Dutch guy living in New York here. Americans are way, way louder than us. Not only do they talk and laugh louder, they also interrupt each other a lot. It took me a long time to get used to when I first moved here, and I still walk into restaurants and immediately leave again because of the noise level. I want to have a nice dinner, not spend the next two hours shouting at people.

My girlfriend is American and I don't think she realized the difference until I called her attention to it. It's just a cultural issue.

I once read a lovely observation from an American who came to live in Germany and was surprised to be called out for being so loud all the time.

Then she learned about the "1 meter voice" that her kids get thought in school. Once she got the concept she too was able to speak in a "decent voice".

Load voices are partly culture, partly self awareness.

Yes, in Germany they'll call you out if you or your child are too loud. Stateside, on the other hand, asking someone to keep their/their offspring's voice down doesn't go down too well, especially if it's someone's out-of-control child.

So you moved to New York and are surprised and upset that it's loud? What were you expecting? This is a bit like going to a Caribbean island and complaining about all the sun.

I've spent much time in the Netherlands in cafes, restaurants and bars and never once have I been struck by just how much quieter it was or the Dutch were.

>"My girlfriend is American and I don't think she realized the difference until I called her attention to it. It's just a cultural issue."

Honestly, this and the rest of your comments sound more like a "cultural superiority" issue on your part.

In comparison to americans everyone talks in whispers.

You've been to Spain?

Yes indeed, several times. I've only travelled in NYC, but nothing really compare to the loudness I've been exposed in the there.

Belgian here. Yes we consider the Dutch loud but Americans louder. On top of it, they seem to share the illusion that if someone does not understand them, it helps to increase the volume. I've observed this in a restaurant in Italy:

   > D: "Betalen? Kunnen we betalen?"
   > I: "Scusi?"
   > D: "BE-TALEN! IK WIL AF-RE-KE-NEN!"
   > I: "?"

I spent much of my childhood in Greece, and thus around tourists from all over the world. In my experience speaking loudly and slowly reliably improves enunciation. It also often comes with exaggerated mouth shaping which gives useful visual cues that are interpreted subconsciously (see the McGurk effect [0]) but manifest in what you hear.

Obviously this isn't going to overcome complete ignorance of a language. But especially in touristy areas it's common for locals to know a few dozen words in several languages. My experience has been that people speaking loudly and slow makes it much easier for others to latch on to the few words they do know.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGurk_effect