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Ungrateful Natives | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6034 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes  5 sounds | Message 49 of 139 13 February 2010 at 2:47am | IP Logged | |||||
What I've heard is, if you order a meal in French you can expect the waiter and/or cook will spit in your salad. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5469 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 50 of 139 13 February 2010 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
What? It's true there are some language community problems here in Belgium, but they are no way near that bad, and the French and Flemish speaking Belgians are just as bad as each other when it comes to each other's language in my opinion. (I should know, I live in the most volatile area: the border between French and Flemish Belgium) Of course, they both like to play the victim and call each other facsists. Edited by elvisrules on 13 February 2010 at 12:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5469 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 51 of 139 13 February 2010 at 12:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well, Brussels is bilingual, Brugge is not. Speaking Flemish in Liège would give you a similar response. Most Flemings speak French, but to assume so and speak to one without even asking if they do, can be irritating at the least. I rarely speak Flemish in Brussels because it's too much effort to find a speaker. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| rlf1810 Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6340 days ago 122 posts - 173 votes Speaks: English*, German, Slovak | Message 52 of 139 17 February 2010 at 8:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In the time since I started this thread, a lot has changed. I'm back in the US and my Slovak is infinitely better than it was then. After coming home, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my experiences in that beautiful country. I've come to realize, as others have mentioned here, that every nation on this planet is home to countless people who would be more than willing to mock, ridicule, or otherwise hinder your progress in any endeavor that you pursue.
It just comes down to the simple question, 'Why am I doing this?'. Is it really to elicit a positive reaction from others? If so, then it's insincere and manipulative. People are afraid of what they don't understand. The Slovaks I met could not understand why I would bother to come to their country and learn their language. They couldn't understand the effort it took to do so. They couldn't understand why I would make such elementary mistakes. We, the students of a foreign language, have set out on a journey to connect with people that, without our efforts, we would never be able to understand. That is why we do what we do. -Robert Edited by rlf1810 on 17 February 2010 at 9:02pm 11 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Oleg Triglot Groupie Russian FederationRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5829 days ago 57 posts - 95 votes Speaks: Russian*, Polish, English Studies: Spanish, French, Italian | Message 53 of 139 18 February 2010 at 8:14am | IP Logged | |||||
Brilliant. Does it always take you so long to realize the obvious? I can help you get further: every nation is full of bastards, and at the same time every nation is full of nice and kind people as well. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sprachjunge Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 7165 days ago 368 posts - 548 votes Speaks: English*, GermanC2 Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 54 of 139 18 February 2010 at 9:00am | IP Logged | |||||
Give the guy a break. He gained some perspective and was trying to close the thread gracefully. Let him do so. All of us post things sometimes that we later feel differently about, hm? 12 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5419 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 55 of 139 19 February 2010 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, well, well....after reading all the previous replies I definetely realized that don't have to get annoyed if any foreigner who comes to Brazil just insists on speaking Portuguese as part of their learning...before that I stubbornly did speak to every tourists in English or Spanish as didn't care about their language demands and needs here...thanks for posting this thread,Rlf1810.... Edited by GauchoBoaCepa on 19 February 2010 at 4:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6272 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 56 of 139 21 February 2010 at 3:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It seems the responses you will get from locals if you speak their language, or try to speak it, will be as varied as the human personality itself.
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