Was in Switzerland and France lately. No English. None. They do understand you. They just won't speak it back to you. And I'm not even from an English speaking country. Which is shity behavior towards tourists, because when they come to my country as tourists 1)they don't speak MY language, 2)oh what a miracle, now they do speak English.
Yes. Last time I went through the Paris airport, I saw 3 separate people literally crying at different airport counters. They were pleading with airline employees, who clearly did not give two shits, based on their facial expressions. CDG airport is tough.
I'd been in France 2-3 months and learning tons. We were having lunch with a family and they served watermelon and I said to the kid "You have to shoot (tirer .. because I didn't know) the seeds" and this little shit in a high chair corrected me "NON. IL FAUT CRACHER (spit) LES PEPITES!"
After 2y in France, we spent 1.5y in Poland and WOW what a difference. If you even *try* to speak some Polish, they were so graceful and grateful. We had a Polish woman with us and I learned to say "I'm sorry but I really don't speak much Polish". Problem was that I learned to say it *perfectly* and nobody believed me.
Recently got back from rural Quebec. My husband speaks pretty fluent French but I speak no French. People won't even acknowledge his existence because his accent isn't 100%, nevermind my American ass.
Which I found funny because I learned all my french in France but, when I'm in QC visiting my kids, I can't understand them unless they speak slowly. Even then...
France kept its accent pure and allowed its language to evolve. Quebec's accent went to shit but they still speak some of ye olden times french.
Not only do they treat non-native French speakers this way, but they even do it to CanadiansâFrench is our native language too! I have a masterâs degree in literature, I know the French authors and classics probably better than they do, and still⊠I say âBonjourâ to them in our shared language, and they act like complete jerks about it. Just as you said, their response is, âOh, Canadianâbetter switch to English.â Unbelievable and the rest of the French world is united in hating then.
If I pass you on my commute and you say "morning!" and I don't say "morning!" back, it's not because I don't give the single tiniest fuck whether you have a good morning or not (I don't, but that's an unrelated issue), it's because my brain is very slow at switching gears and by the time it engaged the bits that make my tongue move we had already left one another in the dust
I have Iooked directly into people's faces and not recognized them until they said my name. Then, it's like their face comes into focus, and they cease to be a part of the background.
Well, we all move to the beat of a different drummer. I enjoy the social niceties of acknowledging/being acknowledged when I encounter others - verbal or otherwise - but don't take offense if not acknowledged. As far as Paris goes, I was there twice decades and ago and found their reputation for aloofness unfounded.
If I pass you on my commute and you say "morning!" and I don't say "morning!" back, it's because I don't give the single tiniest fuck whether you have a good morning or not (I really don't, and I don't care if you know it. So I guess what I'm saying is: Two types of people.
You can shrink that down to "I don't care about anyone but myself", instead of bringing acknowledging another person into it. Don't think for a second your behavior doesn't make a difference to someone, though; they could end their life because you were the final proof they needed that everyone sucks, or you give a small smile and they could feel that life is worth living. We're all in this together whether you like it or not.
...shit, i should have said "morning!" back to that person. They probably think i'm a dick now. *Proceeds to obsess over this for weeks and feel bad for weeks*
Other person: that guy was really deep in thought, probably didnt hear me. Oh well. *forgets about it in seconds*
I lived in Paris for a while & was most affirming place in terms of being acknowledged. After about 3 days,not only did the people from the bread shop greet me warmly in the store,but if I passed them in the street they would say hello. My bank card got eaten by the atm & somehow I ended up in the bank before opening hours in order to retrieve it. All the staff went round each other to say goodmorning & most of them came up to me,even though I was just some randomer. Not everywhere is like that.
I lived in Paris for a year. You'll have that experience from service workers if you are polite to them and after they see you a few times. Also, I want to note that the behavior you saw at the bank is (or was) the norm and considered very rude not to do it. But try to speak French in Paris and most people will ignore you, pretend they don't understand you or change immediately to English.
Sorry to correct your english, but this threw me off so much. Although "Would've" is short for "would have," it doesn't work in this context, and I just can't explain why.
