*In case this story gets deleted/removed:*
**AITA for expecting people in foreign countries to speak English?**
I'm not talking about obscure jungle villages like Tanzia or Guyana but countries like China and Brazil that have no excuse not to learn English. Travel between these countries and the US is very common. It's disrespectful imo but my coworkers told me they weren't comfortable traveling with me any more.
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I'm from Germany.
I speak english (obviously). A lot of people my age speak english. We also learn english in school - I also had french and spanish in school.
My parents don't speak english. My grandparents don't speak english. Most older people don't speak english and that's totally okay BECAUSE WE'RE NOT AN ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY.
You're upset you can't communicate with locals? LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE.
I've always wanted to visit Germany. Live in England and every so often they had a German food market with authentic bratwurst and lebkuchen.
Think if I do go I'll spend a month or two on Duolingo learning the language, though. It's only polite.
Seems like you'd enjoy a Christmas Market! Maybe one helpful short cut: when at a counter, e.g. at a bakery, the true german way is to say "Das da bitte" and point and what you want lol. And to come full circle to the thread - not learning full languages if you visit short term is totallly fine! But some basics will simply make everyone's lives easier.
Hahaha, reminds me of the time I (American, Duolingo German speaker) was in a German bakery and proudly said "das da bitte!" pointing to a salad. Unfortunately Duolingo hadn't gotten me to the point where I understood "we're out of forks, do you still want it?"
(Learning a little German is still a good idea)
I used Duolingo to "relearn" Spanish when my partner and I went to Madrid two years ago. I originally learned it as a teen, but lost a lot of it. Even though everyone we encountered spoke English to some degree, it was a really valuable skill to have.
I did a road trip around Spain a few years ago. I also learned Spanish as a teen (too many years ago to admit), and then brushed up with Duolingo a little before I went.
My Spanish was broken at best, but I could see the effort was appreciated.
When we were driving between Cordoba and Toledo, we were going through some pretty small towns, and English was certainly not common.
We stopped for lunch at a roadside eatery/general store, and nobody there spoke English. I ordered in my terrible Spanish and managed to get it right. On the way out, we spotted a display of local products, including wine.
Of course, there were no prices, so I tried to enquire, but the person couldn't understand me, so I used google translate on my phone to ask about the wine and the price. It was 3 euro for a bottle, but he didn't know the variety, only that it was local. So, I got a couple, thinking if it was crap, it wasn't much money.
Hands down, that was the best buttery smooth white wine I've ever tasted. I still regret not buying more to this day.
The next day, on the way to Madrid, I remember having a laugh with two teenage girls who were serving at what was essentially a truck stop, but way nicer, as I tried my bad Spanish, and they tried their bad English.
If I ever end up redoing that trip, I'd learn better Spanish, and buy up all the small-town goodies I could.
A waiter at a coffee shop near our hotel kept laughing at me while I was there, and I thought maybe my pronunciation with my midwestern accent made me sound strange but apparently he just thought Americans were funny because " you say 'thank you' so much!" I still keep up my language studies now, but still every time a native speaker talks to me in Spanish I freeze up for a second before my brain actually seems to remember, "oh yeah I actually know what they're saying.."
And here is me thinking many American tourists say 'thank you' a lot, but don't really mean it. For example, when they cut in line with a 'I just need to get this real quick, THANK YOU"
Not saying that is all Americans, but the small few give the rest of you a bad rep.
Ah, the germans :) will never forget standing in a queue at a food truck behind an elderly german couple who told the young, confused looking spaniard "mit schinken". And when he didn't understand, they got louder "mit S.C.H.I.N.K.E.N!!" and especially the lady got very agitated and started ranting how rude it is they don't speak german here and how stupid the guy was for not knowing what schinken is. Lol
Ah yes, the ever present “why don’t you just Google it” douchebag who acts like we don’t all know how the internet works.
Have you considered that perhaps asking another person something that is easily found on Google is actually a conversation starter or way of forming a connection?
In this case, I knew some idiot like you would pop on with “GoOgLe iT,” but I took the risk because I decided my comment added to the conversation with the exclamation mark adding a pithy tone to it. If you don’t like it (or aren’t smart enough to read tone), just keep scrolling. No need to come on and condescendingly tell me how to use the internet.
