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> as far as I could tell that day, a collective commitment to not speaking English. Ah... those pesky people speaking their very own language instead of the (a

> as far as I could tell that day, a collective commitment to not speaking English. Ah... those pesky people speaking their very own language instead of the (ahem...) lingua franca.

skywhopper 10mo ago
Yeah, with this line the author completely lost me. What did he expect them to do? Does he think of himself as steadfastly committed to not speaking Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin? (I realize it was (hopefully) meant in jest-ish, but there are better ways to make the point.)
- kolektiv 10mo ago
  This might be a British humoUr thing - as a local it read very much as a self-deprecating jab at our own English-centric travelling. Taken literally obviously it would be offensive, but it's not meant that way. I note that the author lives in Edinburgh, a place which has a reputation for quite dry, understated and self-deprecating style to start with - understandably, as the only way to stand the hordes clogging the Mile and other picturesque spots.
- orthoxerox 10mo ago
  He expected them to speak the barest minimum of English, so speakers of Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin do not have to learn more than one foreign language when vacationing abroad. Honestly, I myself learn one emergency phrase in the native language, "I am sorry, please repeat this as if I have a learning disability". Upon hearing this my vis-a-vis would either actually switch to a slow and dumbed-down register of their native language or realize they won't lose face by speaking bad English to me.
  - integralid 10mo ago
    >He expected them to speak the barest minimum of English, so speakers of Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin do not have to learn more than one foreign language when vacationing abroad. Why are speakers of Japanese, Banty, Hindi and Algonquin vacationing abroad a problem of locals who just want to live their own life?... Most people do learn English for one reason or another, but "entertaining tourists" is not one of them.
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krige 10mo ago
No, it's a French thing. They're rather infamous for making your life difficult if you don't speak fluent French. Anywhere else in Europe people would at least make an effort.
- JodieBenitez 10mo ago
  Quand vous voyagez chez nous, vous vous rendriez service en faisant un premier pas en français. C'est une marque de respect que nous apprécions beaucoup, même si la suite de l'échange se fait en anglais.
  - stingraycharles 10mo ago
    That’s an unhelpful take, if you expect everyone to be fluent in the language of the country they’re traveling to. Another note: I live in Cambodia, where many French people live, and nearly none of them speak the local language, and a very decent amount of them don’t even speak English. Worse yet, the older generation is still hung up in the idea that it’s better for the locals to learn French than English or Chinese. This is really a very French thing, and you don’t see the same behavior in eg Germany or Italy. (I’m originally from The Netherlands)
    - dgellow 10mo ago
      > That’s an unhelpful take, if you expect everyone to be fluent in the language of the country they’re traveling to I'm myself native french speaker and do hate the French attitude on language. It's extremely patronizing and do not benefit anyone
    - Vedor 10mo ago
      I'm from Poland, but my grandma was living in Germany (Essen). When I was (rarely, she was visiting Poland much more often) visiting her I definitely experienced similar behaviour from Germans. My German is very poor, I used to somewhat understand what was spoken to me (if simple language was used), and to speak is short, basic sentences with shortage of vocabulary. This is just to provide some context - I never actually tried to learn German. So I was trying to use English as often as possible. A lot of people - and I mean persons like clerks, salespersons, not random passers-by - either straight-up ignored me, or issuing comments like "Du solltest Sprachen lernen". On the other hand, I never had similar experience when I was speaking broken French in France (or Marocco). Please note that I don't want to bash Germans or to defend French. But it all depends on who you encounter - but these encounters might on some level shape your opinion on the whole nation no matter of you want it or not
Y-bar 10mo ago
When I read that it registered as being a light-hearted observation with a healthy dose of humour, and not an attempt at being rude.

> as far as I could tell that day, a collective commitment to not speaking English. Ah... those pesky people speaking their very own language instead of the (ahem...) lingua franca.

skywhopper 10mo ago

Yeah, with this line the author completely lost me. What did he expect them to do? Does he think of himself as steadfastly committed to not speaking Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin? (I realize it was (hopefully) meant in jest-ish, but there are better ways to make the point.)

kolektiv 10mo ago
This might be a British humoUr thing - as a local it read very much as a self-deprecating jab at our own English-centric travelling. Taken literally obviously it would be offensive, but it's not meant that way. I note that the author lives in Edinburgh, a place which has a reputation for quite dry, understated and self-deprecating style to start with - understandably, as the only way to stand the hordes clogging the Mile and other picturesque spots.
orthoxerox 10mo ago
He expected them to speak the barest minimum of English, so speakers of Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin do not have to learn more than one foreign language when vacationing abroad. Honestly, I myself learn one emergency phrase in the native language, "I am sorry, please repeat this as if I have a learning disability". Upon hearing this my vis-a-vis would either actually switch to a slow and dumbed-down register of their native language or realize they won't lose face by speaking bad English to me.
- integralid 10mo ago
  >He expected them to speak the barest minimum of English, so speakers of Japanese, Bantu, Hindi, and Algonquin do not have to learn more than one foreign language when vacationing abroad. Why are speakers of Japanese, Banty, Hindi and Algonquin vacationing abroad a problem of locals who just want to live their own life?... Most people do learn English for one reason or another, but "entertaining tourists" is not one of them.

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krige 10mo ago

No, it's a French thing. They're rather infamous for making your life difficult if you don't speak fluent French. Anywhere else in Europe people would at least make an effort.

JodieBenitez 10mo ago
Quand vous voyagez chez nous, vous vous rendriez service en faisant un premier pas en français. C'est une marque de respect que nous apprécions beaucoup, même si la suite de l'échange se fait en anglais.
- stingraycharles 10mo ago
  That’s an unhelpful take, if you expect everyone to be fluent in the language of the country they’re traveling to. Another note: I live in Cambodia, where many French people live, and nearly none of them speak the local language, and a very decent amount of them don’t even speak English. Worse yet, the older generation is still hung up in the idea that it’s better for the locals to learn French than English or Chinese. This is really a very French thing, and you don’t see the same behavior in eg Germany or Italy. (I’m originally from The Netherlands)
  - dgellow 10mo ago
    > That’s an unhelpful take, if you expect everyone to be fluent in the language of the country they’re traveling to I'm myself native french speaker and do hate the French attitude on language. It's extremely patronizing and do not benefit anyone
  - Vedor 10mo ago
    I'm from Poland, but my grandma was living in Germany (Essen). When I was (rarely, she was visiting Poland much more often) visiting her I definitely experienced similar behaviour from Germans. My German is very poor, I used to somewhat understand what was spoken to me (if simple language was used), and to speak is short, basic sentences with shortage of vocabulary. This is just to provide some context - I never actually tried to learn German. So I was trying to use English as often as possible. A lot of people - and I mean persons like clerks, salespersons, not random passers-by - either straight-up ignored me, or issuing comments like "Du solltest Sprachen lernen". On the other hand, I never had similar experience when I was speaking broken French in France (or Marocco). Please note that I don't want to bash Germans or to defend French. But it all depends on who you encounter - but these encounters might on some level shape your opinion on the whole nation no matter of you want it or not

Y-bar 10mo ago

When I read that it registered as being a light-hearted observation with a healthy dose of humour, and not an attempt at being rude.