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#1
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French Attitude
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard
to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. -- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to -- |
#2
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French Attitude
MarkofAus wrote:
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. If you approach French people without assuming that they speak English, you will have no more problems with them than a French person in Aus who does not assume that everyone speaks French. My approach is to open the conversation in French (eg "Bonjour Monsier/Madame"), and to apologise in English for not speaking French. The only times it does not work is when the person does not know any English, which is quite rare, and even then they will usually go out of their way to help if they can. French people are usually quite charming. If you behave like them, the language issue is minor. |
#3
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French Attitude
MarkofAus writes:
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. It depends on the situation. Are you going as a tourist? As a businessperson who must deal with his/her staff. As staff who must deal with his/her boss? French people like to use French because they are unwilling to learn English and are usually incompetent in the latter language. It's not so much pride as simple laziness, followed by embarrassment. They cannot be bothered to learn English properly, and then, when they end up in situations in which English is widely used, they try to avoid the language to avoid being embarrassed by their nearly nonexistent English skills. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? French people prefer to speak French. Those who perceive that you speak French far worse than they speak English may speak to you in English for your own sake. But problems may arise with staff who cannot speak English; you'll have to communicate with them in French. Practice and study your French until it is fluent. Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. If you intend to spend a long period in French, learn French and become fluent, and you won't have any problems. Exactly the same advice applies to any other place in the world, i.e., always learn the local language when you move to a country, if you don't speak it already. There are people from the UK who settle in French and are too lazy/stupid to ever learn to speak French, and they are definitely resented and ridiculed. A person who has been in France for 30 years and still cannot speak decent French has no real excuse. Tourists and temporary visitors are not expected to speak French. |
#4
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French Attitude
MarkofAus wrote:
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. My experience with this is that if you try at least a little bit of French before just demanding what you want in English (and shouting/waving your arms etc.), people will understand and help you out as best they can. Even if you don't feel confident enough to conduct the conversation in French, a simple "Bonjour Monsieur/Madame, parlez vous Anglais?" often gets a response of "a little" and you can usually get by. I have a Berlitz phrasebook I take over with me and that has proved invaluable as a tourist - it just helps if you make a bit of effort, and this doesn't just go for France. When I was last in Paris, any attempt to speak French to just about anyone resulted in a reply in English, so I wouldn't worry too much there. Outside of the big cities you'll find less people will be able (or willing) to speak English. IMHO most of the "anti-Anglo/British sentiment" is actually the other way round. -- Andrew Richardson East Sussex, UK |
#5
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French Attitude
On Sep 27, 5:59*pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
MarkofAus writes: Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. It depends on the situation. *Are you going as a tourist? *As a businessperson who must deal with his/her staff. *As staff who must deal with his/her boss? French people like to use French because they are unwilling to learn English and are usually incompetent in the latter language. *It's not so much pride as simple laziness, followed by embarrassment. *They cannot be bothered to learn English properly, and then, when they end up in situations in which English is widely used, they try to avoid the language to avoid being embarrassed by their nearly nonexistent English skills. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? French people prefer to speak French. *Those who perceive that you speak French far worse than they speak English may speak to you in English for your own sake. *But problems may arise with staff who cannot speak English; you'll have to communicate with them in French. *Practice and study your French until it is fluent. Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. If you intend to spend a long period in French, learn French and become fluent, and you won't have any problems. *Exactly the same advice applies to any other place in the world, i.e., always learn the local language when you move to a country, if you don't speak it already. There are people from the UK who settle in French and are too lazy/stupid to ever learn to speak French, and they are definitely resented and ridiculed. *A person who has been in France for 30 years and still cannot speak decent French has no real excuse. *Tourists and temporary visitors are not expected to speak French. Some people have no ear for languages just as they have no ear for music. It's nothing to do with laziness. There's no point in speaking a phrase eprectly if you can't understand the reply. I know I've tried learning several languages in more than 20 years of living abroad - from simple like Indonesian or Italian to difficult like Cantonese and Hindi - and have failed to varying degrees. English speakers are extremely lucky to have a language that's so international. I try to master a few pleasantries, which are indeed appreciated generally - "wow" from Kannada speakers to grunts from the French - but I'll never be fluent in anything. The OP is a tourist visiting for the first time so fluency is not an issue. Cheers, George W Russell Bangalore (visiting Hong Kong) |
