I once stood in the streets of Paris asking directions, and for a good five minutes I failed to convey “la rue” understandably to even a single passer-by.
I mean, I wasn’t just mispronouncing two trivial syllables - although they had to know it was likely I was asking directions, they couldn’t even guess what I was trying to say.
In short, they get a full pass on my part.
you mean seemeelahr 
I’ve had this happen very often. Most of the time the problem was that they didn’t understand I was trying to speak french, and they tried to parse my sounds as english.
I’ve lived in France for six years, and while I have no problem getting somebody to understand that I’m saying “la rue,” I’ve never managed to live on a street whose name I can pronounce correctly. I always have to spell it, and when they repeat it back to me I say, “but that’s what I said!” My French isn’t perfect, but I can chat amiably with a taxi driver for 40 minutes without breaking a sweat once I’ve spelled the name of my street.
I’d swear they were just fucking with me if it weren’t every single French person, even the ones that know me and are used to my accent. Otherwise I’d have to start believing in conspiracies.
Yes! That was my experience with the simplest of things. Which is weird, because some things I said well enough that people then began speaking to me in French, which I speak barely well enough to buy things at the grocer and ask directions to the bathroom.
Folks in Philly usually have a few laughs when TV stations hire broadcasters new to this area, because they tend to mispronounce place names (especially Native American, Welsh, and Pennsylvania Dutch ones):
I’ve given directions to Americans in France, clearly American from their accent. I gave directions in English, so they’d understand.
On one occasion they then complimented me on my English. (I’m a native speaker with a regional accent).
It’s funny, because the host can’t pronounce ‘thorough’ (‘thurr-a’).
hah! This is familiar. When you are in line at the baker you have lots of time to practice your order in your head. “Trois croissants et un pain complet s’il vous plait.” Which rolls of the tongue perfectly. After which the woman behind the counter thinks you actually speak french well and rattles a 2 minute high speed monologue back at you. Then you can only reply with “eeh?”. And then they’ll mentally file you away as rude impolite foreigner and turn super unfriendly in the blink of an eye 
Of course if you keep at it they’ll come around and you’ll be recategorized as ‘stupid-but-harmless’ 
and then after a week as a “nice person for trying (but failing)”…
On a vacation to France I once had a girl come up to me on the street in Paris and ask me for directions, in French. I tried, very awkwardly to explain to her that I didn’t speak French, but she seemed confused and a little shocked by this. Eventually, I realized I’d been saying that she didn’t speak French. Given her reaction, I suspect she was the provinces, and had mentally prepared herself for that kind of a reception from Parisians.
If I tried to learn French now, I’d probably end up mixing it up with my Spanish and ending up sounding like Sergeant Deux-Deux in The Inspector cartoons.
On a prior Paris trip, my ex had the following exchange (with people who’d already greeted her in French):
Ex: Parlez-vous Francais?
Helpful Parisians: … Oui?
Of course, she meant to be saying “parlez-vous Anglais”. Which they did, well, and they were quite helpful
Beaulieu
Well played 
We will always have Day Mwhan.
and what’s the name of that street, by the way ?
Nah. Those scientificky words are a doddle, once you cover the few basics, in a way that quotidian words can never be.
Didn’t we just cover that with Massachusetts?
Don’t get me started on Gaelic. I’ve had* a friend in Éire called Maedhbh Hughes, and I couldn’t ever text or mail her because I can’t remember how to spell her name.
*'(I guess we’re still friends, at least when we meet, but for obvious reasons our communication is limited…)
There’s a Laurence Olivier tale of a chap called Featherstonehaugh having the nickname ‘Feathers’. Its amusing only because of the way ‘feathers’, in such a context, would need to be pronounced in an age (1930s, 1940s?) when the result - ‘fanny’ - was considered a bit rude.
It’s not great having to explain jokes, is it?
We had an Irish family that lived down the street from us, in Wichita, KS in the 70s. The youngest named Niamh (Neve, to USians). I can imagine all the first days of school explaining her name to the teachers…
Pronounced Maeve, right?
