Worst airports one should avoid

[boomy]

I am at a loss to understand why anyone expects French people to speak English.
Have you ever tried asking for directions in French at any Australian airport?
Have you ever tried ordering breakfast in French in any big chain hotel in Australia?

Parisians are also at a loss to understand why tourists - especially Americans - assume they speak English.
I have seen so many Americans walk up to Parisians and start speaking English, expecting the Parisians to understand them.
And then they wonder why the Parisians are rude in response!
Often - though not always - simply making the effort to ask "Parlez-vous Anglais?" is all it takes to elicit a more friendly reaction.
Assuming someone in another country - where they speak their own very respectable language with a rich history - can speak English is extremely arrogant.

Yes CDG is a major international airport but English is not the only international language.

Incidentally I had the opposite problem during a recent stay at the Hilton Paris Opéra - staff who wanted to speak English!
When I am in France I try to NEVER speak English because it interferes with my capacity to speak French.

Also I am not sure it is the responsibility of police officers to give tourists directions, or that Australian police would always be willing to play tour guide, even if you asked them in English.
I can't imagine we have many police officers who could give you directions in French!
Although there could be a few in Sydney's inner east where there is a sizeable francophone community.

Interesting that I never had any issues to communicate at international hotels in other cities around the world apart from Paris and... wait for it... Montreal!

Regarding police officers, public servants who work at international airports are the face of their country, therefore, regardless if they can speak English or not, they must be polite. There is a reason why so many tourists complain about the attitude of the French (including the ones in French Canada). I bet there aren't as many complaints about German or Japanese for example when it comes to kindness toward tourists. I remember asking directions from people who didn't know English at other international airports such as FRA or NRT and always managed to work around the language barrier.

Btw the attitude of public servants at international airports is not exclusive to France, it's also a major problem here at home. I've witnessed some very disturbing racist behaviour by immigration officers, particularly at SYD airport.

 

[PineappleSkip]

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public servants who work at international airports are the face of their country, therefore, regardless if they can speak English or not, they must be polite.

Noone told the immigration officials at DXB this. DXB officials are the pimples on the face of the Emirates.

Cheers skip

 

[JohnK]

I am at a loss to understand why anyone expects French people to speak English.
Have you ever tried asking for directions in French at any Australian airport?
Have you ever tried ordering breakfast in French in any big chain hotel in Australia?

Parisians are also at a loss to understand why tourists - especially Americans - assume they speak English.
I have seen so many Americans walk up to Parisians and start speaking English, expecting the Parisians to understand them.
And then they wonder why the Parisians are rude in response!
Often - though not always - simply making the effort to ask "Parlez-vous Anglais?" is all it takes to elicit a more friendly reaction.
Assuming someone in another country - where they speak their own very respectable language with a rich history - can speak English is extremely arrogant.

Yes CDG is a major international airport but English is not the only international language.

How many international languages are there? As far as I am aware Mandarin and Hindi are not international languages yet and if they ever become international languages then that's the time for me to stop travelling.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

How many international languages are there? As far as I am aware Mandarin and Hindi are not international languages yet and if they ever become international languages then that's the time for me to stop travelling.

Well French is officially an international language for a start - particularly in aviation - even if that is a relic of colonialism.

 

[SeatBackForward]

How many international languages are there? As far as I am aware Mandarin and Hindi are not international languages yet and if they ever become international languages then that's the time for me to stop travelling.

Lingua franca, at present its probably English. It used to be Arabic, and Greek. It may well become Spanish or Mandarin or Hindi.

Languages are usually dominated by population numbers more than any other factor, and they grow live and die out also.

Change is inevitable, you adapt or you can get left behind.

 

[JohnK]

Lingua franca, at present its probably English. It used to be Arabic, and Greek. It may well become Spanish or Mandarin or Hindi.

Languages are usually dominated by population numbers more than any other factor, and they grow live and die out also.

Change is inevitable, you adapt or you can get left behind.

It was French last century. I learned French at school. It's been English for a long time.

I expect airport staff around the world to have a basic understanding of English. Surprisingly, or not, that wasn't the case in MIA.

 

[SeatBackForward]

It was French last century. I learned French at school. It's been English for a long time.

I expect airport staff around the world to have a basic understanding of English. Surprisingly, or not, that wasn't the case in MIA.

English is still relatively young, compared to ancient languages, what makes English interesting is its use in global communications now, but once translation technology improves, it may well signal the end of English domination.

There are some who suggest that Spanish will be the dominant language in the USA within the next 50 years.

 

[RooFlyer]

Why should airport staff, like immigration or other officials have a basic command of English, no matter where they are? If they want to do their job, they need to communicate with the passengers in front of them. English happens to be the one language that people from Germany, Iceland, Japan, India, China, Poland etc etc are all most likely to have some understanding of.

Put another way, which language around the world is most commonly taught in schools as a 'second language'? English. There is your international language.

Capiche?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Seriously these sorts of views make me ashamed to be an anglophone.

Of course it would be nice, and perhaps even sensible, if they spoke English. That isn't the point in issue.
The point in issue is whether it is reasonable to EXPECT them to speak English.
And whether the fact that the staff speak their own language makes it "an airport to avoid".

 

[RooFlyer]

Seriously these sorts of views make me ashamed to be an anglophone.

