Should people try to speak the language of the land when visiting?

by JH 24 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  kwintestal

  I don't expect people to cater to me when I'm in their country or province. Driving through your area a couple months ago we stopped at a Mc D's and ordered Crocettes de Poulet (we read the menu) turns out that they're just called Nuggets anyway as well. But, we tried ordering in French and didn't expect to be spoken to in English. I think we kind of cheated though, my daughter has been taking French Immersion for the last 2 years and she helped us out. Í'm sure people looked at us funny though, getting a 7 year old to order for us! haha

  Kwin
• 

  misspeaches

  Actually on this topic again....

  My boyfriend is Latin American and there are plans in the works to take me to Central America to meet the family etc.

  Much to my delight he is teaching me spanish. I am really enjoying the challenge of learning and hope that when I get there I will be able to converse with people in their own language.
• 

  John Doe

  I would think the middle finger salute would translate well into most countries? And folks, that's all you need to know. ;-) !Estan tonto!
• 

  Frog

  I can understand why the French feel the need to resist that English has become the international language. In my personal experience I've found that in all the countries I've travelled to France is the only country I've ever encountered that sort of resistance. Although I got past it mostly being a young single woman travelling alone.

  In Asian countries I've found most locals find it highly amusing when a foreigner attempts to speak their language, but generally respect your attempts to do so.
• 

  Virgogirl

  I think it's kind of rude to expect to be spoken with in English when traveling to another country. They live there, we are only visitors and nobody has to cater to us. When my hubby and I visited Spain, I was all geared up to get us around in Spanish. Darn it, most of them wanted to practice thair English on us! We shared an outdoor table with a lovely French couple in Cordoba.They spoke Spanish and French, my hubby English and German, and I speak English and Spanish. We wound up using Spanish! In Mexico, everyone spoke English. Now, in London we had trouble! The accents were just fascinating to listen to, but if they talked too fast, it was hard. Then we were told the Brits get a kick out of listening to us too, lol!