Language Barrier

My mom knows multiple languages, including French. One time when she was in college and visiting Paris, she tried to speak to the waiter in French, and he refused to acknowledge that he understood her, kept pretending that he couldn't understand her. So she switched to German and asked him, "Do you understand me better in German?" Astonishingly, he had no problems understanding her French after that.

@darniil Had a similar experience in France many years ago. Back in '83 I was on a group tour of Europe (American Music Abroad) and a bunch of us were in a restaurant in some little French town near to the Swiss border (from whence we had just come). As high school students, we had all been eager to use our knowledge of the foreign languages we had been studying, however the waitress refused to accept our order from any of our group who tried in French, didn't know English (or feigned it) and finally I had to order for us all in German, which the waitress was happy to accept. We figured that she accepted German because it showed I was trying (not just expecting her to use MY home language in HER country) but wasn't slaughtering her language.

@darniil @cmoschata Fun fact : I know a couple from Quebec (French-speaking Canada) who hardly succeeded to order in a restaurant in Paris because the waiter didn't understood his canadian way of speaking, so you can imagine how it's hard for us to understand another language, after all we are considered as one of the worst country in the world in english learning. ^^ There is only one exception : generally restaurants near the border know several languages (for example nearly swiss border, german, or italian in the south-east) because they have some cultural attachement with the neighboorhood.

And actually for Paris there just a little difference what you experienced and the whole France. We, french, can be rude, ofter by awkwardness, and I can't speak for french people who lived in 80's but we really evolved now in the last 25 years. HOWEVER in France everybody know that waiters in Paris restaurants are rude and impolite (of course there are always some exceptions). ^^

This kind of attitude is quite frustrating for expats who are genuinely trying to learn the language. I've heard plenty of people saying that that have huge troubles learning Dutch simply because the moment they try to speak it in public, the Dutch immediately switch to English.

@Nevermore Same thing happens in Germany. I've had so many Germans get excited to meet a native speaker that they want to try and practice their English too. It doesn't help that I'm shy and nervous too so I just switch over to English when that does happen.

@Nevermore The first time I was in the Netherlands on my own, I stopped to ask directions of a woman at a bus stop in Amsterdam, I completely vaporlocked on the Dutch word for "excuse me" and said "entschuldige" instead. She smiled and said "How can I help you?" in English. I pride myself on not being *obviously* American, but it failed me that time. She was very nice about it, though!

On the other hand, there was a clerk at the train station in Venlo who claimed she didn't speak any English, which seemed peculiar considering her job...

Germany, on the other hand... my experience has been that if I address someone in German, they will continue in German unless I get obviously flustered and can't understand (unless they don't speak English, and then it turns into a lot of funny facial expressions and hand gestures). I read German fairly well, but I don't speak it well enough to have a conversation - but I can ask for directions/advice and mostly understand the response.

@Nevermore Yeah, this has basically been so much of my experience having married a Dutch woman. We go over to the Netherlands to see her family regularly, and while I speak dutch around them (albeit a little shakily), the moment I'm in public there's just been no point in trying. By the end of the sentence they start talking back in English.

My wife tells me to not let it bother me, but dammit I am trying. She's completely fluent in my language, I want to be in hers.

Two points on the French from a native:

- Please, please people, do not confuse the general Parisian attitude with that of the rest of France. Parisians are stressed out and just a weeeee bit arrogant(-er than the rest of us). They'll be short with everyone - including their own countrymen, although rarely for language reasons. In the rest of the country, bar the worst tourist hotspots, you'll generally find people who appreciate that you make an effort, even if we might reflexively wince at your pronunciation.

- Many French people are accutely aware of how bad their own English is, especially pronunciation, and will be ... shy, I suppose, about using it. That explains a fair amount of the "I'll speak French to you even though you don't seem to understand it" behaviour - we're just filling the space between two broken English sentences with words because, well, I don't know, that's what you do, right? Keep talking?

We're not, as a whole, quite as bad as our reputation makes us out to be. Give us a chance. And get out of Paris. :p

@GrumpyFrenchman
Exactly, I'm from the south (near Marseille) and the attitude is quite positive about strangers (I see lots of people trying to speak English to help tourists even though they don't know how to speak it) ^^

@Vold Bonjour petite souris :-) I am hoping to move to France in a few years, and want to live in the south where it is warm enough. Marseille is certainly an option, but I've also considered places like Aix, Avignon or somewhere in the Alpes-Maritimes. I'm glad to hear that I might be tolerated, lol.

