Things that piss you off that shouldn't

[Zatman]

"Cerveza" is the only word you need...

 

por favor to look respectful

[AVFC_Hitz]

The general ignorance of some Brits abroad astounds me.

[Stevo985]

from what i can remember its really hard to get proper lemonade in spain, they drink fanta limon instead, which is what we pretty much bottle up as traditional / cloudy lemonade

She brought him Fanta Orange, which I thought was a pretty **** good attempt seeing as he was just barking at her.

 

I managed to order him what he wanted. I know very VERY little spanish, but I managed that.

 

 

It also annoys me when people don't even attempt the Spanish. Even if you know the person speaks a bit of English, I'll always try to order in Spanish.

Like when you have the menus with the food in Spanish and then in English next to it. I always try to say the Spanish.

 

This guy in my OP was astounded when I managed to ask for the bill in SPanish and respond to the waiter asking me if everything was alright.

All I said was a total of 5 words

[AVFC_Hitz]

 

 

All I said was a total of 5 words 

 

That's, genuinely, all you need sometimes. It amazes me when people do loads of body actions and raise the decibels to get their point across. 

Edited July 16, 2013 by AVFC_Hitz

[Milfner]

Adverts that try to incorporate football commentary in to some mundane, every day occurrence. 

Stop it, it doesn't work. 

[Stevo985]

 

 

 

All I said was a total of 5 words 

 

That's, genuinely, all you need sometimes. It amazes me when people do load's of body actions and raise the decibels to get their point across. 

 

Exactly. I don't know any of the connective words or proper grammar or anything like that.

It was just La Quenta por fa vor

and Si, moy bueno

(and I'm sure the spelling there is atrocious)

 

But it seems to be appreciated more if you converse in poor, broken spanish than in perfect English, even if they understand the english. I found myself on a number of occasions over the weekend being thanked for speaking Spanish, and all that involved was a couple of words here and there.

[BOF]

But it seems to be appreciated more if you converse in poor, broken spanish than in perfect English, even if they understand the english. I found myself on a number of occasions over the weekend being thanked for speaking Spanish, and all that involved was a couple of words here and there.

That's my experience too. Whereas in France you would be sneered at for your poor attempt at their language and ignored for speaking English.

[Stevo985]

To be fair, that might be true of more traditional SPanish places too.

 

I've only visited the touristy parts of Spain (Murcia, Barcelona, Salou, Magaluf) so if they ignored people who spoke English then they'd be ignoring about 90% of people who went there.

Even the Russians in Salou (of which there were a LOT) spoke English to the Spanish speakers as a sort of neutral ground

[Brumerican]

Whenever I am in america I always speak English to waiters and bar staff yet they always ask me to repeat myself .

Partially because brummies tall daft loike and partially because they bloody love it .

[BOF]

To be fair, that might be true of more traditional SPanish places too.

 

I've only visited the touristy parts of Spain (Murcia, Barcelona, Salou, Magaluf) so if they ignored people who spoke English then they'd be ignoring about 90% of people who went there.

Even the Russians in Salou (of which there were a LOT) spoke English to the Spanish speakers as a sort of neutral ground

No I was in the backarse of Spain asking for directions at some middle-of-nowhere petrol station that specialised in tumbleweed and they tried their damnedest to help us out. They're just a nicer people.

[Stevo985]

 

To be fair, that might be true of more traditional SPanish places too.

 

I've only visited the touristy parts of Spain (Murcia, Barcelona, Salou, Magaluf) so if they ignored people who spoke English then they'd be ignoring about 90% of people who went there.

Even the Russians in Salou (of which there were a LOT) spoke English to the Spanish speakers as a sort of neutral ground

No I was in the backarse of Spain asking for directions at some middle-of-nowhere petrol station that specialised in tumbleweed and they tried their damnedest to help us out. They're just a nicer people.

 

Fair enough. 

 

I had got the impression the Spanish were a friendly people, but as I say my experience is really only of very tourity areas so you can't be sure.

 

They get in your way a lot though. I've definitely noticed that.

[legov]

Whenever I am in america I always speak English to waiters and bar staff yet they always ask me to repeat myself .