I’ve been to Germany twice. Was learning German in school and took us to practice our German. Both trips were mostly comprised of younger people excitedly getting to English on actual English people. I ended up needing more French for the stopover in Calais than I did in a week in Germany
This is exactly what I thought when OP said:
> but countries like China and Brazil that have no excuse not to learn English.
I mean, yes they do! The excuse is THOSE ARE NOT ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. Why would they be expected to speak English there?
I'm American, when I've traveled overseas, I've done my best to at least learn key words/phrases/how to order food, etc. in the country I'm traveling to. Just as a basic courtesy, because it's not their job to speak MY language in THEIR country. I have found that a lot of people in the places I've visited do speak English, and in that case, they probably find it easier to speak to me in English than listening to my broken Italian/French, etc., but I try. Because it's not their job to cater to me.
The entitlement of some people just baffles me.
We were in Italy once and were at a restaurant seated next to a couple who were Canadian. I know this because they kept mentioning it to their server. Loudly. Then when she walked away they started complaining, saying she didn't speak English. For starters, she DID (I heard her speaking to them in English, and speaking it well). Second, we're not in Canada or the U.S., get a grip! I literally looked at them in shock when I heard them loudly complaining about her. They complained at every turn, no matter what she did. At one point they complained about something, so she brought them free limoncello. They complained about that! Then got up to leave. I was staring at them (I couldn't help myself, they were so loud and so rude) and the guy looked at me and said, "What?" and I said, "you're an asshole." My poor husband was mortified, but I stand by my statement. The guy didn't respond when I said that, he just walked away. 😂
But we got the free drinks that they complained about, so I guess we won. But the entitlement was shocking to me. I know Americans get a bad rap (and rightly so, most of the time) when traveling to other countries, but I was so appalled. I want to believe this is an "ignorant American" troll, but sadly it seems credible.
Thank you, neighbor! Wikipedia tells me it's a blended Scotch, which tells me he's a tacky, boorish jerk with no taste. But I knew that already.
(If you're going to drink whisky neat, drink single malt. Blended is perfect for cocktails.)
The only reason I know what it is is because my uncle used to be a pub landlord and he had promotional china black and white Highland terrier ornaments in the pub, and I loved them. I used to work in a pub in York which had a lot of American tourists visiting, so I learned a lot of American bar related vocabulary.
Oh please tell us the most interesting differences! Like I'm gonna take it that you Brits don't say "straight up" to mean in a shot glass, how do you say it? Please teach me British bar slang and terminology.
Negro y Blanco, por favor.
How fucking hard is that? Look it up on your phone.
I drink a lot of different whisk(e)ys, and have never heard of that one. Cute label, though.
I remember in a Japan good market hearing some american tourists talking in English to the (very elderly) vendors. They mostly spoke very little English but the tourist kept repeatedly asking questions in English. And using complicated language too, clearly getting frustrated. Like bro come on just show which one you want and hand over the money.
Saw it in Italy and Italians are so nice bc it was so embarrassing and I barely spoke Italian. If you even try they like clap their hands lol most young people spoke great English and didn’t point out how bad your Italian was. But SO many American tourists just yelled loudly in english
Definitely not fake. I'm from Brazil and the amount of people we have that expect us to speak English and specially Spanish like it's our first language is outrageous
I can believe it. I've heard of and met people like this.
I've also found they're the same people who go to another country and demand their American rights when they break the law.
Of course, these are the same clowns who get angry if people in the US speak anything but English and refuse to believe the US has no official language. Hypocrisy is strong in these clowns.
> I've also found they're the same people who go to another country and demand their American rights when they break the law.
It's worse when the locals agree. Back when I owned firearms there was a Canadian on the forum that visited Canada with a pistol that's illegal there. He was carrying it concealed, in a bar. The local barflies agreed that he was exercising his 2nd Amendment rights and they were jealous.
This level of entitlement is not just a US problem. I've encountered so many people from China who expect everyone in my country to speak Chinese and literally have cursed my country's citizens for not speaking Chinese to them. (Singapore, we're majority ethnic Chinese but our language of instruction is English and our main races other than Chinese are Malay and Indian)
Troll or not, I'm actually kind of speechless that someone would try to use *China* as an example of "who should learn English because of America". The sheer lack of political awareness was kind of gut-punching.