Of course it would be nice, and perhaps even sensible, if they spoke English. That isn't the point in issue.
The point in issue is whether it is reasonable to EXPECT them to speak English.
And whether the fact that the staff speak their own language makes it "an airport to avoid".

You may think that's the point in issue; I don't, sorry.

As I mentioned above, personally I don't expect (lower case is OK ) airport staff in passenger-contact areas such as customs and immigration to speak English because I'm an Anglophone, but because most of the people in front of them, from all round the world, will speak some English, if they don't speak the language of the country they are in at the time.

But of course the guy at CGD can quiz me in French all he likes; he can go at it at 100mph. Not going to get him, or me, very far though.

 

[incumbent]

But of course the guy at CGD can quiz me in French all he likes; he can go at it at 100mph.

I'd be taken aback at being interrogated in French at Changde Taohuayuan Airport, but maybe that's just me.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'd be taken aback at being interrogated in French at Changde Taohuayuan Airport, but maybe that's just me.

<snip>
But of course the guy at CGD can quiz me in French all he likes; he can go at it at 100mph. Not going to get him, or me, very far though.

Ha! But my comment stands .

 

[JohnK]

Seriously these sorts of views make me ashamed to be an anglophone.

Why are you ashamed?

My first language was Pontian and almost simultaneously learned Greek as well. My father and many aunts/uncles spent time in Germany. We settled here and I learned English. I also have some understanding of French and Italian words. I am learning Thai and hope to be able to speak fluently at some time in future because I would love to be able to speak with my nephew as he is growing up.

Yet I think that English is the international language. If everyone was smart then Greek would actually be the international language as it is much simpler to learn than English, French or Thai.

I think you need to practice your Maths because you are trying to put 2 and 2 together and getting the wrong answer.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

You may think that's the point in issue; I don't, sorry.

As I mentioned above, personally I don't expect (lower case is OK ) airport staff in passenger-contact areas such as customs and immigration to speak English because I'm an Anglophone, but because most of the people in front of them, from all round the world, will speak some English, if they don't speak the language of the country they are in at the time.

But of course the guy at CGD can quiz me in French all he likes; he can go at it at 100mph. Not going to get him, or me, very far though.

It's France. They don't have to let you in.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Ha! But my comment stands .

I dread the thought of a world like that.
I dread a world in which everyone speaks English, eats MacDonalds and drinks Starbucks coffee.
What point will there be in travelling in such a world?

And I feel sorry for people who travel and treat the world as if it is like that.
Who can circle the globe speaking English. Who never try to speak another language.
They say travel broadens the mind. But if you expect everyone you meet to speak like you, your mind is already closed.

 

[Dave R32]

CAN is top of my list to avoid, now closely followed by PVG.

 

[RooFlyer]

It's France. They don't have to let you in.

Any immigration officer, anywhere, can refuse entry. Can you imagine how immigration queues would go if the immigration officers only addressed the person seeking entry, in the officer's own language?

I dread the thought of a world like that.
I dread a world in which everyone speaks English, eats MacDonalds and drinks Starbucks coffee.
What point will there be in travelling in such a world?

And I feel sorry for people who travel and treat the world as if it is like that.
Who can circle the globe speaking English. Who never try to speak another language.
They say travel broadens the mind. But if you expect everyone you meet to speak like you, your mind is already closed.

I agree with all of that except the first line (you dread a world where customs and immigration staff at airports speak English?). I always try to learn even just a few words of the language of a country I visit; 'hello', 'please' and thank-you' as a minimum. In Georgia I only got as far as 'hello' though.

But just to be clear, I at least wasn't talking about "everyone" speaking English, nor expecting "everyone" to speak like me. Only those staff at airports who by the nature of their jobs interact with (nearly) all pax to have sufficient English to process passengers, as English is the language most likely to be spoken by passengers from around the world. Nothing to stop the pax speaking the officer's language to them (I usually manage the equivalent of 'hello'), but I would expect the officer to be prepared for those who can't.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

CAN is top of my list to avoid, now closely followed by PVG.

CAN ain't so hot, but what's wrong with poor old PVG? I think it's actually a pretty good airport! Clean, spacious, good announcements, cheap duty free. Lounges are ok.

 

[Major]

Seems a bit of a generalisation. LAX, or specifically TBIT, is a lot better than it used to be before the renovations. Paid my first visit to DRW in many years in July. Apart from a long queue for security the airport terminal was very pleasant, as was the rest of the trip. I lived in DRW in the late 80s and early 90s when the terminal was still in the WWII hangar with no air conditioning on the southern side of the runway. Now that was the pits.

The worst part was walking from the aircraft to the terminal and the tar(mac) was soft. Your luggage arrived on a trolley directly from the aircraft and you helped yourself. There was no carousel.

 

[boomy]

There is one popular language which is mostly taught as second language at schools and used by people from all over the world to communicate outside their own countries. Once upon a time it used to be French, not anymore. Maybe 100 years from now it will be Mandarin, who knows, at the moment it's English.
People who work at airports, hotels, car rentals, etc have to communicate with foreigners on daily basis so it makes sense they will know some basic English, not because Australians or Americans can only speak English but because most foreigners are likely to communicate in English when traveling overseas.