this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2024
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Yeah I lived in Germany and speaking German was not encouraged. In France, they pretended they didn't speak English and ignored you if you spoke in broken French.
Hahaha this was my experience. I can hold very light conversations in Québec French like to ask directions, how's it going, ordering tickets and food and the like. I've gotten a few stares like I'm a mythical swampbeast who just awoke from a 100 year slumber.
Also my experience in French-speaking parts of Belgium.
I had a guy in a chip shop give me the nastiest scowl after ordering in french out of the phrase book.
Imagine being that much of an arsehole. Like he's swanning over to Italy with perfect Italian.
I honestly can't understand people with that level of built in bad intent towards well intentioned people.
That's the thing: people like that don't travel.
Maybe I am assuming a lot of things here but is this your experience with businesses or people in the streets ?
In France we have a totally different approach than Americans for exemple regarding people we don't know. Even between french speakers we will generally not be light chatting with strangers (exacerbated in dense populated areas like Paris/Lyon), as opposed (as I understand) to Americans who can talk to anyone anywhere.
I often wonder if this sentiment of disdain for English speakers is not due to this misunderstanding of our habits.
Wait is this a thing in the US? It would explain why they are so surprised that nobody talks to strangers in the street and ignore them, it's just normal for me
Interesting, that hasn't been my experience. I found that French people appreciated that I'd made an attempt and then they'd talk to me in English if they spoke it. Sometimes they just replied in French as well and then I'd ask if they spoke English because my French sucks.
That was also my experience in Parisian places of business. In terms of the streets, I agree with OP they were less motivated to engage.
In terms of rural areas, I wouldn't be surprised if dialectical française was the only thing spoken or listened to.. kind of a different situation entirely. For example, one might be completely fluent at course-taught or Parisian French, and still have a devil of a time.
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Thirded. Had zero trouble. Made sure the prerequisite greeting was in place and was able to ask if they spoke English, absolutely use the please and thank you, everything went fine. Never encountered anyone rude, even if English wasn’t spoken people were generally helpful or at least willing to figure out what was needed.
Courtesy and understanding go a long way.
Most Germans are just trying to be helpful when they talk to you in English. You can straight up tell them "Wir können auch Deutsch sprechen" and they will have no problem switching.
So you lived in Berlin.
Just recently, I was in France and all the reactions were just lovely. Everyone replied in French to my French but asked if we should continue in English, when they noticed my understanding was incomplete.
Some cashiers spoke really fast, so I just pretended I understood and nodded. But everyone was very accommodating and repeated sentences if I asked or explained with different words.
Most people even spoke English with my colleagues, who don't speak French, and French with me. Even one waitress, whose English was really at the beginner level, made it work.