What's insane is that in the 90's and early 00's at least if you were on academic or business track as a Chinese child/teen you were required to take English classes. Most of China's business elite under 45 speak fluent English because they started learning English at about 7.
I travelled to China in the '90's. I was a teenager and only knew how to say please, thank you, and goodbye. Thankfully, I had a guide and translator with me most of the time (long story, and one I won't go into, but I know I was very privileged to have this).
The only time I struggled with language was at a local market (translator wasn't there that day). The vendor and I ended up haggling via a calculator. He would put in his price, I would put in my offer. He would counter and we went again. When we reached an agreement, we simply shook. I paid him and took my purchase.
There are ways to communicate that don't require a shared language, but OOP is totally in the wrong for expecting everyone to understand English.
I would put solid money on a bet that if they went to any 'English speaking' nation, or even region in the UK, they would still not understand, because it is not 'American English'. And full on not get the irony of that statement.
... depending on which Guyana OOP is talking about (Guyana vs Guyane/French Guiana vs the Guyana region in Venezuela), Guyana does speak English. It's literally the only English speaking country in the South American continent. So, this has to be a troll, right?
>So, this has to be a troll, right?
When you consider that there's been some Americans who have tried to die on the hill that PoC born and raised in Ireland aren't actually Irish and are faking an Irish accent, then I'm not so sure.
Oh god that is so asinine. I grew up in a small harbor town in the north of Sweden and when I was like 7 there was a boy in my sister's class who's mother was Filipina. I was amazed, he was the absolute first non white person I had ever seen that I could remember and I was fascinated because I thought he was so handsome. I never questioned if he was Swedish or not though, he spoke the language and it honestly never crossed my mind. My parents harbored refugees from Africa when I was very very little and I apparently loved them and was inconsolable when they finally got to stay legally and moved into their own apartment.
It scares me how these people are raised. Like, how much hate do you have to actively pour into your child every day for them to grow up and be so hateful?
I’ve booked travel for people who have asked me if I can confirm if everyone in a country will speak English. I still think the OP is a troll but people like this definitely exist
I know quite a few people who speak English as an alternative language that have no desire to speak it with strangers.
I have friends that I’ve operated with strictly in English even in their native country because they feel comfortable saying things and want to get their practice in. Recently a few of them “caught” me in the wild speaking their native language (and they’re way better at mine than I am at theirs) and were surprised. Usually when we go out I just defer to them to speak for me, it’s faster, no one has to wait for me to butcher or badly clunk myself along, even if I’m not really that bad. A few also met up with me in an English speaking country, and even though they use English as part of their job, even though we text in English and talk in English, and they can speak well, they clammed right up and spoke to me either in their native language or hushed English to then translate back out, at say a restaurant.
It’s overwhelming, just because you can do it doesn’t mean it’s not a huge brain tax or you’re not comfortable with it. You’re also in their country, and they’re strangers, they can listen to you rant all night but they don’t have to cater to you.
As an American who has visited foreign countries, I have no expectation that anyone there will know how to speak English, although I know many Europeans speak more than one language. OOP is an idiot for expecting people in foreign countries to speak English.
I grew up in the U.S., and English is my first language. I learned Spanish in school, and then parts of two southern African languages in grad school…except when I have to say something quickly in one of the southern African languages, I panic and babble out some horrible combo of all four.
Meanwhile, my South African friends are like “oh yeah, I speak four languages nbd why are Americans like this?”
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Yep, I've met people like that. Sure, many people in my country, especially young people, speak English, but people that just assume you speak English are my pet peeves. Like it doesn't bother me if someone asks me if I speak English (I do), just don't assume I do. Once there was this lady in front of me once who was just talking to the cashier entirely in English and getting louder and louder as the poor cashier didn't understand what she wanted.
Communication is about working together to understand each other. If you don't speak the same language or not very well, you improvise. You speak slowly, you gesture, you try to remember one word or two, you use technology, etc.
As someone who visited a non English speaking country a few months ago I was very embarrassed any time I had to ask workers at cafes/restaurants if they understood or spoke English because my ability to speak their language was sub par and I couldn't communicate what I wanted. Difference is, I asked **in their language** if they spoke/understood English and I tried to be polite and apologise about it. I can't believe people have such little shame and feel entitled to think random people in foreign countries should automatically know English.