I'm learning French: it has been made very clear to me that a part of French culture is that u MUST greet the other person u're talking to, u MUST speak with the proper level of respect, in THEIR language (to start). You can't just walk up to a worker in a store and say, "where are the nails?" No, it's gotta be, "Excuse me, sir? Hello. How are you? Good! I was wondering, where can I find the nails?" There's a subtle insistence that you treat them like people, not slaves or machines.
I learned recently the French grow up with 4 magic words to the Americans' 2: s'il vous plaĂźt and merci (please and thank you) but also bonjour and au revoir (hello/goodbye). It's very important to greet other folks before getting down to the rest of the interaction. I think a lot of Americans miss that social cue and that's a cause for the coldness they may experience. It's very common for Americans to start a convo like, "hey gimme an X." but also some people are just dicks, in any country lol
That's true, most interactions were neutral, some were sweet, and I know there was a couple who I know were sitting back and saying whatever rude things French people say. In fact my buddy came from a place where faces get punched for such things (whatever it was lol), but he just laughed. I bought film and fireworks from a store and they were helpful with my miming lol. Like you said, everybody's different no matter where you go.
Oh yeah. Maybe it's just because I'm from the Midwest, but any time I hear someone start a conversation off like that, I get an *immediate*, massive bias against them. Even when they're not talking to me. In fact, it's *especially* when they're not talking to me.
Yeah I've found from my time in Paris that "Paris is full of assholes" to only be true bc the tourists are assholes. Even with my dog shit French, everyone was always super nice to me. Also, side note, Brits are WAY fucking louder in France that Americans are, so my theory is French ppl can't tell the difference and just say "Americans are loud"
Paris is a tourist city. It's full of people being unintentionally (or intentionally) rude to each other because of language barriers. Plus, tourists are assholes who don't know the social rules, and the Parisians are assholes who have decided to be perma-mad about it, rather than understanding.
I (French) am fluent enough in English that I can make the difference between Britons, Australians and Americans by ear, and from my own subjective experience, Americans are, on average, somewhat louder than other English speakers. Britons, however, are much, much louder than Americans when drunk. But surprisingly, English speakers aren't the loudest tourists I've encountered: that crown belongs, in a tie, to the Spanish and Germans (saying this without hate, I'm currently learning German).
As a Brit, that pretty much how it works at home too. We're a quiet reserved society full of politeness, until 5pm and then degenerate into drunken shouting.
UsertubeBandwagon
Jokes are 80% delivery, i think he nailed itđ
Alexap30
Was in Switzerland and France lately. No English. None. They do understand you. They just won't speak it back to you. And I'm not even from an English speaking country. Which is shity behavior towards tourists, because when they come to my country as tourists 1)they don't speak MY language, 2)oh what a miracle, now they do speak English.
coochpotato
Comic credit: Gianmarco Soresi :)
MadamPuddifoot
@op
Harm
That works between us too. As a French,that's me when I try to order anything in an Italian restaurant/grocery store.
morebutternut
Yes. Last time I went through the Paris airport, I saw 3 separate people literally crying at different airport counters. They were pleading with airline employees, who clearly did not give two shits, based on their facial expressions. CDG airport is tough.
KoalaOnTheJuice
The French for no is "non". The French for yes is "oui mais non".
Cahine
As a french, CDG is awfull. And employee there for the most part don't give a effin f.
boneroni
Eff yeah, Gianmarco Soresi is one of my favorite comics right now.
Niagaran
Him and Sammy Obeid
MadamPuddifoot
I love that his merch includes pictures of his awkward postures. He moves awkwardly, like me. He sits like me, too. Hashtag adhd gang
Niagaran
I'd been in France 2-3 months and learning tons. We were having lunch with a family and they served watermelon and I said to the kid "You have to shoot (tirer .. because I didn't know) the seeds" and this little shit in a high chair corrected me "NON. IL FAUT CRACHER (spit) LES PEPITES!"
Niagaran
After 2y in France, we spent 1.5y in Poland and WOW what a difference. If you even *try* to speak some Polish, they were so graceful and grateful. We had a Polish woman with us and I learned to say "I'm sorry but I really don't speak much Polish". Problem was that I learned to say it *perfectly* and nobody believed me.
nikki10
Recently got back from rural Quebec. My husband speaks pretty fluent French but I speak no French. People won't even acknowledge his existence because his accent isn't 100%, nevermind my American ass.
Niagaran
Which I found funny because I learned all my french in France but, when I'm in QC visiting my kids, I can't understand them unless they speak slowly. Even then...
