Ask a Yank of the Day
Ask a Yank of the Day
Out of context: Reply #12
- Started 5 years ago
- Last post 5 years ago
- 30 Responses
- Continuity-2
Why is it you Amercians — when abroad, in a non-Anglophone country — automatically launch into speaking English with someone from said country, without first respectfully and politely asking if they actually speak English?
- As a matter of principle, when I encounter this in Germany, I simply say, 'Tut mir leid. Ich spreche kein Englisch'.Continuity
- Or 'Désolé, j'parle pas l'anglais', when I encounter it in France.Continuity
- I don't. We have free "Mango Language" programs at our public libraries that teach language learning for free and prepare you for the basics when visiting...toemaas
- ...another country. I'm assuming you mostly interface with American people that unload from cruise ships?toemaas
- Most Americans don't like those people either :)toemaas
- Fuck knows where they've been offloaded from. Certainly not cruise ships, I'm land-locked.Continuity
- Maybe b/c out of the world's approximately 7.5 billion inhabitants, 1.5 billion speak English — that's 20% of the Earth's population.whatthefunk
- English is by far the most commonly studied foreign language in the world, and most americans only speak 1 language so, ya know...whatthefunk
- Brits do this too.
I've seen Germans do as much in Spain.
I'm sure lots of shithead tourists from wherever do this.Nairn - And that gives you license to ignore things like respect to local culture and language and politeness in a non-Anglo country. Got it.Continuity
- Next couple of decades we're probably going to see lots of shithead Han chinese tourists come over and give us a taste of our own bitter medicine.Nairn
- I could see that. They already think cycle lanes are meant for walking in, in their entire bus complement numbers, despite huge markings to the contrary.Continuity
- I don’t even ask. I just memorize what i want to say in whatever language and rehearse it in my head over and over before ultimately fucking it upscarabin
- Americans aren't the only English speakers who do this.cannonball1978
- This is not about language, but attitude, they just walk in anywhere like they own the fucken place lol
Brits too.grafician