Help me make a list of basic French phrases to learn for a visit

I am just starting to learn French (two weeks in), and am planning a
trip towards the end of the summer. So I wanted help with a few key
phrases. If you could post a variety of possible responses as well,
that would be even more helpful!

Also, if you could give some advice about the kinds of conversations we should be looking for, we would be grateful. We know we'll have to
go to a cafe and order drinks, ask what time it is, buy stuff at a
boulangerie, and order lunch somewhere. Any other situations we should
get ourselves into?

The phrases that I can think of right away are:

We are/I am just starting to learn French.
We have/I have only been learning French a couple months.
My son is learning in school, but you know what English schools are like.
Please speak more slowly.
What does x mean?
What is this (indicating something) called in French?

Thank you!

http://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/

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Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on June 19, 2011 at 11:11pm

Hi there Jeff,

- Nous commençons/Je commence... à apprendre le français

- Ca ne fait que quelques mois que nous avons commencé (que j'ai commencé) à apprendre le français

- Mon fils apprend le français à l'école, mais vous savez comment sont les écoles en Angleterre. (Personally, I don't know how they are. Bad ? )

- Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement s'il vous plait ?

- Qu'est-ce que x veut dire ?

- Comment dit-on (ça) en Français ?

Instead of trying to have a conversation with waiters and shopkeepers (who will be very busy by the summer), maybe you can try to find some French passers-by to talk to. Young ones are more english-speaking than old ones.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Lehman on June 20, 2011 at 12:25am

"Personally, I don't know how they are. Bad ? "

Europeans I know are unimpressed with the ability of English students to have basic conversations. They can often read literature, but can't say hello. Of course, conversation has become a more important part of English exams, so maybe things are getting better. But my son and I have started to study a beginners' textbook together, and he keeps commenting on the many things he never learned in nearly 2 years of French classes.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on June 20, 2011 at 6:03am

Ed -- would it not be less confusing to say "Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire, 'frangipane'" (etc)? If you say e.g. "Qu'est-ce que frangipane veut dire?", does it not sound like you're saying "What does the person called Frangipane mean to say"?

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Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on June 20, 2011 at 12:27pm

Both sentences have the exact same meaning.

It's true that, if we wanted to know what a person have said, we'd say "Qu'est-ce que cette personne veut dire" ? But for a French listener of that question, there will be no risk of confusing a person with a thing (unless the person's name is Pierre (a rock) ! )

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on June 20, 2011 at 8:08pm

Thanks Ed -- that's interesting. I couldn't recall hearing the order e.g. "Qu'est-ce que 'ordinateur' veut dire" and it somehow seemed slightly odd.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Lehman on June 20, 2011 at 10:48pm

Thanks for the help.

Can anyone suggest other phrases we ought to learn? And I realize that Ed is right, waiters and shopkeepers might get impatient if we try to start conversations with them. Does anyone have any experience starting conversations with French passers-by? How well do they take to this? Any other suggestions for getting into conversations in France?