France kept its accent pure and allowed its language to evolve.
Quebec's accent went to shit but they still speak some of ye olden times french.
solemnwar
I have a Quebec friend and even she needs her boyfriend to translate for his family. Rural quebecois is a whole other beast.
marcicgvisa3000
Not only do they treat non-native French speakers this way, but they even do it to CanadiansâFrench is our native language too! I have a masterâs degree in literature, I know the French authors and classics probably better than they do, and still⊠I say âBonjourâ to them in our shared language, and they act like complete jerks about it. Just as you said, their response is, âOh, Canadianâbetter switch to English.â Unbelievable and the rest of the French world is united in hating then.
linkdk59
Je suis dĂ©solĂ© que cela vous soit arrivĂ©, mais ça reste une anecdote trĂšs spĂ©cifique. Ne le prenez pas pour une rĂšgle universelle. Et ne suis convaincu que c'Ă©tait un malentendu? Dans le passĂ©, ça m'est arrivĂ© d'entendre des QuĂ©bĂ©cois, mais de ne pas les comprendre purement Ă cause de ma profonde non-exposition Ă leurs accents. Que d'autres francais passent spontanĂ©ment Ă l'anglais est un peu extreme, mais ils vous ont peut ĂȘtre pris pour un Ă©tranger non francophone. Oui c'est un peu fou...
linkdk59
Pour vous en dire sur moi, je suis Français, j'ai vĂ©cu 30 ans en France mais pas a Paris. Et je vis maintenant Ă MontrĂ©al depuis presque 10 ans :D mais si ça peut rassurer, sachez que bizarrement, ça m'est arrivĂ© aussi deux ou trois fois Ă Paris que moi aussi on me parle spontanĂ©ment en Anglais alors mĂȘme que j'avais commencĂ© la conversation en Français et je n'ai mĂȘme pas d'accent, parce qu'on m'a pris pour un touriste? Certes, c'Ă©tait dans la file de sĂ©curitĂ© de la tour eiffel... Bizarre!
houghten
If I pass you on my commute and you say "morning!" and I don't say "morning!" back, it's not because I don't give the single tiniest fuck whether you have a good morning or not (I don't, but that's an unrelated issue), it's because my brain is very slow at switching gears and by the time it engaged the bits that make my tongue move we had already left one another in the dust
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I have Iooked directly into people's faces and not recognized them until they said my name. Then, it's like their face comes into focus, and they cease to be a part of the background.
CanadianLadyMoose
Same. This is why unless someone is outright a dick to me i just assume they have other stuff going on.
Poppypoppoppop
French commute will teach real fast how to play zombie. If it's not already the case where you live right now
nelllybellly1
Well, we all move to the beat of a different drummer. I enjoy the social niceties of acknowledging/being acknowledged when I encounter others - verbal or otherwise - but don't take offense if not acknowledged. As far as Paris goes, I was there twice decades and ago and found their reputation for aloofness unfounded.
jayman0123
If I pass you on my commute and you say "morning!" and I don't say "morning!" back, it's because I don't give the single tiniest fuck whether you have a good morning or not (I really don't, and I don't care if you know it. So I guess what I'm saying is: Two types of people.
DigYourselfBaby
You can shrink that down to "I don't care about anyone but myself", instead of bringing acknowledging another person into it. Don't think for a second your behavior doesn't make a difference to someone, though; they could end their life because you were the final proof they needed that everyone sucks, or you give a small smile and they could feel that life is worth living. We're all in this together whether you like it or not.
jayman0123
dude it was a joke... relax.
LuLuPennyAndOdium44
welcometothedystopia
I like the very specific honesty in this comment
mikeatike
Overly honest methods. https://runt-of-the-web.com/best-overly-honest-methods/
azazyel
It would just spark an internal covo with myself. "morning" "oh shit it is, god I have a lot to do today, what am I going to get for lunch..