#6
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French Attitude
"MarkofAus" wrote in message ... Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. The French place great importance on being polite. If you strike them as rude, they will be unhelpful but if you come over as polite, they are a very friendly people. One of the most important things is to greet them properly. Always greet people when you meet them, even if it is passing meeting with someone you will never see again, say at a supermarket checkout. Say bonjour monsieur or bonjour madame, rather than just bonjour and if you walk into a small shop, greet everyone as you enter - bonjour messieurs dames is the correct greeting if both men and women are present. Shaking hands is also important if you are introduced to someone or have business with them. Once you have made even a small effort, you can ask if they speak English. A lot of French do speak English, but they are often reluctant to do so, because they think they don't speak it well enough. If they don't, they will do their best to work out what you want. When I bought a house in a French village, I went to introduce myself to the mayor, another important politeness. He was a former English teacher and spoke the language extremely well, but still apologised for being less than fluent. Colin Bignell |
#7
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French Attitude
On 27 Sep, 11:46, "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk
wrote: "MarkofAus" wrote in message ... Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. The French place great importance on being polite. If you strike them as rude, they will be unhelpful but if you come over as polite, they are a very friendly people. One of the most important things is to greet them properly. Always greet people when you meet them, even if it is passing meeting with someone you will never see again, say at a supermarket checkout. Say bonjour monsieur or bonjour madame, rather than just bonjour and if you walk into a small shop, greet everyone as you enter - bonjour messieurs dames is the correct greeting if both men and women are present. Shaking hands is also important if you are introduced to someone or have business with them. Once you have made even a small effort, you can ask if they speak English. A lot of French do speak English, but they are often reluctant to do so, because they think they don't speak it well enough. If they don't, they will do their best to work out what you want. When I bought a house in a French village, I went to introduce myself to the mayor, another important politeness. He was a former English teacher and spoke the language extremely well, but still apologised for being less than fluent. Colin Bignell Or just learn some basic Fench for a few weeks prior. It's no great problem to be able to enable a simple conversation. Surreyman |
#8
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French Attitude
Yes ignorance is a terrible thing and you shouldn't believe in father Xmas.
Duh. "MarkofAus" a écrit dans le message de ... Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated. -- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to -- |
#9
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French Attitude
No need to tell us all about your private life
"grusl" a écrit dans le message de ... On Sep 27, 5:59 pm, Mxsmanic wrote: MarkofAus writes: Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers. It depends on the situation. Are you going as a tourist? As a businessperson who must deal with his/her staff. As staff who must deal with his/her boss? French people like to use French because they are unwilling to learn English and are usually incompetent in the latter language. It's not so much pride as simple laziness, followed by embarrassment. They cannot be bothered to learn English properly, and then, when they end up in situations in which English is widely used, they try to avoid the language to avoid being embarrassed by their nearly nonexistent English skills. Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language to pieces? French people prefer to speak French. Those who perceive that you speak French far worse than they speak English may speak to you in English for your own sake. But problems may arise with staff who cannot speak English; you'll have to communicate with them in French. Practice and study your French until it is fluent. Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing. If you intend to spend a long period in French, learn French and become fluent, and you won't have any problems. Exactly the same advice applies to any other place in the world, i.e., always learn the local language when you move to a country, if you don't speak it already. There are people from the UK who settle in French and are too lazy/stupid to ever learn to speak French, and they are definitely resented and ridiculed. A person who has been in France for 30 years and still cannot speak decent French has no real excuse. Tourists and temporary visitors are not expected to speak French. Some people have no ear for languages just as they have no ear for music. It's nothing to do with laziness. There's no point in speaking a phrase eprectly if you can't understand the reply. I know I've tried learning several languages in more than 20 years of living abroad - from simple like Indonesian or Italian to difficult like Cantonese and Hindi - and have failed to varying degrees. English speakers are extremely lucky to have a language that's so international. I try to master a few pleasantries, which are indeed appreciated generally - "wow" from Kannada speakers to grunts from the French - but I'll never be fluent in anything. The OP is a tourist visiting for the first time so fluency is not an issue. Cheers, George W Russell Bangalore (visiting Hong Kong) |
#10
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French Attitude
On Sep 27, 7:06*pm, "Runge12" wrote:
No need to tell us all about your private life **** off you ignorant troll |
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