DLP for the non-French speaker

[Kitty-chan]

My French is very poor, but not quite non-existant (it's amazing how much my junior high school French classes kick back in once I'm surrounded by French-speakers for a few days!). But DS8 speaks no French. He's a pin-trader, so I'm going to teach him a few basic phrases for interacting with CMs ("Hello, may I look at your pins?" "May I trade you this pin for that pin?" "Thank you very much"), but there's no way he'll understand movies, narration, etc.

I have read that all the CMs can speak English (so really, the pin trading French lesson is for fun and educational enrichment). But what about the rest of the park experience? What pitfalls should I look out for?

Examples from another park: When we went to Tokyo Disneyland when he was 5, I didn't really understand how intense their version of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" was, because many (though not all) of the warnings were only in Japanese (and my Japanese is worse than my French?). On the other hand, we went on Star Tours 5 or 6 times and didn't understand the narration at all, but it didn't matter a bit (and it was amusing to me when I took him on Star Tours at WDW for the first time, and I'd practically forgotten how Rex sounds in English!).

Advice, comments, etc?

 

[diberry]

I don't think you need have any worries. Everyone seems to speak English and most things are in English. "Honey, ISTA" has some French shows and some English (well, actually in French but you put headphones on for the English version). The Lion King similarly has French and English shows but as most of it's sung it doesn't really matter. All CMs speak at least 2 or 3 languages.

 

[emmaness]

Like Diana said, not much French knowledge is needed. All the cast that you'll ever speak to are required to speak English to a high level so you shouldn't have any problems! But if you're like me you try to speak as much French as you can - they certainly appreciate that!

 

[Kitty-chan]

But if you're like me you try to speak as much French as you can - they certainly appreciate that!

I definitely found that to be the case when I visited Paris a couple years ago. I found that "Bonjour Madam! Pardonnez-moi, parlez-vous Anglais? Je parle seulement un petit peu de Francais!" went a very long way. Even as bad as my accent and vocabulary are, everybody I encountered was very nice and patient about it.

I often managed a good bit more French than those few phrases (I think I got through a couple restaurant meals all in French), but it seemed that even just the small effort and the acknowledgement that I was asking them a favor by asking them to speak English really did matter. I only once encountered somebody who was rude to me in Paris -- amusingly enough, it was the woman at the tourist info booth , when I was trying to find info about buying a Carte Orange (she wanted to sell me the much-more-expensive Paris Visite).

 

[Miffy2003]

You've got exactly the right idea Kitty-chan. A Bonjour and a merci go a long way

I used to have a vaguely reasonable French grasp but found I really didn't need it when I visited.

 

[Cyrano]

Pleasantries go down well. In the restaurants we found that speed was the order of the day so the CM's would much rather speak English.

Reid

 

[cvierig]

I was just in DLP last summer. When you arrive at the park gates, all of the park maps and information sheets detailing the shows were in French. However, you can pick up English maps and sheets at Guest Services on Main Street (as well as many other languages). The English language maps are marked with the British flag, of course, so pay attention to which map you grab.

I assume this is still the case, unless they've changed... anyone know?

 

[NIK]

I tried a bit of my own schoolgirl French when I was there. Funnily enough the minute they heard my accent the CM all changed to English Must have been pretty bad eh?

I am trying to improve though - mainly coz I think it's polite to at least try but I found that everyone spoke such beautiful accented English it was a doddle to make myself understood.

One CM made me laugh though- I said to her that I haven't had so much fun in 'Donkey's Years' and she looked puzzled for a second then said "AH! Idiom!" and asked for an explanation. It amazed me particularly since I wouldn't know what the French for 'idiom' was and if the situation had been reversed I would have been completely lost

 

[MinnieYC]

It's no problem not to speak French. Actually, once when we were there, DH was wearing a shirt from our American alma mater, so several CMs automatically just started speaking English to him. The funny thing his, he's perfectly fluent in French, so it wasn't necessary, but we found it to be a nice thing for them to do.