I went to Paris once, and despite everything I had heard my whole life, if you start off with a Bonjour and end with a Merci, in between, the locals are almost all perfectly happy to speak English with you.
I’m sure I say these things with a thick American accent so they all know not to continue too much further in French.
Yeah most people are self conscious about their accent/vocabulary so if you roll in speaking English it kinda feels like you’re going “hey I expect you to bend over backwards to try to speak my language while I’m visiting your country” which is of course even worse if they’re working at the time. Opening with any attempt to speak French shows that you’re willing to accommodate them and the person will immediately be more relaxed at the idea of exposing just how bad their English is.
I went to Paris once, and despite everything I had heard my whole life, if you start off with a Bonjour and end with a Merci, in between, the locals are almost all perfectly happy to speak English with you.
I’m sure I say these things with a thick American accent so they all know not to continue too much further in French.
“I’d much rather stumble around in English than witness whatever the fuck you’re about to do to my mother tongue” - the French
But yes, a simple “Parlez vous anglais?” puts most conversations firmly in friendly territory. It’s entitlement that puts most people off.
Yeah most people are self conscious about their accent/vocabulary so if you roll in speaking English it kinda feels like you’re going “hey I expect you to bend over backwards to try to speak my language while I’m visiting your country” which is of course even worse if they’re working at the time. Opening with any attempt to speak French shows that you’re willing to accommodate them and the person will immediately be more relaxed at the idea of exposing just how bad their English is.