raspberry,

Some of us do. ;)

eloise and indytraveler are right on. How many ticket takers of any kind have you approached in the US that speak a second language (not a rap on ticket takers). Should the ticket takers also know German or Japanese? Certainly, there are more Germans and Japanese tourists in France than Americans.
I have found that if you learn a few words and make an effort, you will be well treated in any country.
We have had very good results with that aproach in France. Frequently, strangers in the street or on a bus asked if they could help when we were looking at a map or appeared lost.
And then there is the arrogance of those that think the world should know English while we as a people make little effort to learn a second language.

I think it's absurd to expect other countries to know our language. True, many people do, especially if they are in a tourism or travel trade. But expecting them to converse with you is another thing entirely.

And frankly to say that English is the lingua franca and that they should know our language is the kind of arrogant assertion that makes the French and so many other countries respond rudely to us.

If those were your two "hiccups" and experiences of "snobbery" then it sounds like you had a fairly good time. Why the rant?

~kat

Why is it when people say they hate Paris or the French are rude everyone comes to their defense and says just the opposite? On other postings people have said they hated Rome or Tijuana or Germany or whatever. But as soon as you say the French are rude or you hate Paris, LOOK OUT!
All these postings are begining to concern me. I can just as easily spend my 8 days in England and feel quite good about it.

Well, but English is the lingua franca. I'm sure that most people will agree on this. Even the French will (if unreluctantly). The French did clumsily have to try to get people to call an "e-mail" courriel. But let's face it -- English is dominant, and the use of English is considerably much more widespread.

Sorry -- even the French will (if reluctantly). That's what I meant to write.

And what DID you need to discuss with the passport control officer? And the RATP clerks? That is why they have all those maps all over--so you just buy "Un carnay" and get on the Metro.
For what it is worth, a clerk at the RATP took a GREAT deal of trouble to try to understand our pigeon French when we needed a refund on a museum pass. It was at rush hour and she left the window to her colleague in order to help us.

I carry my <u>Berlitz European Phrase Book</u> everywhere I don't speak the language. If I can't manage the pronunciation, I point to the translated phrase.

I have never been treated rudely by anyone, anywhere.

Get it?

Has OP answered what he had to discuss with the cumstom officer?

I just returned from my first venture to France. Actually it was my first venture anywhere that necessitated using a passport. I quietly handed it over, and waited for him to stamp it. I waited a moment more and then looked up to see if there was a problem. He glared at me for a moment, then with a big grin said &quot;Bonjour!&quot;

I think he was spoofing me as my (farm gal from Kansas) wonderment must have been obvious.

OT, no one ever actually stamped my passport; they just looked at it. Did they quit stamping?

Tudorprincess, for me, personally, I tend to dislike blanket statements. &quot;The French are rude&quot; is just such a generalization! I wouldn't like it if people said &quot;The Italians are rude,&quot; either.

All Americans aren't loud, obnoxious, and overweight, and I'd be annoyed if a European said that we were.

Actually I found London somewhat Rude. Although a lot of times I think it was other tourist, and from mainland europe, who were the more rude. Have not been to France though.

However, regarding English and second languages, etc. English is the new French, was the new Latin, was the new Greek. The reason most people should learn English is because that way when a German and a Frenchmen need to talk, they can both speak english. A Dutchman and a Japanese man can speak English to each other. Why English, well that's just the way it is. And it's not snobbery to say so.

Conversely, I am often surprised how often I have to hear immigration control call (and then wait) for spanish translators when coming back into the U.S. I would expect it good practice for a good number of them to know a little bit of spanish.

However, when traveling I also expect the possibility there will be some trouble at some point in time due to language barriers.

besides... the OFFICIAL language of the EU, is english :-D

That's very interesting, AC. Is English the only official language of the EU? Or is it more like the UN? (I think that the UN has several &quot;official&quot; languages, right?)

&lt;&lt;personne f&acirc;cheux&gt;&gt; FYI, personne is feminine so needs a feminine adj.

I think it would be nice if passport control clerks spoke all the languages of the most common people going through France, but unrealistic given it can't be that high paying of a job. Ticket clerk in a metro station, that is really not a career position requiring a certain amount of education and bilingual abilities. Get serious, it's a ticket clerk. I have never had to say anything to the passport control guy -- I think we usually greet each other, and that's about it.

Now, I have a reverse story, last time I came back from CDG to Dulles, my home airport, a few weeks ago, I got pulled aside for a special search because the girl at the Xray machine saw something odd in my carryon bag (she thought). So I am telling the guy who had to hand search that I thought it was the plug to my earphones, etc., and we are talking a little, in FRench -- and the supervisor there told him to stop talking to me in French, to use English. We had to laugh, and he said &quot;but she SPEAKS French and we are talking in French already&quot;. So, it was funny, but you see, that's an opposite story to yours.

Look, who knows -- maybe some passport guy wasn't really nice or helpful with you, I've had passport guys in my own country barely speak to me, perhaps grunting, even when we are both the same nationality. It is possible the guy didn't know English, you know, ans wasn't just &quot;pretending.&quot; Were you pretending not to speak French?

While it may be true that English may becoming more of the &quot;universal language&quot;, to assume that anyone from another country speaks it is, in my opinion, just rude. I doubt many Parisians come into the United States and proceed to talk to an American in French as an assumption that we speak their language. I don't know another language fluently but I always make an effort. Before we travel to Europe, we buy language cd's (to listen to in the car during rush hour) and translation books to try to learn as much as possible. While most people take pity on us and answer in English, its the thought and effort that counts.

I am english and now an american citizen. I think it is rude of us to expect evryone to speak english. Whoever mentioned it before...carry aphrase book and point to your question. Never had a problem.

Well some folks never quite figure out that a certain amount of consideration, and respect, for the viewpoint of others to include entire countries will get us a lot farther as travelers as well as basic human beings, than this &quot;lingua franca&quot; outlook.

But I suppose if we simply ignore the original remark (post) and consider the source we can console ourselves with the thought that some folks simply take a little longer to catch on than others.

Well, believe me, I'm generally a pretty courteous person -- but I can definitely understand why the &quot;lingua franca&quot; attitude is prevalent. Of course, prevalence doesn't make it right, but I don't necessarily think that the prevalent attitude is rude either.

I've witnessed a non-native, non-American English speaker ask someone impatiently if he speaks English (this was a Swede in Denmark).

WillTravel, that is not a bit uncommon. The general language attempted between an Italian waiter and a German tourist, for example is almost always likely to be English, often a total delight to listen to. Yes, admit it or not -- English is more a universal language than any other. It IS the most common language between most European countries. Odds are great that the one language two different nationals are likely to have in common will be English.