I have encountered plenty of what I like to call French snobs, both in France and the French-English Canada provenience of Quebec. Also have been in Haiti though Creole has been declared it’s own language before I went there and never had the snob attitude that I have experienced with others.
My current tactic is to get into my inner child, and when confronted with such bastards simply ask that above in a humble voice. Normally they respond well though not always.
What is your tactic with dealing with French snobbery?
Would you expect someone from, say, rural Brazil to march into an English-speaking country and demand that you speak Portuguese?
Holy shit. I learned enough French in high school to get by in rural Quebec. I’m by no means fluent, and I can read way better than understand the spoken language, but that’s MY problem, not theirs.
Wow you seem to be one of them (I intended this as more comic and not meaning it as a insult.)
But really attempting French is a cultural no-no. Fluent french or be apologetic about it is what I have learned. Opposite in Spain, try a Spanish word and get it wrong and it will be so appreciated that will be invited to a fiesta later that evening (which to them means party starting at 11 PM)
A more serious yet equally unhelpful answer: Once I was driving around France with some friends and we had to stop at a gas station. As usually, we asked the guy working at the station if he spoke English. His answer (in French, but we all got the gist of it): “Why would I speak English? We are in France”
Out of curiosity, where in Spain have you been? Because I know a few areas where people can be absolute jerks about language, and I’ve encountered imbeciles laughing at someone else’s choice of vocabulary or pronunciation in other places where that got them taken out back for a low-voiced and intense reading of The Book.
I’ve only encountered one Frenchman who was a jerk about my Rs, but he could have been the separated-at-birth twin of a Chilean I used to work with; both of them were complete JAQasses. There’s a Belgian dude at work who’s also a JAQass but so far he hasn’t gotten on my French. Going to Quebec next year, hopefully the ratio of jerks to decent people will just be the usual.
Sorry, but this is complete contrary to my experience. I’ve had many halting conversations in my pretty bad French both in Quebec and France. No one has ever expressed any problems with it, and they seemed happy to help me. A few switched to English without any issues when I was having too much trouble.
Perhaps your attitude is the problem, not your English?
The French Way of El Camino De Santiago. Starting at St Jean Port a Prince in France ‘just over the boarder’, ending at the Atlantic Ocean at Muxia Spain. Some of that trip through the Bask ‘area’ which I was informed was not Spain. Also Madrid.
During that trip I encountered exactly one jerk about it who owned a bar, which received many negative reviews on Google for 1: that very reason 2: being a jerk,
