The Eiffel Tower. Nous sommes arrivés!
Sometimes, a traveler needs to know useful phrases of the country they’re visiting that go beyond bathroom humor. Phrases like: “Où sont les toilettes?” and “Je dois faire poo poo” can be very useful phrases in France, should you find yourself with a raging case of the trots (don’t mock, this happens). But, basic vocabulary, like “hello,” “please” and “thank you” have really helped us to converse with locals.
When we arrived in Paris, we hopped on the RER B train line from Charles De Gaulle Airport. We needed to take it to the RER C line to get to our hotel. At the intersection where we needed to switch trains, we accidentally hopped a train heading in the opposite direction. We assessed the situation and the mister concluded that it was imperative to exit the train immediately.
The door buzzed to close and he jumped off.
I, however, didn’t make it.
Like a Pygmy Tarsier (google it) in headlights, I stared back at Frank who was now outside of the doors as the train was pulling away.
He motioned for me to meet him back at that spot, but he could have also easily been motioning “Do you see this? I have gum on my shoe.”
There was nothing left to do except wait patiently for the next stop and hope that learning more than just bathroom humor in French would pay off.
At the next stop, I jumped off and asked a girl for the best way to get back in French: “Bonjour,” I stumbled, “sah-veh voo oo eh la bun route to Paris Austerlitz? I rounded out my poorly-spoken French with a: “s’il vous plaît?”
However, she replied back in perfect English: “You need to go to the third train track over there.”
A majority of the youth in France and people in the hospitality industry may understand English. In fact, most of the people we interacted with happily obliged us in our request for English. However, the reason for their helpfulness was because we were polite to these strangers to begin with.
My mom always said politeness would take me a long way (usually with a smack upside the head). She was absolutely correct. Starting off our requests for help with a French “bonjour” and “s’il vous plaît” conveyed empathy for the culture, a culture that upholds and reveres courtesy and respect.
That being said, the most helpful phrases we learned that ingratiated people’s help were:
- Bonjour/ Bon soir (bohn-zhure/ bohn-suahr) “Good day”/ “Good evening.”
- S’il vous plaît (see voo play) “Please.”
- Monsieur/ Madame/ Mademoiselle (miss-siehr/ mah-dahm/ maa-dehm-muah-zelle) “Mister”/ “Ma’am”/ “Miss.”
- Parlez-vous anglais? (par-lay voo ahng-lay) “Do you speak English?”
- Pouvez-vous m’aider? (poo-veh voo meh-day) “Can you help me?”
- Où est (oo eh) “Where is [papier toilette].”
- Merci beaucoup (mare-see boh-koo) “Thank you very much.”
- Au revoir (oh reh-vuah) “Good bye.”
A few helpful phrases go a long way in extending courtesy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I would also expect a non-English speaking tourist in America to show me the same politeness.
Maybe a few of these phrases can help you. And, hopefully you don’t find yourself stranded or with a raging case of stomach issues.
What phrases have been useful for you in a jam?
Merci for reading! WONDERing what’s next? Join us on our next adventure via email! Go nuts!
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