Don't bring your guns: AustraliaWhen visiting your country? Please state your country
Also don't stick a million bucks in your pocket then pose with your jacket on an unconscious kangaroo - that could really backfire.
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Don't bring your guns: AustraliaWhen visiting your country? Please state your country
Germany: don't expect American courtesy, be prepared for honest answers, expect efficiency (but not from government agencies), don't think Germany is only Bavaria.When visiting your country? Please state your country
I am Dutch, and got the feeling that some french have this habit (why can't these Dutch understand french) ; I experienced this first time in FranceWhat not to do. Speak louder and louder in english while muttering "why can't these frenchies understand english.
My country is Canada.When visiting your country? Please state your country
Oh, then you are going to have a horrible time visiting Canada. We claim to be bilingual (English and French), but the French we speak here is basically 16th century (we call it joual) because that's when French settlers got here, and nobody's bothered talking to France ever since.I am Dutch, and got the feeling that some french have this habit (why can't these Dutch understand french) ; I experienced this first time in France
When I visited France, age 16, I just learned a little bit of french, and I was trying my best, but then the french started speaking so fast (on purpose) that I could not follow them anymore.
That was a rude/unfriendly thing to do, which happened quite a few times, I got the feeling they were just a little bit too chauvinistic due to my experiences, but when in New Caledonia I met french speaking people who were just the opposite, making me feel very welcome.
Very friendly, giving me a cordial heads up. Thanks for the examplesOh, then you are going to have a horrible time visiting Canada. We claim to be bilingual (English and French), but the French we speak here is basically 16th century (we call it joual) because that's when French settlers got here, and nobody's bothered talking to France ever since.
And they talk faster than they do in Europe. Totally hopeless.
Example:
English: "I'm in big trouble (I'm in ****)
French: "Je suis dans le pétrin (Je suis dans la merde)"
Joual (Quebec French): "Chus dan marde"
I am Dutch, and got the feeling that some french have this habit (why can't these Dutch understand french) ; I experienced this first time in France
When I visited France, age 16, I just learned a little bit of french, and I was trying my best, but then the french started speaking so fast (on purpose) that I could not follow them anymore.
That was a rude/unfriendly thing to do, which happened quite a few times, I got the feeling they were just a little bit too chauvinistic due to my experiences, but when in New Caledonia I met french speaking people who were just the opposite, making me feel very welcome.
When visiting your country? Please state your country
I never had problems in France. They will use all their language skills to do business with you after you showed your willingness to respect their language and culture. Never ask if anyone speaks your language, it is theirs to offer that courtesy. When in France, speak French until the French offer to speak something else.I've been to France more than a few times and in my experience it to depends on how touristic the area is.
The more touristic the place is, the more chauvinistic the locals tend to be.
Also, it seems that townspeople are generally nicer than city people.
The latter could just be my own prejudice though, because I'm absolutely not a city person.
Wow, amazing ...When in France, speak French until the French offer to speak something else.
Yep. I have experienced it as some dominance thing. The bigger a country is (or thinks of itself to be) the less the people are learning foreign languages and the less they are willing to use them. While Germans usually speak one foreign language (English in most cases, Russian if they grew up in the GDR, French in some regions bordering France and Belgium) only a few master a second foreign language.Wow, amazing ...
Dutch people are a bit different ...
I never had problems in France. They will use all their language skills to do business with you after you showed your willingness to respect their language and culture. Never ask if anyone speaks your language, it is theirs to offer that courtesy. When in France, speak French until the French offer to speak something else.
Yep. I have experienced it as some dominance thing. The bigger a country is (or thinks of itself to be) the less the people are learning foreign languages and the less they are willing to use them. While Germans usually speak one foreign language (English in most cases, Russian if they grew up in the GDR, French in some regions bordering France and Belgium) only a few master a second foreign language.
Our "small" neighbours the Dutch and the Danes, almost all speak English and German on a high level and will use it freely even in their own countries. (It has been quite a while that Holland was a globe spanning empire and most Dutch don't remember that time.)
The French think of themselves as the "Grande Nation" and the Brits act as if they are still one of the worlds greatest powers.
Aha, thanks for sharing. So, it seems this was not my imagination 40 years ago. And how you describe this, does make sense.
This chauvinistic, not so attractive, egoistic habit can even be found in a small country. We have a group called "friezen", and they can be quite chauvinistic as well. As a child I hated this, when my parents were talking that way "Friesland is the best". And I always told them, even at young age (10 or so) "all people are the same, friezen are not better than other people". Probably why I liked "Animal Farm" from A.Huxley so much when I read that 08 years later.
The moment people think they are "more special than others", this attitude thing starts growing. And once arrogance starts growing, there is no way "in Hell" anyone can stop this disaster. I believe that this is one of the major diseases in the world nowadays, but probably has been there for ages.
That people think that way, has nothing to do with history, it is just their arrogant mindset (one could say it has to do with history, as in not being able to transform that mindset). Even at age 10, I already knew that this was not right. And I am Fries, but I do not have this mindset. Even though my parents have it very much and tried impose it on me too. My whole family is from Friesland, both parents and their (great) grandparents too etc.This may be because the history of the Frisians goes way back.
Their ethnic identity is older than the Dutch one.
Apparently, Old Frisian even played a role in the forming of the Anglo-Saxon language, the language that eventually evolved into the language we know as English.
I didn't know that about the Friesen. And coming to think about it, I haven't been to Friesland that much and I know nobody (except you) you lives there. When visiting the Netherlands, I was either in Holland or in Groningen and I know people from Zeeland.
Aha, thanks for sharing. So, it seems this was not my imagination 40 years ago. And how you describe this, does make sense.
This chauvinistic, not so attractive, egoistic habit can even be found in a small country. We have a group called "friezen", and they can be quite chauvinistic as well. As a child I hated this, when my parents were talking that way "Friesland is the best". And I always told them, even at young age (10 or so) "all people are the same, friezen are not better than other people". Probably why I liked "Animal Farm" from A.Huxley so much when I read that 08 years later.
The moment people think they are "more special than others", this attitude thing starts growing. And once arrogance starts growing, there is no way "in Hell" anyone can stop this disaster. I believe that this is one of the major diseases in the world nowadays, but probably has been there for ages.
I wish you were right. Its definitely not "tongue-in-cheek local patriotism here". And usually there is some truth in jokes people make; I don't like such jokesI didn't know that about the Friesen. And coming to think about it, I haven't been to Friesland that much and I know nobody (except you) you lives there. When visiting the Netherlands, I was either in Holland or in Groningen and I know people from Zeeland.
But are you sure it is really arrogance? Could it also be a tongue-in-cheek local patriotism, a friendly rivalry between neighbours?
I'm a Fries myself, an East-Frisian and we have that a lot.
But are you sure it is really arrogance? Could it also be a tongue-in-cheek local patriotism, a friendly rivalry between neighbours?
Aha, so we are almost neighbors, both living in "Frisian"I'm a Fries myself, an East-Frisian and we have that a lot.