@Kimberly I live in Aix, there is a university with lots of Erasmus and foreign students, you surely will be welcomed there ;)

@Vold I'm living in Paris now for one and a half year and have made other experiences. Everyone I'm talking to in Paris is more than willing to switch to English or a mixture of both. That is true for all the others places I've vistited in France during the last seven years, too.

The change is profound when I compare it with my experiences during the 80's, when I've participated in several exchange programmes. Than, it was quite like @GrumpyFrenchman stated.

And now, I'm complaining, because I can't learn French when everybody's talking English with me!

@GrumpyFrenchman I went to a tourist office in Ile d'Oleron asking them a question in English, and they looked at me in disgust telling me in French that they certainly did not speak English. At a freaking tourist office!!!
At the same place I had my surfboard stolen. Police found and withheld they guys who stole it around the corner, and we could identify our board so we could get it back. The police didn't know a single word of English, and the thieves had to translate for us. That was just bizarre.

I know quite a few French people and they are really lovely, like I bet you are as well But in general, French people in France are horrible towards tourists - not just in Paris :-(

Danes are equally rude, but at least we are equally rude towards everybody, not just tourists. It's just different things we are rude about ;-)

@GrumpyFrenchman I must admit to never having been to France, but I think we may be worse in some parts of Quebec (since we have a "language police"). In places like Montreal, most of the Estrie, Gatineau (because most people work in Ottawa), and the Plateau of Quebec City (super touristy) people will speak English to you without a problem. In the rest of the province, you might have a problem because French is the law.

@GrumpyFrenchman Now I feel terrible because I definitely had the "stop trying, you are terrible" experience when I did a student tour of Paris as a teenager. From that point forward I stopped bothering with French. I guess I should have given you guys another chance.

@GrumpyFrenchman what do i say if a spy is sapping my sentry

it's easy to speak danish, thouugh. just put the obligatory potato in your mouth and you're good to go

With Sweden it would be like:

[Sister America] - Tack!
[Sweden] *Oh She's american! i should speak English to make it easier for her and do everything in my power to avoid misunderstanding!!*
- You welcome! Now how can i help you?
[Sister America] *i want to speak Swedish to be better*
- vart är hotellet?
[sweden] *shitshitshit maybe she doesn't speak English?! Swedish is obviously hard for her. I should probably try easier english?!?!*
- Yes, The hotel. That way. I show?
[Sister America] *what a show off!* walks away.
[Sweden] *puh that was close! Well i hope she understood. This was a good day!*

If you're swede, you know i am right ;)

@MissCake Hahaha, aww, that's so sweet

@MissCake I'm learning Swedish and my Swedish co-workers said I could certainly expect this exact same thing in public if I visit

My co-workers are willing to speak to me in Swedish though so it's all good!

@syncom

It's a question of time and efficiency really.
Most people you meet in public don't have the time - or don't think you have the time or interest - to communicating in a broken language.
If they realize the communication will flow more smoothly they will simply switch to another language they feel proficient in and most Swedes do feel proficient in English and won't be afraid to use it.

Your best bet at practicing your Swedish will always be outside of the public sphere, where people have more time.
Such as with you co-workers now or if you make some Swedish friends you can interact with socially.

@MissCake oh god im learning swedish for when i visit during midsummer lol, comments like this make me nervous haha

@TexMex Dont worry Just say that you are learning Swedish and ask them to speak Swedish to you. Otherwise they'll try to be "helpful" and speak English.

@MissCake Yea like i have alot of confidence when i speak it, but when i play a game with swedish sub-titles or somthing i always get smacked with a dose of reality haha

@TexMex swedish is super derpy and i have no idea how ppl are able to learn it as their second language. Our rules for "en" and "ett" (a and an) doesn't even exist! So good luck learning to feeel whats right haha. no srsly, best of luck man :'>

@MissCake I survived Spanish. In English the ways to say run for example is Run Running and Ran. Spanish however i counted over 30 ways to say the word run and if you say the wrong type it totally throws the conversation overboard. I love learning Swedish compared to it, it's so much better for me. Plus its fun to say words, it feels like I'm speaking English while having a stroke because its super derpy lol.

