Les, your particular experience brought back memories, because I did the same thing.
I got to speak with Roy at the Seraphin premiere & told him I just wanted to say something in French to him.
Well, don't know how I mustered enough courage, but here's what I said:
Je ne comprends pas le francais tres bien, mais je comprends tres bien les mots qui vos yeux parlent. (I don't understand French very well, but I understand very well the words that your eyes speak.)
Maybe the 'qui' should have been 'que' , but at that stage I thought I did pretty well.

I guess he thought so too because he said I did a great job!
So, Les, I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in being "silly"!
It takes a while, but my kids are beginning to come around & actually starting to 'get it'!