France: A Bad Place For English Speakers to Do Business

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French map
People who have never travelled to France might think that English speakers visiting the country cannot experience serious communication problems with French residents.  France is bordered with England, a native English speaking country.  French people constantly get in contact with English people who visit France for tourism or business.  Despite these, the vast majority of French people cannot or do not like to communicate in English with English speakers.

I became aware of this French indifference to English language during my recent visit to France.  On arrival to Lille, France, I tried to find a local cash machine to withdraw some Euros.  The people I approached for one of the machines could not direct me to where I could find one.  It was only after I had left the place and walked for another 7 minutes that I was able to find a person who directed me to a cashpoint.

I withdrew some money from the cash machine and bought a train ticket to the French town of Lezennes, where I had booked an accommodation.  Getting to the guest house in Lezennes,which was about 20 minutes drive from Lille, was not an easy task.    After disembarking from the French Metro Train in a place I thought was supposedly Lezennes, I asked local residents for directions to the guest house.    Many of them did not utter a word, the few who did reply in what I believed was we do not know.  Anyway I managed to find the guest house after wandering for about 2 hours.
French border city near Belgium


I was happy to get to the guest house but my problems were not over yet. The female receptionist on night duty at the guest house could not speak English.  We communicated using a sign language when I was looking for a supermarket to buy some water.    The male receptionist on duty the following morning also could not speak English.  He was not able to direct me to the nearest train station where I could get a train to Holland.  I took a taxi to the station for 25 Euros.  This is a trip that should have cost me less than 5 Euros by train.

French train station for several European countries
Lille Train Station

Having gone through this language anguish in France I have some advice for English speakers planning to visit France in future but cannot understand French.  Try and learn some French language before visiting France.  If this is not possible, be prepared to hire a tour guide who can help you get around French towns and cities easily. You may ignore this advice at your own peril.

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