Introducing yourself is a common courtesy in both the business world and in casual interactions. Knowing how to say your name in French can be the first step in the introduction process. It can help in initiating conversations while you travel abroad to French-speaking countries either for business or pleasure. Social interactions may flow more easily as people are able to understand what your name is and use it.

The French language is not only used by 53,200,000 people in France, but also by people in Cameroon, Martinique, and Switzerland.http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fra French was developed from Latin and is known as a Romance language.http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Language/DF_language.shtml Although there are many French words that may seem similar to English, beware of words that look the same but have different meanings. L'age in French does correlate to "age" in English; however, sale in French means "dirty".http://www.fodors.com/language/french/

You can state your name by using the French phrase, Je m'appelle, pronounced "jeh ma pell", followed by your name. Je m'appelle literally translates to "My name is".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UjvjIxWo-g

Learning the proper pronunciation of French phrases such as Je m'appelle is important in learning the language.http://www.omniglot.com/language/pronunciation.htm Listen carefully to audio of French speakers and listen for phrases and words that you know. You may find French audio in movies, audio magazines and books, and online radio.

Use your new phrase in conversation as often as possible. The more you practice, the easier the phrase will come to mind when the situation arises. You will also find that as you practice saying the phrase out loud, more people will be able to understand you.http://www.omniglot.com/language/pronunciation.htm Introduce yourself to people as you travel, such as cab drivers or the maitre d's and servers at French restaurants.

Learn accents and nasal vowels that are found in the French language. There are five accents that are used with French vowels that change the way they are said.http://www.fodors.com/language/french/ Learn these to help better understand how to pronounce words when you do not have an audio example. Nasal vowels are produced as sounds that are made when air is expelled from both the mouth and the nose. An example would be the French word bon which uses the nasal 'o' as heard in the word 'song'.http://www.fodors.com/language/french/