The embarrassing, educational experience of getting "corrected" by a local

[Denali]

Any where in France when we would go to a restaurant and in my best French say to the waiter - Bonjour, une table pour deux s'il vous plait. The answer was always the same - And the English menu for monsieur.
Now I only speak English.

I had a Air France FA once say to me and Mr Denali (CDG to Lyon), "You two, as he points to both of us, I will speak your language. OK? You do not attempt to speak my language. OK?" No idea why as we didnt even attempt to say bonjour but he was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our flight immensely

 

[Forg]

This is where the fondue parties that my folks used to have when I was still wearing onesies to bed in the mid-to-late 80s would have saved me

Hey I still wore onesies when I was in my mid to late 80’s as well!!

I had a Air France FA once say to me and Mr Denali (CDG to Lyon), "You two, as he points to both of us, I will speak your language. OK? You do not attempt to speak my language. OK?" No idea why as we didnt even attempt to say bonjour but he was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our flight immensely

Yeah the Walloons in Belgium were a lot more fun about asking me not to mangle French than the Flemish were about me not mangling Dutch …
Having said that, my Flemish workmates also said something like “yeah we speak English, we don’t think the rest of the world’s gonna want to speak Dutch”. The Flemish sense of humour gels really well with Strayan, for example they do self-depracating just as nicely IMHO … my workmates in Ghent get my bad puns/humour (and I theirs) where American friends are all confused.

 

[Seat0B]

If I had perfectly separated food in front of me and some muppet came up and mixed it for me, I'd have a fit.

...

I was in a Paris bakery, standing in front of a display case of lots of croissants. I pointed and said in my non-existent French accent uuoohh croisaaaa silvoupleeehh, and she pretended she had no idea what I was taking about. So I walked out and into another bakery where I asked for one in English and got it. I learnt that everything they say about the French is true.

Yes and yes!

I was buying train tickets in Paris using my actually quite passable French, when the snooty ticket seller gave me that Gallic pout and said "madam, this transaction will be a lot easier for us both if we do it in English" - deflated!!

 

[flyingfan]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

 

[VPS]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

I don't think that is always true. I think if you try it shows you have some consideration for their language rather than just start speaking English and assuming they will understand.

 

[Forg]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

Maybe it's changed from 25yrs ago ... back then, they seemed happy when I tried (even though I failed) and then were happy to go with their perfect English. When I didn't try, and just assumed English, they (I think understandably) found it a bit rude .... I got the feeling that they were amused by switching to English & that was a shared thing to joke about, but when I just assumed they spoke English in the first place that rubbed them up the wrong way (as I said - understandably - I was in France after all).

 

[kookaburra75]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

Ah, but there is Paris, and then there is the rest of France. I've found them to be vastly different places. Sort of like London and the UK.
I don't even attempt to speak French (besides counting up to five and the words for wine and beer) so as not to offend the sensibilities of the locals.

 

[SYD]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

Having worked for a French multi-national I learned a bit, especially fluent in saying:

“Je ne parle pas français” with no accent and much to the surprise of those hearing - who just assumed I was messing with them.

But we were in the Caribbean and the island of Martinique and tried to get something to eat at the local market. The woman taking orders had an incomprehensible accent but fortunately we were sitting next to a couple from Paris who assisted with the order.

When I asked her if the waitress had a strong accent, she said “it’s not Parisian” - which I laughed loudly knowing how snobbish they can be.

Similarly, our very first visit to Paris years ago, we went to a restaurant a friend had recommended. In true French style, a table for two meant sharing a table for four with two strangers. During the meal, our neighbours seemed to pretend to ignore knowing any English when asking for the salt and pepper. But at some point, they must have overheard our conversion and asked in broken English if we were from Sydney. On saying yes, they both gushed fourth in perfect English saying they’d lived in Double Bay for a while…

These days, you can’t stop the French wanting to speak English. A whole generation has moved on.

 

[RooFlyer]

These days, you can’t stop the French wanting to speak English. A whole generation has moved on.

Agree with that. They moved to Quebec long ago.