@TexMex omg im never gonna try learning Spanish :'D
Derpy-stoke-english! best explanation ever hahahaha

@MissCake Im having trouble with my swedish haha. Im only 6 days away and my friend had to spend 20 minutes trying to explain the translation of så. I think I'm screwed ;P

Ugh. This annoys me so much. Especially if I'm trying to speak Danish to a Danish person that knows I'm Icelandic. Bitch I was forced to learn your language for 5 years fucking allow me to speak it.

@HrafnMarino
You have to learn Danish for five years?! You have my sympathies, we have to learn Swedish for 3-6 years.

@HrafnMarino Yes...feel the power of the dark side! MUHAHAHA!

@HrafnMarino I'm sorry to hear, that must be frustrating. One of my colleagues is islandic, he has spent many years down here so is quite fluent in Danish but I find the accent very charming.

@HrafnMarino
So you have proven Denmark wrong: Danish is not useless outside Denmark. One could always speak it on Iceland. ^^

It is nice to see some people understand that Americans are horrible with other languages. It isn't because we are trying to be rude, or because we think other people should speak English. It is simply a matter of most people being hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from places where English isn't spoken as the primary language. And the year or two of foreign languages that we have to take is high school is usually badly taught by some non-native speaker who may or may not actually speak the language they are teaching. Once we finish the classes, the chances of us getting to speak the language regularly are practically nil unless it is Spanish. It is sad. On the other hand, with smart phones and the internet, we can often at least cope if we get to the point where the conversation progresses beyond the "where is the library" kinds of phrases we vaguely remember from school...

Meanwhile in Iceland most of us would be so proud and thankful you tried to learn a language only 300.000 people speak and let you speak away, even if it's completely wrong (we'll help). We just really want more Icelandic speakers. #smallnationcomplex

@pabbadottir Small nations are different. One time in France a Hungarian friend stopped a couple on the street and struck up a conversation because she overheard them speaking to each other in Hungarian. Wouldn't work for me, running into another American abroad isn't noteworthy because there are so many of us.

I think that's because 100 years war between england and french.. That's why they hate to speak english in france..

@Zuperkrunch I love it

@InDeathWeReturn that's why i don't speak fluent english..

@Zuperkrunch suuuuuuuuuure. that's why

@InDeathWeReturn but danish harder than english..

@Zuperkrunch naaaaah. Danish is easy

@InDeathWeReturn yup,very easy for danes only Rødgrød med fløde

@Zuperkrunch ooooooh the classics taste great too

@InDeathWeReturn

I got bored and this inspired me to make a thing involving the states:
Louisiana: "Hey everyone, I'd like y'all to meet my sister, Acadiana." (Acadiana is a cultural region in Louisiana, one that attributed a majority of the culture and traditions in Louisiana; they're the Creoles)
Acadiana: *can only speak Creole French and Creole Haitian* "Bonjou, langet manman-w."
Louisiana: *gasps loudly and covers Acadiana's mouth*

(Acadiana basically said "Sup, motherfuckers.")

@Polosha77
I would love to see a comic of the different states and our little regions.

@LittleD it could also include the territories (like Puerto RIco, Guam, etc)

@Polosha77
YESSSSSSS. We could even finally address the fact that Puerto Rico is getting royally screwed by US congress.

@LittleD Don't forget DC, which gets screwed just as bad!

You're right though. Puerto Rico should either be a state or its own country.

MAKE DC A STATE DAMMIT.

@LittleD reddit.com/r/stateball

Not quite the same, but pretty good.

@LittleD Check out /r/stateball, you might enjoy it.

@Polosha77 Let's be honest, the real reason we put up with you Louisiana Frenchies is because of all the delicious food you make :P

@txag70 Well if it wasn't for Louisiana, America would be a lot smaller, seeing as the Louisiana Purchase added more than double the amount of territory the US already had.
Also, World War 2 would have ended a lot differently if it weren't for us, seeing as the Higgins boats, the boats that made it possible to get tanks on the beach during D-Day, were designed, manufactured, tested, and mass-produced by Louisianians.

@Polosha77 It was a joke ;)

Plus, y'all gave us Louis Armstrong and the jazz age. Louisiana is great (minus the smell of refineries -- and LSU -- woof.)

@txag70
Bitch what did you say about the LSU?

@Polosha77 You heard me. We are gonna finally get y'all this year. Spell "Go" correctly! I WANT TIGER MEAT DAMMIT!

(Naw for real tho we'll find another way to lose, as is tradition)

Gig 'em Aggies! #8-4University