Soooo ... How fluently do you speak French?

[Carla123]

Reading all the threads about escaping the rain and camping in Southern France, is making me want to follow suit. The problem is I speak very little French. Obviously, I would try to redress this and learn as much as possible, before travelling, but I'm still concerned that I would be the token ignorant Brit (insert Del-boy emoticon).

How fluent are those of you who camp in France? Do your DC speak any French? My Dds are only 4 & 3, so haven't learnt any languages at school yet, and Spanish will be the first language they cover anyway.

Not enough!

We have been holidaying in France for the past three summers - not camping, but still shopping etc.

I did my 'O' Level French in 1984. The only times i have used it since is when on holiday. I get by. A pocket dictionary helps. I am sure that any grammar I use it dreadful, but as long as I can get across my point then I am happy.

DH is almost on a par with me -he tries too. DS is currently studying at school, so is no doubt the best out of all of us. Although he, like me, gets the French and Spanish mixed up.

Depends how much I've had

I know a fair bit but am better at reading and writing it rather than in conversation. It is a confidence thing though, hence the wine comment above.

There are a lot of Brits in SW France, particularly the Dordogne, so lack of French wouldn't be much of an issue. You'd be ok with a phrasebook even in Provence though. DH only has what he taught himself and he manages fine. He did once have to mime constipation in a pharmacy because he'd forgotten his dictionary.

DS is only 3. He learned merci and s'il vous plait on holiday this year. He also learned bonjour, but thought that was the waitress's name - as in 'where has the bonjour gone?' bless him.

I certainly wouldn't let it put you off. They say the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it.

I can speak it but can't then understand people when they reply. I find "Plus lentement, s'il vous plait" is a great phrase...

DH both speaks and understands it v. well (works for a French company) so I am relying on him when we go through the chunnel this weekend!

DD has been doing it for the last 2 years but 'Bonjo' is the limit of what she's prepared to say, so I'm hoping full immersion will have some benefits in her case!

i can speak a little bit and also used 'plus lentement' lots when we were in brittany last week but i get shy at actually speaking.

I think that making an effort with bonjour madame/monsoir, merci etc and a bit smile goes a long way, if you don't make any effort to speak even a little french it can come across rude to them but if you make an effort you'll get a lot of help back............ def don't let limited french put you off!

Oh also found encouraging 2 yo ds to say bonjour madame, merci etc seemed to win people over too!!

Went to France last year, can barely say anything in French, got the ignorant Brit looks , I'm not British and I do speak other languages so did not deserve those looks! Humph! The assumption that I really should know French put me off a little I must say.

I am fluent and my children are bilingual French/English so I don't have the issue.

What I would say is that those who make the effort, have a phrase book, say Merci and s'il vous plait get much better treatment than those who continue to believe the other person speaks English and are just pretending to understand.

The French tend to be more formal with manners, so starting any enquiry with bonjour madame or Monsieur will start you off on the right foot.

Children are naturally inquisitive with language so use them to practice vocabulary.

I speak Eddie Izzard French

We took a trip to Paris and the outer suburbs out of peak season last year to camp and I managed OK. Just made a point of brushing up on the basics with a CD set before we went.

The locals all enjoyed practising their English on me anyway (as a token tourist)!

I think it is more about effort. Plus, the further south you go, IMO the more accommodating and nice the French are - must be the weather! I do make an effort, it my very limited french, and in the south of France I have had conversations where I spoke French and they spoke English all the way through!

We went last year and are going again thus year.
We can not speak French.
But we try.
And we are welsh. Which seems to soften the blow somewhat.

Thank you everyone for the encouraging responses and for the Dc anecdotes. It seems I definitely speak less than others, but it's not necessarily a deal breaker? I'm sure I can learn at least a few more key phrases if I get cracking now.

Any tips on which dictionaries / phrase books are best for beginners?

I am another who gets more fluent with a few glasses of wine. We got "chatting " to some French people in Bruges earlier this year and we talked for an hour and a half! I kept apologising for my French but they assured me I was charming

I know I was knackered afterwards!!

My DP (who speaks 3 languages fluently but not a word of French!) did the nodding and smiling thing and her got away with just that!

I agree that just alittel bit of an effort with the hellos and thanks yous goes a long way and any child under 10 who says bonjour is your key to success :o

Have a lovely time

re tips Carla i saved google transate as a favorite to my phone so i could quickly translate sme phrases if needs be.........

but any cheapy pocket phrase book you can get from amazon should be fine too

enjoy!

Merci. J'ai ajouté google traduire par un signet .

YY to using the DC's to smooth the way!
We normally strayed not too far from site, and when we did we shopped in large supermarkets etc. while DS was young (I speak reasonably good German and DH can ask for 2 beers in French so not ideal :))
This year we strayed out further afield as DS was older and I was embarrassed by our lack of language. Markets and small shops were dreadful experiences (as far as language was concerned) and we have resolved ourselves to follow the French course from the library before next year.
If you do not intend to stray too far from the site you should be OK with the basics, but completely agree with those who say a little tentative French can go a long way! As we would like to be more submerged in French life we will certainly be putting in extra work before next year :o

Learn your pleases and thank yous, learn the numbers, learn to say hello for the appropriate time of day then you will find that goes a long way.

It is also worth learning campsite (and other) vocab as well:

• emplacement
• eau potable/non potable
• avec/sans
• hebergements

Dont worry, we have been scraping by on my decidedly ropey holiday French for years!

You need to learn Franglais. If you do a search you'll find a thread on here that might be helpful .

I speak very little French, but my accent's not bad . When we went camping in the Lot region a couple of years ago, the guy at a restaurant we went to assumed I was French, and asked my husband where in France I was from! I think it was because I said very little, and didn't fanny about with sounding too polite (v. French!).

Our oldest was seven and enjoyed being sent to buy bread and croissants by herself.

Our younger daughter was three, and got away with murder by being generally cute and saying Bonjour and Merci a lot. Shop people kept giving her free food and drink in exchange for a kiss . I hate to think what her holidays abroad will be like when she's a nubile teenager.