HOW TO HAVE GREAT CONVERSATIONS ON THE ICONIC CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES
Champs Élysées are open to pedestrians the first Sunday of every month.
This is amazing news for some, and you can see how busy the street is when people start strolling freely.
How can we have conversations on Champs Élysées, with strangers?
(Photo: AFP)
Yes, in Paris people do strike conversations with strangers at a drop of the hat. Go to a café and ask someone from the other table a simple question, and you may end up listening to their entire life story.
How convenient is that?
However, many people have a real anxiety around conversation in French, and don’t look forward to listening to a story they can barely understand.
I understand.
What you can do is to listen to the story and look for the words you DO understand. Then ask a question about those words. Your partner of conversation will automatically slow down and repeat the things related to the word you asked about. You then ask questions about the next word and so on.
This way, your partner of conversation will get the idea that you are not fluent, will slow down and happily answer your questions which – after all – prove that you are genuinely interested about their story.
You’ll make this way a lot of friends, while training your ear to understand better the faster spoken French, as well as practicing your own conversation skills
To prepare for this, you can make a short collection of verbs that you use most. Write a one or two page story about yourself in English, and underline the verbs you used. This way, you know which verbs you need to know how to conjugate in French too. Find them in Bescherelle, write them down on a cheat sheet and learn them.
Oh, and if you need another place in Paris where you can practice your conversation skills, here’s another surprise.
The plan to pedestrianize the right bank of the River Seine is in full steam, a project that is expected to come into fruition by the end of summer.
NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Write in the comments below, what is your favorite thing to do on Champs Élysées?
Let me guess.
Do you constantly have the feeling that you can’t hear what the French say and you don’t know how to read all the French words because they are written so much differently than they sound?
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…and now, please SHARE this article with your friends. They’ll love you for it! : )
Always in your corner,
Llyane
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
This makes me so want to go back to Paris. It’s been 16 years since I was there. I love your tips about striking up a conversation and picking up on the words that you do understand. That’s gold.
Happy you find it useful, Shae, and hope to see you around 🙂
I remember when I visited Paris as a teenager people were so lovely to me and were so happy that I’d made an effort to speak in French (even though mine was pretty basic) that it made it quite easy to converse. They DID slow down and repeat things for me. I really appreciated that, but it was their delight in my ‘giving it a go’ that really made it fun for me.
I love the idea of the pedestrianized streets as places to strike up conversations.
Happy memories, Ferris!
I home you’ll come back soon 🙂
Thanks Llyane! That is interesting news about the Champs Elysees. I really like your conversation tips too!
Happy it helps, Debbie! 🙂