 

[VPS]

Having worked for a French multi-national I learned a bit, especially fluent in saying:

“Je ne parle pas français” with no accent and much to the surprise of those hearing - who just assumed I was messing with them. But we were in the Caribbean and the island of Martinique and tried to get something to eat at the local market. The woman taking orders had an incomprehensible accent but fortunately we were sitting next to a couple from Paris who assisted with the order.

When I asked her if the waitress had a strong accent, she said “it’s not Parisian” - which I laughed loudly knowing how snobbish they can be.

Similarly, our very first visit to Paris years ago, we went to a restaurant a friend had recommended. In true French style, a table for two meant sharing a table for four with two strangers. During the meal, our neighbours seemed to pretend to ignore knowing any English when asking for the salt and pepper. But at some point, they must have overheard our conversion and asked in broken English if we were from Sydney. On saying yes, they both gushed fourth in perfect English saying they’d lived in Double Bay for a while…

These days, you can’t stop the French wanting to speak English. A whole generation has moved on.

I spent quite a bit of time at my friend's place in rural France and trust me they did not speak any English but were always OK with my google translate

 

[Seat0B]

I'm getting the sense at at least when it comes to French, they don't really appreciate our making a good-faith attempt or some token words? Which goes against my instinct of trying, as opposed to demanding and expecting every Earthling to speak English?

yes that's exactly how it seems to me. And I always try at least a word or two out of respect. I can now say thank you in a LOT of languages, including Finnish (kiitos), Lithuanian (ačiū), Latvian (paldies) and Estonian (aitäh)

 

[SYD]

I spent quite a bit of time at my friend's place in rural France and trust me they did not speak any English but were always OK with my google translate

Yes, outside Paris (and Montreal), there’s still a lot less English spoken. My comments were more about Parisians either pretending not to speak English or not wanting us to speak French…

 

[NM]

Years ago, in Santa Cruz (CA), I was walking with a colleague back to our hotel from a restaurant after dinner. A police car pulled up along side and told us to get in. Apparently we were walking through an area that was "not recommended" for people of our "appearance". We arrived back at our hotel more quickly, safer and a little wiser than expected. Transport in the area on subsequent days was via taxi.

Lesson learned: ask a local regarding local personal safety.

 

[Katie]

I can't think of anything in particular, but it's quite common in Germany for Germans to correct your grammatical mistakes as you're speaking.

 

[Seat0B]

I can't think of anything in particular, but it's quite common in Germany for Germans to correct your grammatical mistakes as you're speaking.

I’ve had that too @Katie butbtgey are usually both earnest and nice about it.

 

[RooFlyer]

Yes, outside Paris (and Montreal), there’s still a lot less English spoken.

Roger to that. This is where I was for a year.



My Bible

 

[straitman]

Years ago, in Santa Cruz (CA), I was walking with a colleague back to our hotel from a restaurant after dinner. A police car pulled up along side and told us to get in. Apparently we were walking through an area that was "not recommended" for people of our "appearance". We arrived back at our hotel more quickly, safer and a little wiser than expected. Transport in the area on subsequent days was via taxi.

Lesson learned: ask a local regarding local personal safety.

In New Orleans the hotel doorman insisted on calling a cab. We said we weren't worried about getting lost and his response was that he wasn't worried about that either. He was worried about us getting dead!

 

[Scarlett]

My go to is use the ‘hello / good morning / evening etc’ in my best attempt at the local language, and then ask in English: “is English okay?”
Most times it’s a yes, the worst is generally just a shrug indicating we’ll see how we go. Occasionally it prompts the person to call over a colleague who I can converse with.

I’m sure most on AFF would agree that the problem is me (us) not knowing their language, rather than them not knowing English!

 

[n7of9]

In New Orleans ... He was worried about us getting dead!

The only time I've actually "worried" about my life as a tourist was in Memphis TN. Never again.

 

[Katie]

I’ve had that too @Katie butbtgey are usually both earnest and nice about it.

One time I was helping Germans with a dog find their way to the beer garden at the North Gregory pub in Winton.
At the end of the exchange, I apologised for my rusty German.

In a truly German manner, they responded with “It’s OK, you can practice!”