As a former Parisian (not working in retail or anything) -- I used to switch to English in the hopes that the tourist asking me a question would too . Not because of any snobbishness but because I could understand their native English much better than their erratically pronounced basic French. No disrespect meant; I was just trying to understand them better.
(To be fair, my English isn't all that intelligible either; but I couldn't possibly answer a question I didn't understand anyway, so it was still the better option)
Fair enough! I guess it's up to the foreigner to say, "no, really, let's stick to French, be patient, I'm trying to learn." I have to do that here in Germany all the time.
Unknown --- that's very interesting, since I don't remember a single occasion after living in France for 2.5 years now that a native French speaker has not understood our "broken" French. But I do remember zillions of occasions when we have not understood them, and that is when they switch to English in frustration.
Hope you didn't take me wrong. I was referring to tourists who picked up a few sentences from a phrasebook or have vague memories of middle school French, not to people who can actually speak French (as I imagine you did after living in France for over 2 years). Plus, I do have difficulties understanding people with strong accents (which is why I try not to take it personally when people don't understand my English).
As a French person, I guess it's also related to the fact that in Paris a lot of people can speak English. In the countryside, they can't this much. :)
As a former Parisian (not working in retail or anything) -- I used to switch to English in the hopes that the tourist asking me a question would too . Not because of any snobbishness but because I could understand their native English much better than their erratically pronounced basic French. No disrespect meant; I was just trying to understand them better.
ReplyDeleteYou have just pinpointed why I'm afraid to speak French in Paris.
Delete... And of course I just couldn't tell them: "Man, your French is unintelligible, I can't understand anything you say. Let's stick to English" ;-D
ReplyDelete(To be fair, my English isn't all that intelligible either; but I couldn't possibly answer a question I didn't understand anyway, so it was still the better option)
ReplyDeleteFair enough! I guess it's up to the foreigner to say, "no, really, let's stick to French, be patient, I'm trying to learn." I have to do that here in Germany all the time.
DeleteUnknown --- that's very interesting, since I don't remember a single occasion after living in France for 2.5 years now that a native French speaker has not understood our "broken" French. But I do remember zillions of occasions when we have not understood them, and that is when they switch to English in frustration.
ReplyDeleteHope you didn't take me wrong. I was referring to tourists who picked up a few sentences from a phrasebook or have vague memories of middle school French, not to people who can actually speak French (as I imagine you did after living in France for over 2 years). Plus, I do have difficulties understanding people with strong accents (which is why I try not to take it personally when people don't understand my English).
DeleteAs a French person, I guess it's also related to the fact that in Paris a lot of people can speak English. In the countryside, they can't this much. :)
ReplyDeleteCompletly untrue, we speak as much english in the country side, we just tend to be more patient in general
DeleteI can make myself understood (though never as well as I'd like). But when I was in Montreal, I became convinced that Canadian French was beyond me.
ReplyDelete