# Strangers addressing you in your language in a foreign country **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178 "2011-04-21T03:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/41 "2011-04-22T20:37:11Z")
I’ve been addressed in English in Quebec, Canada (Montreal Airport), though it may not apply because English is an official minority language there. Perhaps they figured I was Anglophone because I had a US Passport out? I didn’t think much of it, really. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/42 "2011-04-22T22:15:41Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Well, I’ll have given my best shot at trying to defend my fellow countrymen. To no avail. > A few things though: > -there is no Parisian accent. It is dead, and very few people still use it, what you’ll hear in Paris is default French. > -most Frenches (especially the older generations, I include baby boomers in it) tend to dislike being adressed in English by total strangers. Probably a combination of insecurity with their grasp of English, and also the feeling they’re being treated like conquered people (dont ask, that would be too long). Even if it is to switch to English quickly in the conversation, they’d far prefer you’d make an effort while you’re there. Which is why I have a hard time believing some of the other posters I’ve read. It goes totally against what I experience daily (and there are quite a lot of tourists in my neighborhood, so it is daily). > -the only people as bad as the French when it comes to foreign languages are English speaking people, sorry but a lot of them just vastly overestimate their skills with the language. Hence the “my, they obviously can understand me, but the bastards are pretending not to” meme, in my opinion. > -lastly, at all times, a good size of the Parisian population are tourists. When you’re in a hurry or when you’ve already been asked for directions or a good restaurant adress for the tenth time in an hour, it is an easy copout or simply because Parisians do tend to have a bit of assholishness in them (quite aptly summed in tis ad: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utYyB96u0uw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utYyB96u0uw) ) . But I dont think the latter explains most of it. Every single word of this post rings true to me. Time and time again I listen to Anglophones butcher the language, then claim that someone somewhere told them their French accent was great and people are just pretending not to understand them, like that’s how people get their jollies here. I don’t expect anyone’s French to be perfect unless they’re French; just don’t kid yourself about how great your accent is, please. Also, tourists who refuse to learn “Parlez-vous Anglais?” are just fucking rude. Learn those three words, and merci, don’t walk up to people and just start yammering on in English and be surprised when the response is cold and unfriendly. I switch to English nearly instantly when North American tourists ask me questions in halting French; I’m not a tour guide, I’ll help you get to where you want to be, but I’ve got somewhere to be myself and I want this interaction to be as short as possible. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/43 "2011-04-22T22:41:28Z")
When I travel I make no attempt to disguise the fact that I’m an American tourist. I’m a middle-age guy who wears a t-shirt and shorts and has a big ol’ camera hung from around my neck. I overheat easily, so this is the clothing that’s most comfortable for me. People consistently speak English to me, even if I begin the conversation in their language. No problem. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/44 "2011-04-22T22:49:46Z")
Also . . . When I’m traveling with my partner, who is 6’10", he is constantly asked “How tall are you?” in English. The same as at home, except he has to answer in centimeters (208). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/45 "2011-04-25T21:26:10Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > I suppose there’s no New York accent, either; it’s all default American English. > > . . . It’s just as true to say there isn’t. There’s a Bronx accent, and a Manhattan accent, and a Queens accent. . . and Brooklyn is just a dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/46 "2011-04-26T15:29:39Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Ni hao or Ni hao ma? means “hello” or “hi” or “how are you” or “how’s it going” or essentially a meaningless greeting. I once told a Chinese friend that it’s a pity that I couldn’t logically say hullo to him (being a restaurant owner) in his own language, but he just laughed and said that nobody cared about the actual meaning (Have you eaten?). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/47 "2011-04-26T17:45:33Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > I once told a Chinese friend that it’s a pity that I couldn’t logically say hullo to him (being a restaurant owner) in his own language, but he just laughed and said that nobody cared about the actual meaning (Have you eaten?). This made me look to see if there’s a “meaning” for hello. Nope, just an exclamation of greeting. But check this out: > [@](#): > > From [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) > > **[SIZE=3]Origin of HELLO** > > Alteration of hollo > First Known Use: 1877 > [/SIZE] 1877? I thought it would be much older than that. Really surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178/48 "2011-04-26T20:17:55Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It’s just as true to say there isn’t. There’s a Bronx accent, and a Manhattan accent, and a Queens accent. . . and Brooklyn is just a dialect. So exactly what are you saying? That because there’s a Manhattan accent, a Queens accent, and the Brooklyn [dialect], there’s no New York accent? That it’s dead? That it’s all Default American accent? Or are you arguing about one tree when we’re discussing a forest? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangers-addressing-you-in-your-language-in-a-foreign-country/579178.md?page=2)