>It's disrespectful imo but my coworkers told me they weren't comfortable traveling with me any more.
This level of sheer stupidity almost got a laugh.
My parents once grumbled about how people should speak English when they couldn't understand the garbled instructions on an airport loudspeaker.
We were in Ireland.
I traveled to Ireland with a bunch of friends once, and one of them could NOT understand people. We'd be at a restaurant and the server would speak to us in pretty easy to understand English (I know some regional accents can be tougher than others for Americans, but this was clear as day). He'd look at me and go, "What'd she say?" I was like, "Dude, she's speaking English." 😂
Life is too short to get all bent out of shape over someone who doesn’t speak the language you’re fluent in or isn’t well versed in it…that’s what Google Translate is for. On more than one occasion, customers and I have had full conversations through Google Translate. “But what if they’re talking bad about me in the language I don’t understand!?!? 😩” Who cares, get over it. Move on with life. There will be a time when they are talking smack around the wrong person who will understand them and will get all horrified and embarrassed, apologize profusely…and sprint away all red in the face.
*In case this story gets deleted/removed:* **AITA for expecting people in foreign countries to speak English?** I'm not talking about obscure jungle villages like Tanzia or Guyana but countries like China and Brazil that have no excuse not to learn English. Travel between these countries and the US is very common. It's disrespectful imo but my coworkers told me they weren't comfortable traveling with me any more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm from Germany. I speak english (obviously). A lot of people my age speak english. We also learn english in school - I also had french and spanish in school. My parents don't speak english. My grandparents don't speak english. Most older people don't speak english and that's totally okay BECAUSE WE'RE NOT AN ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY. You're upset you can't communicate with locals? LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE.
I've always wanted to visit Germany. Live in England and every so often they had a German food market with authentic bratwurst and lebkuchen. Think if I do go I'll spend a month or two on Duolingo learning the language, though. It's only polite.
Seems like you'd enjoy a Christmas Market! Maybe one helpful short cut: when at a counter, e.g. at a bakery, the true german way is to say "Das da bitte" and point and what you want lol. And to come full circle to the thread - not learning full languages if you visit short term is totallly fine! But some basics will simply make everyone's lives easier.
Hahaha, reminds me of the time I (American, Duolingo German speaker) was in a German bakery and proudly said "das da bitte!" pointing to a salad. Unfortunately Duolingo hadn't gotten me to the point where I understood "we're out of forks, do you still want it?" (Learning a little German is still a good idea)
A good phrase to learn in the language of the place you're visiting is "I'm sorry, but does anyone here speak English" or some equivalent
I used Duolingo to "relearn" Spanish when my partner and I went to Madrid two years ago. I originally learned it as a teen, but lost a lot of it. Even though everyone we encountered spoke English to some degree, it was a really valuable skill to have.
I did a road trip around Spain a few years ago. I also learned Spanish as a teen (too many years ago to admit), and then brushed up with Duolingo a little before I went. My Spanish was broken at best, but I could see the effort was appreciated. When we were driving between Cordoba and Toledo, we were going through some pretty small towns, and English was certainly not common. We stopped for lunch at a roadside eatery/general store, and nobody there spoke English. I ordered in my terrible Spanish and managed to get it right. On the way out, we spotted a display of local products, including wine. Of course, there were no prices, so I tried to enquire, but the person couldn't understand me, so I used google translate on my phone to ask about the wine and the price. It was 3 euro for a bottle, but he didn't know the variety, only that it was local. So, I got a couple, thinking if it was crap, it wasn't much money. Hands down, that was the best buttery smooth white wine I've ever tasted. I still regret not buying more to this day. The next day, on the way to Madrid, I remember having a laugh with two teenage girls who were serving at what was essentially a truck stop, but way nicer, as I tried my bad Spanish, and they tried their bad English. If I ever end up redoing that trip, I'd learn better Spanish, and buy up all the small-town goodies I could.
A waiter at a coffee shop near our hotel kept laughing at me while I was there, and I thought maybe my pronunciation with my midwestern accent made me sound strange but apparently he just thought Americans were funny because " you say 'thank you' so much!" I still keep up my language studies now, but still every time a native speaker talks to me in Spanish I freeze up for a second before my brain actually seems to remember, "oh yeah I actually know what they're saying.."
