Re:France, Spain, and Italy’s English skills are on the decl...
by vidarh on Friday December 06, 2019 @08:15AM
(#21721475)
> In most places in Paris today I can get by with English and get complex transactions done.
First times I went to France (90's), there were people I met who genuinely did not understand English at all - even simple words -, and I had shopkeepers who, when my stumbling French was also insufficient, pulled strangers off the street to translate, and at least in smaller towns it sometimes took multiple tries to find someone.
By my last few trips it'd become hard to practice my French because people switch to English the moment I stumble in French...
First times I went to France (90's), there were people I met who genuinely did not understand English at all - even simple words -, and I had shopkeepers who, when my stumbling French was also insufficient, pulled strangers off the street to translate, and at least in smaller towns it sometimes took multiple tries to find someone.
By my last few trips it'd become hard to practice my French because people switch to English the moment I stumble in French...