• @Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I once accidentally spoke french to a waitress in Greece then apologised and said I wasn’t actually french. She went on a ten minute diatribe about how french people are the bane of her life because they refuse to speak English with her and just get louder and louder in french 😂

    • @Servais@jlai.lu
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      29 months ago

      As a Belgian, I noticed that people usually get warmer when they learn I’m not French.

      Hopefully the cliche will change over time.

    • @CucumberFetish@lemm.ee
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      18 months ago

      If at all. At least in Italy, outside of tourist areas or quite often even in tourist areas, you’d have to point and wave to talk or use a translation app. Even 20 somethings barely understood any english.

      • AItoothbrush
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        18 months ago

        I lived in spain for 4 months in a tourist spot(out of season) and they couldnt understand our english. They had shops with signs like “we speak english” but they didnt. At least italian is easier to understand with english than spanish. And then theres the french who speak perfect english but refuse to.

        • @Servais
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          18 months ago

          Indeed. This meme is funny because quite disconnected from reality

  • @Servais@jlai.lu
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    19 months ago

    Seems strange to have Italy and Spain here, the English proficiency is usually at the same levels than France.

    • @zaphod@sopuli.xyzOP
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      19 months ago

      It’s not that they can’t speak English, the cliché (at least in the past) is that they refuse to speak it. Spanish people are probably worse when it comes to English proficiency these days.

    • @Microw@lemm.ee
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      09 months ago

      Afaik french officials within the EU commission tried to push french in meetings for a while after Brexit, but didnt have particular success

      • @zaphod@sopuli.xyzOP
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        19 months ago

        No, they used French as working language during their council presidency. That’s all, nothing wrong with it, but some people tried to twist it into something else.