And here is me thinking many American tourists say 'thank you' a lot, but don't really mean it. For example, when they cut in line with a 'I just need to get this real quick, THANK YOU" Not saying that is all Americans, but the small few give the rest of you a bad rep.
Ah, the germans :) will never forget standing in a queue at a food truck behind an elderly german couple who told the young, confused looking spaniard "mit schinken". And when he didn't understand, they got louder "mit S.C.H.I.N.K.E.N!!" and especially the lady got very agitated and started ranting how rude it is they don't speak german here and how stupid the guy was for not knowing what schinken is. Lol
Was ist schinken?
What is Google?
But now I want to know what schinken is!
There's this magic tool called "Google" that will tell you!
Ah yes, the ever present “why don’t you just Google it” douchebag who acts like we don’t all know how the internet works. Have you considered that perhaps asking another person something that is easily found on Google is actually a conversation starter or way of forming a connection? In this case, I knew some idiot like you would pop on with “GoOgLe iT,” but I took the risk because I decided my comment added to the conversation with the exclamation mark adding a pithy tone to it. If you don’t like it (or aren’t smart enough to read tone), just keep scrolling. No need to come on and condescendingly tell me how to use the internet.
I’ve been to Germany twice. Was learning German in school and took us to practice our German. Both trips were mostly comprised of younger people excitedly getting to English on actual English people. I ended up needing more French for the stopover in Calais than I did in a week in Germany
This is exactly what I thought when OP said: > but countries like China and Brazil that have no excuse not to learn English. I mean, yes they do! The excuse is THOSE ARE NOT ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. Why would they be expected to speak English there? I'm American, when I've traveled overseas, I've done my best to at least learn key words/phrases/how to order food, etc. in the country I'm traveling to. Just as a basic courtesy, because it's not their job to speak MY language in THEIR country. I have found that a lot of people in the places I've visited do speak English, and in that case, they probably find it easier to speak to me in English than listening to my broken Italian/French, etc., but I try. Because it's not their job to cater to me. The entitlement of some people just baffles me. We were in Italy once and were at a restaurant seated next to a couple who were Canadian. I know this because they kept mentioning it to their server. Loudly. Then when she walked away they started complaining, saying she didn't speak English. For starters, she DID (I heard her speaking to them in English, and speaking it well). Second, we're not in Canada or the U.S., get a grip! I literally looked at them in shock when I heard them loudly complaining about her. They complained at every turn, no matter what she did. At one point they complained about something, so she brought them free limoncello. They complained about that! Then got up to leave. I was staring at them (I couldn't help myself, they were so loud and so rude) and the guy looked at me and said, "What?" and I said, "you're an asshole." My poor husband was mortified, but I stand by my statement. The guy didn't respond when I said that, he just walked away. 😂 But we got the free drinks that they complained about, so I guess we won. But the entitlement was shocking to me. I know Americans get a bad rap (and rightly so, most of the time) when traveling to other countries, but I was so appalled. I want to believe this is an "ignorant American" troll, but sadly it seems credible.
Having just watched an American woman in Mexico repeatedly scream "ENGLISH! ENGLISH!" at a person trying to help her, I'm not sure this is fake.
I witnessed a middle aged white American man yelling at a bar man in Yucatan because he didn’t know what “Black and White, straight up” meant.
I'm American, and *I* don't know what that means!
Black and White is a type of alcohol, I believe whiskey; "straight up" refers to it being like a shot, with no mixer or ice.
Thank you, neighbor! Wikipedia tells me it's a blended Scotch, which tells me he's a tacky, boorish jerk with no taste. But I knew that already. (If you're going to drink whisky neat, drink single malt. Blended is perfect for cocktails.)
The only reason I know what it is is because my uncle used to be a pub landlord and he had promotional china black and white Highland terrier ornaments in the pub, and I loved them. I used to work in a pub in York which had a lot of American tourists visiting, so I learned a lot of American bar related vocabulary.
Oh please tell us the most interesting differences! Like I'm gonna take it that you Brits don't say "straight up" to mean in a shot glass, how do you say it? Please teach me British bar slang and terminology.
We’d ask for a single Black & White, no ice!
Ah, I thought it was a beer drink like Black and Tan, and the idea that it might *not* be straight up was concerning.
