« Reply #48 on: January 04, 2013, 02:24:23 pm »
French people speaking French in France what's the world coming to Nobody in France is obliged to speak English
not all that willing to speak English, even though I suspected that they understood me
Perhaps I should have written
not all that willing to speak English, even though I suspected that they understood my rough attempts at French. In many (
not all) Parisian attempts to communicate with French people in guidebook French away from the tourist traps I was met with shrugged shoulders and turned backs, they didn't have the patience to even try. In the provinces however the locals put in great efforts to communicate, them in broken English, me in broken French.
I back packed in Mexico and Guatamala for six months and initially met similar resistance to my feeble attempts at Spanish but once they realised that I was at least trying to use their language rather than insist they use mine, life became a lot easier. At the end of my time there I could speak and understand normal conversational Spanish and can still get by today although they have to be speaking pretty slowly for me to understand. If Parisians had shown the same patience that Mexicans had with my basic language skills I'd have better memories of Paris.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 02:26:16 pm by firko »
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