How's your French? Sounds like a flippant question, but I hear Parisians are not that... tolerant of even bad French speakers, let alone non-speakers. That stereotype has kept me from visiting, let alone living there, despite it probably being my dream city in every other respect. I'm in my mid 40s, and learning a new (spoken) language has become extremely difficult. I spent 2 years trying to learn German a while back and it was a pretty big failure.

Maybe it's time to stop caring about these stereotypes over-amplified by social media? I'm from Asia and I speak English with a heavy accent, the only French I know is "merci beaucoup", "toilet?", and "au revoir". I've visited Paris twice (1 week each time) and language barrier or the so-called "Parisian elitism" had never prevented me to enjoy my stay there.

That being said, there is still a lot to hate about Paris: dirty and overcrowded subway, shady people everywhere, especially around tourists' places of interest, etc. Not that much different from big cities like NYC, SF, Seattle, etc.

When I visited Paris a few years back I found the key was greeting people in French. Maybe spend a couple hours learning how to say hello, how to say "excuse me" and "thank you", how to ask where the nearest toilet is, how to ask for the cheque, etc.

If people see you making the effort, they'll switch to English, in my case, anyway. But you have to show some respect, first. You have to let people know you understand you're a guest in their country.

Of course, this was many years ago. Things may be different now. And of course, if you're going to live there you're going to have to learn the language as quickly as you can.

I've had a few experiences in France, as recently as a month ago. Not speaking French (I do not) is not generally a problem, no one seems to mind. What some parts of Europe do mind is being too... How do I put this politely... Obviously from certain places with very little sensitivity for where in the the world they happen to be at the time. Often loudly.

Prevented from visiting? Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, and the Parisians are pragmatic people. If you're kind and respectful they'll give you that in return.

I can only say the most basic phrases in French and have experienced zero problems.

It’s probably more similar to Japan in terms of cultural tolerance. I heard the same story years ago and only recently visited (just after the Paris Olympics). I usually try to learn some of the basics of the language before visiting but was incredibly busy and didn’t this trip. I had no issues and I was all over Paris. People were very reasonable, and translation apps/services helped me plenty, but for the most part they spoke English or could understand some basic level of it. If you live there and try to assimilate but speak poorly or little, there may be less tolerance? As a tourist I had not a single incident.

I don’t like to be the ugly American who just assumes the world should speak my language, so I was ready for language barriers, but I had no real issues at all.

As a Frenchman living in Paris – we have such a huge expat community already (and many english-speakers, I worked with Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians) than one more or less will be a non-event.

Now it's true that Americans tend to love to frighten each other with firecamp stories about the Big Bad Frenchman, but IME it's mostly a mix of latent francophobia and a grapevine of bad experience between what is locally perceived as wholly uneducated Americans and local Frenchmen that the Americans tend to see as arrogant.

The latest if most often due to (i) tourists forgetting that what is a great week you spent years saving for is another Tuesday for the other guys in the street, (ii) many fundamental French etiquette rules (don't shout, say “hello” first when talking to someone, the absence of a hierarchical relationship between hospitality personnel and customers, distant behaviour is not arrogance but a mark of respect, etc.) are completely accessory in the US customs, leading to very strong misunderstandings.

So book a trip for a week and come say hello, we don't bite! (and avoid like the plague any café/restaurant in the touristy areas)

I went to Paris last year and it was not a big deal, as long as you know the basics like excuse me/please/thank you.

A few times someone would correct us (eg "after 6pm we say bonsoir instead of bonjour"), but it never felt like it was done in a dickish way and people were generally pretty accommodating. Perhaps it helps that I went to Paris with low expectations, not thinking it'd live up to the hype, but I had a great time. Definitely don't let the language thing keep you from going!

If you can you should go. Lived there for 12 years and my French was not amazing but no one gave me shit about it. English has been required in schools since 00s basically anyone under 40 should be able to communicate. But knowing some French goes a lot further.

As a Dutch person having spend many summers in France, I can say that the latest generations are much more tolerant and friendly. When I was young (90’s) I saw camping owners with war grudges screaming “Campsite Full!! (Complet!! In French)” To any German. I also had to walk out of a boulangerie without croissants because they couldn’t understand the way I pronounced croissant… but nowadays you can just speak English anywhere.

I'm french, but I have a dozen of friends here that don't speak English and have an active social circle. In some streets of Le Marais you can hear more English than french

I’ve traveled all over the world and the French were by far the biggest assholes I’ve encountered, especially in hospitality.

They acted like normal people when we have been there.

Paris has a population of 2 million people, a good chunk of whom are not native to France.

It's safe to assume you'll encounter a very wide variety of people speaking many different languages.