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Locals that do not know English? | ||
Tags: Choosing a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Tecktight Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member United States Joined 4776 days ago 227 posts - 327 votes  Speaks: English*, Serbian Studies: German, Russian, Estonian | Message 33 of 36 14 December 2011 at 9:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
No one in my experience is "anti-English" unless you choose to be obnoxious about it. Usually attempting just a few words in Russian, or whatever other language is native to the area, is enough to break the ice. Most likely what will end up happening is that you and whomever you are conversing with will end up using a unique combination of English, the local language, hand gestures, and whatever other mutual language(s) you might share. In the end, you'll be able to communicate. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4809 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 34 of 36 14 December 2011 at 10:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In all of those cities you can find such locals. From my experience it may be hard in Paris (the more that most of the Paris has become the tourist area, or at least I got the impression last time I was there) but Spain or Italy seems to be more friendly in this.
Perhaps add other cities to your list. I don't mean villages, just other cities than capitals. Southern cities in France are said to be less English-speaking. Barcelona is awesome. Crete is perfect. Whole Japan is wonderful (English you hear there is usually not good. but the people might want to speak it anyway). I know it's not on your list but still. And remember that compulsory English at school means nothing. Most people leave the school with nearly no practical knowledge or skills in the language. And that applies to most countries in my opinion. "Je ne parle pas anglais" is always an option, even though in your case, as a native, it might be too much of a lie. I can always make them believe by chatting in Czech with someone traveling with me. I dislike to lie but sometimes there is no other choice. Not because of my practice only, but as well because of the level of the speaker or because of some complicated situations requiring me to think in three languages at once- target language I try to speak, English the person replies, and Czech for my family asking "What does he say?". 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6382 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 35 of 36 15 December 2011 at 6:59am | IP Logged | |||||
They (we) do use it daily. English is the international language. Look at how many people on this website, which is in English, are non-native speakers. Also, you must understand that when a German meets a Pole, a Swede a Chinese or an Indian a Venezuelan, they're much more likely to speak in English than in any of their mother tongues. Outside of English-speaking countries, most conversations in English are between two non-native speakers. For most Swedes, Swedish is the language used to talk to other Swedes, and English is the language used to talk to everyone else (often including Norwegians and Danes, whose languages are more or less mutually intelligible with Swedish). And while people on the countryside might not often come into contact with people from other countries, people in larger cities do. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4856 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 36 of 36 15 December 2011 at 8:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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Before I came to this and some other forums, I hadn't used English for years. I live in a
very large city, Moscow, and often meet foreigners (they work in shops and in many other places) but we speak Russian and it is usually the only foreign language they know. There were two or three times when I had to use English beyond the classroom, becides the week I spent in Denmark. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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