{"id":5437,"date":"2020-10-20T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T00:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=5437"},"modified":"2021-05-21T20:39:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T20:39:02","slug":"learn-french-with-emily-in-paris-what-to-say-and-what-not-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/learn-french-with-emily-in-paris-what-to-say-and-what-not-to-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn French With Emily in Paris: What to Say and What Not to Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily in Paris<\/i><\/em>\u00a0is the story about how an American travels to Paris and falls in love with the city. Yet, things are not as perfect as she had imagined, mainly because she does not speak French.<\/p>\n

Though she was able to survive thanks to her amazing bilingual friends, such as Hannah or Gabriel, chances are you won\u2019t be so lucky if you try to do the same.<\/p>\n

So, if you are planning to move to France to work or study, you had better be more prepared than Emily! The good news is that you can learn a lot from Emily\u2019s experience and avoid making the same mistakes.<\/p>\n

Read on to learn all the French you need to know to survive your next trip to France!<\/p>\n

French Survival Phrases<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Photo by Nicol\u00e1s Sol\u00e9<\/p><\/div>\n

Emily knew she would need to know French if she wanted to succeed in France, that\u2019s why she tried to learn some basic phrases on the plane. She even claims \u201cI did Rosetta Stone on the plane, but it hasn't kicked in yet\u201d (doesn\u2019t seem like the quickest method, right? An intensive 10-hour French course<\/u><\/a>\u00a0could have been of more help!).<\/p>\n

As result, when Emily wanted to buy flowers, she didn\u2019t even know some basic phrases to order at a shop or to ask for help. She couldn\u2019t even say Je ne parle pas fran\u00e7ais<\/i><\/em>\u00a0(I cannot speak French). The same happened when her shower broke down: trying to explain this situation to her landlady was a nightmare. To prevent this from happening to you, here you can find a list of useful phrases you should definitely learn before you go to France!<\/p>\n

Phrases to ask for help<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong><\/h3>\n

- <\/i>Pouvez-vous <\/i><\/em>m\u2019aider<\/i><\/em>, <\/i><\/em>s\u2019il<\/i><\/em><\/i>vous<\/i><\/em>\u00a0plait?<\/i><\/em>\u00a0= Can you help me, please?<\/p>\n

- <\/i>A l\u2019aide<\/i><\/em>= Help!<\/p>\n

- <\/i>O\u00f9<\/i><\/em><\/i>est<\/i><\/em>\u00a0le poste de <\/i><\/em>police<\/i><\/em>?<\/i><\/em>\u00a0= Where is the police station?<\/p>\n

- <\/i>Je suis perdu<\/i><\/em>= I am lost.<\/p>\n

- <\/i>O\u00f9<\/i><\/em>est l\u2019ambassade?<\/i><\/em>\u00a0= Where is the embassy?<\/p>\n

- <\/i>O\u00f9<\/i><\/em>est la pharmacie?<\/i><\/em>\u00a0= Where is the pharmacy?<\/p>\n

- <\/i>Quelqu\u2019un a <\/i><\/em>vol\u00e9<\/i><\/em>mes affaires<\/i><\/em>\u00a0= Someone stole my belongings<\/p>\n

- <\/i>J\u2019ai perdu mon passeport<\/i><\/em>= I lost my passport!<\/p>\n

Phrases to order food<\/b><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When organising an important dinner meeting with clients, Emily was saved by her friend Gabriel, a chef who also spoke English. If that\u2019s not your case and you need to get by in French, here are some phrases that can help you at the restaurant:<\/p>\n

- <\/i>J\u2019ai r\u00e9serv\u00e9 une table au nom de \u2026 <\/i><\/em>= <\/i><\/em>I have reserved a table in the name of \u2026<\/p>\n

- <\/i>On va juste boire quelque chose. <\/i><\/em>= <\/i><\/em>We will just have a drink.<\/p>\n

<\/i>- Qu\u2019est-ce que vous recommandez?\u00a0= <\/i><\/em>What do you recommend?<\/p>\n