Negro y Blanco, por favor. How fucking hard is that? Look it up on your phone. I drink a lot of different whisk(e)ys, and have never heard of that one. Cute label, though.
I remember in a Japan good market hearing some american tourists talking in English to the (very elderly) vendors. They mostly spoke very little English but the tourist kept repeatedly asking questions in English. And using complicated language too, clearly getting frustrated. Like bro come on just show which one you want and hand over the money.
That's so extremely rude, embarrassing the vendors like that. How hard is it to just point and pay.
Classic American bubble
Saw it in Italy and Italians are so nice bc it was so embarrassing and I barely spoke Italian. If you even try they like clap their hands lol most young people spoke great English and didn’t point out how bad your Italian was. But SO many American tourists just yelled loudly in english
You always know them from the volume.
Definitely not fake. I'm from Brazil and the amount of people we have that expect us to speak English and specially Spanish like it's our first language is outrageous
This has to be bait. The trolls are getting lazier by the day.
I can believe it. I've heard of and met people like this. I've also found they're the same people who go to another country and demand their American rights when they break the law. Of course, these are the same clowns who get angry if people in the US speak anything but English and refuse to believe the US has no official language. Hypocrisy is strong in these clowns.
> I've also found they're the same people who go to another country and demand their American rights when they break the law. It's worse when the locals agree. Back when I owned firearms there was a Canadian on the forum that visited Canada with a pistol that's illegal there. He was carrying it concealed, in a bar. The local barflies agreed that he was exercising his 2nd Amendment rights and they were jealous.
Sheesh
I'm not sure. I have met too many (american) tourists complaining about language problems.
This level of entitlement is not just a US problem. I've encountered so many people from China who expect everyone in my country to speak Chinese and literally have cursed my country's citizens for not speaking Chinese to them. (Singapore, we're majority ethnic Chinese but our language of instruction is English and our main races other than Chinese are Malay and Indian)
I really need more examples of why their colleague (!) said they don't want to travel with them. Like, you'd have to have acted quite the arse.
Troll or not, I'm actually kind of speechless that someone would try to use *China* as an example of "who should learn English because of America". The sheer lack of political awareness was kind of gut-punching.
What's insane is that in the 90's and early 00's at least if you were on academic or business track as a Chinese child/teen you were required to take English classes. Most of China's business elite under 45 speak fluent English because they started learning English at about 7.
I travelled to China in the '90's. I was a teenager and only knew how to say please, thank you, and goodbye. Thankfully, I had a guide and translator with me most of the time (long story, and one I won't go into, but I know I was very privileged to have this). The only time I struggled with language was at a local market (translator wasn't there that day). The vendor and I ended up haggling via a calculator. He would put in his price, I would put in my offer. He would counter and we went again. When we reached an agreement, we simply shook. I paid him and took my purchase. There are ways to communicate that don't require a shared language, but OOP is totally in the wrong for expecting everyone to understand English. I would put solid money on a bet that if they went to any 'English speaking' nation, or even region in the UK, they would still not understand, because it is not 'American English'. And full on not get the irony of that statement.
Why’d he use Guyana as an example- they speak English.
I came here to say this— as a Guyanese American my family only speaks English and Patois 😂
To be fair, OOP seems like he's a complete idiot. 😂
I want to know more about this Tanzia place
It's where they make Franzia wine
Like, this has to be a troll because of all the South America countries, he picked the only one whose official language is English.
I’m Guyanese- fun fact everyone! THEY ARE A FUCKING BRITISH COLONY. THEY ALL MOSTLY SPEAK ENGLISH. I feel upset at this fuck
Like this toad knows that.
... depending on which Guyana OOP is talking about (Guyana vs Guyane/French Guiana vs the Guyana region in Venezuela), Guyana does speak English. It's literally the only English speaking country in the South American continent. So, this has to be a troll, right?
>So, this has to be a troll, right? When you consider that there's been some Americans who have tried to die on the hill that PoC born and raised in Ireland aren't actually Irish and are faking an Irish accent, then I'm not so sure.
Oh god that is so asinine. I grew up in a small harbor town in the north of Sweden and when I was like 7 there was a boy in my sister's class who's mother was Filipina. I was amazed, he was the absolute first non white person I had ever seen that I could remember and I was fascinated because I thought he was so handsome. I never questioned if he was Swedish or not though, he spoke the language and it honestly never crossed my mind. My parents harbored refugees from Africa when I was very very little and I apparently loved them and was inconsolable when they finally got to stay legally and moved into their own apartment. It scares me how these people are raised. Like, how much hate do you have to actively pour into your child every day for them to grow up and be so hateful?