 

Aye sounds familiar

[CVByrne]

Villa4Europe it's well known about the Russian Manchuria invasion. This isn't any hidden thing and everyone knows it was a factor in the Surrender of the Japanese. But the atomic bombs certainly had the biggest impact on the surrender.

[CVByrne]

One week of Spanish lessons in Cordoba in Argentina was all I needed to survive 6 months in South America. Bolivia was toughest as nobody spoke a word of English.

But once you get the menu and ordering down. You're sorted.

[CVByrne]

But it seems to be appreciated more if you converse in poor, broken spanish than in perfect English, even if they understand the english. I found myself on a number of occasions over the weekend being thanked for speaking Spanish, and all that involved was a couple of words here and there.

That's my experience too. Whereas in France you would be sneered at for your poor attempt at their language and ignored for speaking English.

That is one of the biggest myths spread about the French. I spent 2 weeks there this year and never spoke a word of French. Rarely did a restaurant not have an English menu and not once was anyone even close to rude.

It about as wrong a stereotype as Colombia being a very dangerous place.

[BOF]

That is one of the biggest myths spread about the French. I spent 2 weeks there this year and never spoke a word of French. Rarely did a restaurant not have an English menu and not once was anyone even close to rude.

It about as wrong a stereotype as Colombia being a very dangerous place.

It was my entire experience of the place so it's no myth IMV. I've also heard plenty of similar experiences from others to back it up. I don't doubt there must be some nice French people. There are about 50 million of them after all.

[villa4europe]

Villa4Europe it's well known about the Russian Manchuria invasion. This isn't any hidden thing and everyone knows it was a factor in the Surrender of the Japanese. But the atomic bombs certainly had the biggest impact on the surrender.

 

we were taught about the russians invading manchuria, cant remember if we were taught that it was with 1.6m troops though, and we certainly werent told that they took the top island off japan (and kept it) and were therefore 30 miles off what is considered mainland japan

 

it was episode 3 of oliver stones untold history, questioned the american reasoning for dropping the bombs (the we'd lose more lives in an invasion) and suggested it was the russians on the doorstep that lead to the surrender rather than the bombs, was good stuff

 

like i said i havent had a chance to try and read up on it from other sources but he seemed to base it on some japanese war documents that showed a leading general as saying something like in the pacific they dropped 10k bombs on us and killed that many people what difference does it make that it was only one bomb, if the russians invade they will kill just as many and stay

[CVByrne]

Brian What year were you there and experienced this? Was it in Paris?

My experience from 2001 was different to my experience this year. It seems to me the younger generation are very different to the older French stereotype.

Nearly all the young people say 30 or under working in Restaurants and cafes all spoke English. The level of English fluency was near German levels.

Edited July 16, 2013 by CVByrne

[mjmooney]

OK, this is a MASSIVE generalisation, with loads of exceptions, but...

 

CVB is right about the younger generation French speaking English. At the other end of the spectrum, elderly people don't, but they DO appreciate you using your imperfect French. It's the generation in between that can sometimes come across a bit arsey. But given the number of unpleasant Brits they've experienced shouting at them in English, I don't entirely blame them. 

 

I don't consider the French to be arrogant, but they can be a bit proud and awkward (in the sense of not socially comfortable) at times. We all have our quirks. 

[BOF]

Brian What year were you there and experienced this? Was it in Paris?

My experience from 2001 was different to my experience this year. It seems to me the younger generation are very different to the older French stereotype.

Nearly all the young people say 30 or under working in Restaurants and cafes all spoke English. The level of English fluency was near German levels.

The last time I was in France would've been around 2006 and that would've been my third (and last) time there. My personal experiences were of Paris, yes, although my father had a pretty bad time in Toulouse and I know of similar in Bordeaux and others in Paris. Yes I know Paris is a capital city and it'll have it's level of ignorance commensurate with being a capital city, but even as Stevo says, you'd think they need to acknowledge tourists. It's funny because I've never been anywhere else in the world that you could even describe as approaching rude or ignorant whereas my entire experience of France has been of spectacularly rude, arrogant and ignorant people. The 'funny' part to me is that they live up to their stereotype perfectly. Suffice it to say I have absolutely no desire to ever set foot in that country again. I've been there done that. It's not a big rock we live on so I'd rather concentrate on seeing the other bits instead.