Travelling within Europe makes it especially easy to blend in with the locals. Short haul city destinations only a few hours from London such as Amsterdam and Paris are easily reachable for a long weekend of intense lifestyle-seeking, and allow you to get straight to the heart of the action with no jet lag.
To put things simply, braving it and travelling solo is one of the most effective ways of blending in. With such a huge array of cheap hotels throughout many capital cities, the prospects for travelling solo, and meeting like-minded people, are fantastic. You'll be left with no choice but to make a conscious effort to speak to people, or face being mute for the duration of your trip.
The best way to learn the language is by taking a phrasebook away with you, although nobody will expect you to be fluent in French as soon as you step off the Eurostar in Paris at Gare du Nord. At least you'll be giving it a go though and you'll be able to utter more than simply bonjour! It will probably be easy for most Parisians to tell straight away that you aren't local, and will probably speak back to you in English, but you can make a little headway still with a phrasebook.
As well as being a useful tool for connecting with people, language is naturally very important for blending into the local atmosphere in terms of speech. You will be one step further into the community if you can make a friend in a bar, or get to know a local person in a cafe, bonding over mispronunciations.
Hopefully you'll be in the company of someone with whom you can share a beer or two with and you'll find yourself in a win-win situation as the French love a chance to practise their English.
To put things simply, braving it and travelling solo is one of the most effective ways of blending in. With such a huge array of cheap hotels throughout many capital cities, the prospects for travelling solo, and meeting like-minded people, are fantastic. You'll be left with no choice but to make a conscious effort to speak to people, or face being mute for the duration of your trip.
The best way to learn the language is by taking a phrasebook away with you, although nobody will expect you to be fluent in French as soon as you step off the Eurostar in Paris at Gare du Nord. At least you'll be giving it a go though and you'll be able to utter more than simply bonjour! It will probably be easy for most Parisians to tell straight away that you aren't local, and will probably speak back to you in English, but you can make a little headway still with a phrasebook.
As well as being a useful tool for connecting with people, language is naturally very important for blending into the local atmosphere in terms of speech. You will be one step further into the community if you can make a friend in a bar, or get to know a local person in a cafe, bonding over mispronunciations.
Hopefully you'll be in the company of someone with whom you can share a beer or two with and you'll find yourself in a win-win situation as the French love a chance to practise their English.