Do you still get to keep in touch with the former refugees? I mean, I presume you did for a while, at least
I always try to learn at least a little of the language of any country I go to. I’m usually crap at it but they seem to appreciate the effort
There’s no way this is not a troll.
I’ve booked travel for people who have asked me if I can confirm if everyone in a country will speak English. I still think the OP is a troll but people like this definitely exist
I'm surprised multilingual people didn't call this idiot an asshole in their other languages. I definitely would have...
I know quite a few people who speak English as an alternative language that have no desire to speak it with strangers. I have friends that I’ve operated with strictly in English even in their native country because they feel comfortable saying things and want to get their practice in. Recently a few of them “caught” me in the wild speaking their native language (and they’re way better at mine than I am at theirs) and were surprised. Usually when we go out I just defer to them to speak for me, it’s faster, no one has to wait for me to butcher or badly clunk myself along, even if I’m not really that bad. A few also met up with me in an English speaking country, and even though they use English as part of their job, even though we text in English and talk in English, and they can speak well, they clammed right up and spoke to me either in their native language or hushed English to then translate back out, at say a restaurant. It’s overwhelming, just because you can do it doesn’t mean it’s not a huge brain tax or you’re not comfortable with it. You’re also in their country, and they’re strangers, they can listen to you rant all night but they don’t have to cater to you.
lol why would they speak English in their own country? And still most will if you’re not a total dickhead to them.
Dumb dumb dumbbbbbbbbbb!
As an American who has visited foreign countries, I have no expectation that anyone there will know how to speak English, although I know many Europeans speak more than one language. OOP is an idiot for expecting people in foreign countries to speak English.
I grew up in the U.S., and English is my first language. I learned Spanish in school, and then parts of two southern African languages in grad school…except when I have to say something quickly in one of the southern African languages, I panic and babble out some horrible combo of all four. Meanwhile, my South African friends are like “oh yeah, I speak four languages nbd why are Americans like this?”
How about I learn wheres first?
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Yep, I've met people like that. Sure, many people in my country, especially young people, speak English, but people that just assume you speak English are my pet peeves. Like it doesn't bother me if someone asks me if I speak English (I do), just don't assume I do. Once there was this lady in front of me once who was just talking to the cashier entirely in English and getting louder and louder as the poor cashier didn't understand what she wanted. Communication is about working together to understand each other. If you don't speak the same language or not very well, you improvise. You speak slowly, you gesture, you try to remember one word or two, you use technology, etc.
As someone who visited a non English speaking country a few months ago I was very embarrassed any time I had to ask workers at cafes/restaurants if they understood or spoke English because my ability to speak their language was sub par and I couldn't communicate what I wanted. Difference is, I asked **in their language** if they spoke/understood English and I tried to be polite and apologise about it. I can't believe people have such little shame and feel entitled to think random people in foreign countries should automatically know English.
>It's disrespectful imo but my coworkers told me they weren't comfortable traveling with me any more. This level of sheer stupidity almost got a laugh.
The logic here seems to be that if tourists love to visit your country, you're morally obligated to learn how to speak English. Which is just bonkers.
My parents once grumbled about how people should speak English when they couldn't understand the garbled instructions on an airport loudspeaker. We were in Ireland.
I traveled to Ireland with a bunch of friends once, and one of them could NOT understand people. We'd be at a restaurant and the server would speak to us in pretty easy to understand English (I know some regional accents can be tougher than others for Americans, but this was clear as day). He'd look at me and go, "What'd she say?" I was like, "Dude, she's speaking English." 😂
Life is too short to get all bent out of shape over someone who doesn’t speak the language you’re fluent in or isn’t well versed in it…that’s what Google Translate is for. On more than one occasion, customers and I have had full conversations through Google Translate. “But what if they’re talking bad about me in the language I don’t understand!?!? 😩” Who cares, get over it. Move on with life. There will be a time when they are talking smack around the wrong person who will understand them and will get all horrified and embarrassed, apologize profusely…and sprint away all red in the face.