To order food, you can simply use the indefinite article\u00a0un\u00a0<\/i><\/em>(masculine) or\u00a0une\u00a0<\/i><\/em>(feminine)\u00a0plus\u00a0the item. You would normally add\u00a0s\u2019il vous pla\u00eet\u00a0<\/i><\/em>(\u2018please\u2019), at the end of the sentence''<\/p>\n

- <\/i>Une\u00a0soupe de poisson, s\u2019il vous pla\u00eet.\u00a0<\/i><\/em>= <\/i><\/em>One fish soup, please.<\/p>\n

Now, if you want to order\u00a0un caf\u00e9\u00a0<\/i><\/em>in France you will get\u00a0un express\u00a0<\/i><\/em>(a strong black coffee). Make sure you say\u00a0un grand caf\u00e9\u00a0<\/i><\/em>or\u00a0un caf\u00e9 allong\u00e9\u00a0<\/i><\/em>if you want a large black coffee,\u00a0un caf\u00e9 cr\u00e8me\u00a0<\/i><\/em>or just\u00a0un cr\u00e8me\u00a0<\/i><\/em>if you want white coffee, and\u00a0un grand cr\u00e8me\u00a0<\/i><\/em>if you want it large.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And when the shop assistant tells you the cost of your drink, you had better know how French numbers work! Emily had a problem with this when she tried to buy un<\/i><\/em>\u00a0<\/i><\/em>pain au chocolat<\/i><\/em>\u00a0and could not understand the sales clerk. And this is totally understandable. For example, to say \u201cninety-nine\u201d, the French say quatre-vingt-dix-neuf<\/i><\/em>, which translates as \u201cfour-twenty-ten-nine\u201d and \u201cseventy-seven\u201d is soixante-dix sept<\/i><\/em>\u00a0(sixty-ten-seven). So, as you study French, make sure to brush up on your math skills too!<\/p>\n

Careful With False Friends<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Besides being acquainted with the most common phrases, if you want to survive in Paris, you should also be aware of some of the words that are very similar in French and English but have different meanings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the show, Emily lived this first-hand and got into a very embarrassing situation! To express her excitement about an idea, she said that she was very excit\u00e9e<\/i><\/em>.<\/p>\n

While excit\u00e9e<\/i><\/em>\u00a0looks like \u201cexcited\u201d, it has an entirely different meaning. If you, like Emily, say je suis excit\u00e9e<\/i><\/em>, you\u2019re saying you\u2019re horny! To avoid other embarrassing situations like this one, here you are a list of other false friends between French and English you should watch out for:<\/p>\n

- Assister = Attend<\/p>\n

- Bras = Arm<\/p>\n

- Brasserie = Brewery<\/p>\n

- Bless\u00e9 = Wounded<\/p>\n

- Coin = Corner<\/p>\n

- Coll\u00e8ge = High School<\/p>\n

- Douche = Shower<\/p>\n

- Sensible = Sensitive<\/p>\n

Gender of nouns<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Emily becomes quite popular in Paris thanks to a viral tweet in which she put in the spotlight one of the features of the French language: genders. While English is a gender-neutral language when it comes to nouns, in French they can be masculine or feminine.<\/p>\n

The word that surprised Emily is le vagin<\/i><\/em>\u00a0(the vagina) since in French it is masculine and not feminine. This shows how unpredictable genders are in this language, even in words for which the gender would seem obvious.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best way to get ready for this? Lots of exposure. Start listening to French audio and reading French texts, and you will begin to notice the genders of the words. If there is one that surprises you, write it down so you can memorise it.<\/p>\n

And if you want to truly impress your French co-workers with your knowledge of the local language (as Emily proved you should), why not take online French classes<\/u><\/a>? They will help you fast-track your way to fluency. Besides, your native teacher will give you an insider\u2019s view into the culture so you avoid embarrassing yourself. If you are ready to learn French with a tailored-made curriculum,\u00a0contact us and get started!<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily in Paris\u00a0is the story about how an American travels to Paris and falls in love with the city. Yet, things are not as perfect as she had imagined, mainly because she does not speak French. Though she was able to survive thanks to her amazing bilingual friends, such as Hannah or Gabriel, chances are(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
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