

[@bluecafe2020]

Merci !