Do most Parisians speak English? Or will I be considered an outsider and Immediately ignored if I speak only English?
The best thing about the Anglophone world is the language. I wouldn't mind learning a new language, but it takes time.
The best thing about the Anglophone world is the language. I wouldn't mind learning a new language, but it takes time.
In general, I've always considered it polite to "show effort" to speak the local language, even if you end up speaking English in the long run. Whenever I travel to a new country, I try to learn enough to read a dinner menu and order a meal. While I'm certainly nowhere near to being fluent in that language, it's at least enough to be able to understand when the waiter is asking for a drink order versus appetizers or whatever, and then to be able to list the things we want with proper pronunciation and the count of each item, though not in a full sentence.
But in a professional environment, there is absolutely no problem. Ok our accent might be a problem but we can speak and understand english. For example, to become an engineer in France you need a minimal level in english.
A lot of educated people have travelled in a foreign country during their studies, so really for me I don't think it will be a problem.