We are a middle-aged American couple who has had no experience or exposure to the French language. We will be in southern Germany in July and would like to see Colmar and the Alsace region for a few days. What should we expect since we don%26#39;t speak French and I doubt if we can learn much in the short time before we go? In Germany we have learned to read menus and to greet people and use bitte and danke, but we don%26#39;t really know the language.
We are very nervous about trying to pronounce French words too, so would it be polite to ask people in restaurants and hotels if they speak English?
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We%26#39;ve just come back from a holiday in Alsace. There were a lot of German tourists and we found many restaurant staff switched into German to talk to them - so you might not need French at all! (I had the impression they were more at ease with German than English).
Menus weren%26#39;t always translated so if you%26#39;re eating out, make sure you%26#39;ve got a list of names, particularly local specialities.
It%26#39;s a lovely area - they were just putting up all the window boxes when we were there, so it%26#39;ll be lovely by July.
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Don%26#39;t worry, people in this area are used to tourists and very helpful.
At times the Alsace belonged to Germany, therefore many older people are still speaking a German dialect. But, because of the terrible experiences with German occupation in the last world war, they understandably often refuse to talk German to Germans.
A few French words, like merci, s%26#39;il vous plaît, pardon, bonjour,
au revoir, no matter how you pronounce, will be appreciated and show your politeness.
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No problem of course to ask people if they speak English . But you will find out that people are much more fluent in German than in English, because of History and because most tourists are German . But do not try to actually speak German to them, they will know immediately that you are not Germans and they may take it wrong, thinking that you are mistaking them for Germans (History again, and some people may easily get offended) .
However, you can always ask for a menu in German, since most restaurants in touristic areas will have one .
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My husband and I just returned from Alsace. Although we both speak French, we heard a lot of Americans and British people speaking to hotel and restaurant staff in English, and they always seemed to manage just fine. Many restaurants in Strasbourg have menus in both English and German. A lot of stores and restaurants and hotels will have signs up saying %26quot;English spoken%26quot;, though just because there is no sign doesn%26#39;t mean they don%26#39;t speak it. Almost all French people have had English in school, though it can sometimes be a very rudimentary English. Just remember to say %26quot;Bonjour%26quot;, and maybe %26quot;Parlez-vous anglais?%26quot; and other simple words and you should have no problem. Don%26#39;t worry about your accent -- it%26#39;s true that they will greatly appreciate the effort. Bon voyage!
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