TussleTheCat
...shit, i should have said "morning!" back to that person. They probably think i'm a dick now. *Proceeds to obsess over this for weeks and feel bad for weeks*
Other person: that guy was really deep in thought, probably didnt hear me. Oh well. *forgets about it in seconds*
xn1992
I lived in Paris for a while & was most affirming place in terms of being acknowledged. After about 3 days,not only did the people from the bread shop greet me warmly in the store,but if I passed them in the street they would say hello. My bank card got eaten by the atm & somehow I ended up in the bank before opening hours in order to retrieve it. All the staff went round each other to say goodmorning & most of them came up to me,even though I was just some randomer. Not everywhere is like that.
shammael
I lived in Paris for a year. You'll have that experience from service workers if you are polite to them and after they see you a few times. Also, I want to note that the behavior you saw at the bank is (or was) the norm and considered very rude not to do it.
But try to speak French in Paris and most people will ignore you, pretend they don't understand you or change immediately to English.
phalanxausage
I've spent a lot of time in France and this is consistent with my experience.
Cutwail
You would've the same experience also in Belgium, atleast on the french speaking side.
SonicColonic
Sorry to correct your english, but this threw me off so much. Although "Would've" is short for "would have," it doesn't work in this context, and I just can't explain why.
earthtokelly127001
US used to be that way. Maga has divided us successfully beyond anything the oligarchs could have imagined.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I'm learning French: it has been made very clear to me that a part of French culture is that u MUST greet the other person u're talking to, u MUST speak with the proper level of respect, in THEIR language (to start). You can't just walk up to a worker in a store and say, "where are the nails?" No, it's gotta be, "Excuse me, sir? Hello. How are you? Good! I was wondering, where can I find the nails?" There's a subtle insistence that you treat them like people, not slaves or machines.
GordonFreeman59
As a frenchman this is true but I recommend you don't ask strangers how they are, that's not common practice.
VowelShiftBetch
I learned recently the French grow up with 4 magic words to the Americans' 2: s'il vous plaĂźt and merci (please and thank you) but also bonjour and au revoir (hello/goodbye). It's very important to greet other folks before getting down to the rest of the interaction. I think a lot of Americans miss that social cue and that's a cause for the coldness they may experience. It's very common for Americans to start a convo like, "hey gimme an X." but also some people are just dicks, in any country lol
yamamasyamaha
As an American, you should all just learn English to accommodate our collective ignorance
I mean the language is so great that we took it for ourselves. Just like we took the land itself⊠and a lot of peopleâŠ
Hmmm⊠Actually, Maybe donât listen to America
Themanwithathousanddongs
In France when you want to say that someone was rude to you, let say he asked for something bluntly, you will say "he asked that without hello nor thank you/il m'a demandé ca sans bonjour ni merci" so yeah you're pretty right i'd say, it completely changes how people view the interaction
Rkfinecake
That's true, most interactions were neutral, some were sweet, and I know there was a couple who I know were sitting back and saying whatever rude things French people say. In fact my buddy came from a place where faces get punched for such things (whatever it was lol), but he just laughed. I bought film and fireworks from a store and they were helpful with my miming lol. Like you said, everybody's different no matter where you go.
justfillingthespace
Oh yeah. Maybe it's just because I'm from the Midwest, but any time I hear someone start a conversation off like that, I get an *immediate*, massive bias against them. Even when they're not talking to me. In fact, it's *especially* when they're not talking to me.
shitheadtookmyname
Yeah I've found from my time in Paris that "Paris is full of assholes" to only be true bc the tourists are assholes. Even with my dog shit French, everyone was always super nice to me. Also, side note, Brits are WAY fucking louder in France that Americans are, so my theory is French ppl can't tell the difference and just say "Americans are loud"
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Paris is a tourist city. It's full of people being unintentionally (or intentionally) rude to each other because of language barriers. Plus, tourists are assholes who don't know the social rules, and the Parisians are assholes who have decided to be perma-mad about it, rather than understanding.
HardTimeKillinFoulNews
I (French) am fluent enough in English that I can make the difference between Britons, Australians and Americans by ear, and from my own subjective experience, Americans are, on average, somewhat louder than other English speakers. Britons, however, are much, much louder than Americans when drunk. But surprisingly, English speakers aren't the loudest tourists I've encountered: that crown belongs, in a tie, to the Spanish and Germans (saying this without hate, I'm currently learning German).
dashers
As a Brit, that pretty much how it works at home too. We're a quiet reserved society full of politeness, until 5pm and then degenerate into drunken shouting.
HardTimeKillinFoulNews
That fits my memories of living in England. I miss that country.