Makes you wonder who the "snobs" really are.

Actually, I'll be interested to see how the French and especially the Germans handle the US troop withdrawls.
JFKerry is apparently the only one on earth objecting to the obvious!
M

First time back reading the Europe board after an absence of several months and the first thread that pops up is French snobbery! plus ca change... :)

Just a few more peas to throw into the pea soup to make it thicker:

Pea #1: 85% of US citizens do not have a passport, which pretty much explains to my feeble mind why Americans are so much into gazing into their own navel and thinking that it represents the world.

Pea #2: When William the Conqueror of NORMANDY conquered England, he made Norman French the language of court, government, and culture. Thus, when people are talking about English being the "lingua franca [a very English phrase, I'm sure! :)], they are actually referring to Franglish. In those days, English [or more precisely Middle English] was spoken by the peasants and other "lower" peoples. Without Franglish, none of us would be able to discuss anything on this thread. Certainly, got1tiel would not be able to "rant [middle Dutch]" or make "comments [French]" about his "experiences [French]" on having "language [French]" "hiccups [English!]".

Pea #3: nimen tai hao le! [Mandarin Chinese the next lingua franca - I don't think so!]

I had a really bad dream the other night. I exited the plane at CDG and was shocked at what I saw and heard.
The workers behind the desks spoke perfect English with a very mild French accent. They all wore really goofy broad smiles. They were genuinely concerned about my welfare as a tourist and constantly reminded me how much they appreciated the American tourist dollar. Without the dollar, they lamented, what would they do? Where would they go? They recommended the nearest Starbucks for a decent cup of coffee. I was advised the Cracker Barrel restaurant was the best thing going and ordered the Sawmill Breakfast Special(Eggs, bacon, grits, white gravy and biscuits).As I was sopping up the remaining white gravy with my last half-biscuit, I realized that I couldn't stand it any longer. This is not the France I came to see! I whipped out my Capitol One card with the 1% max conversion rate and bought the next ticket home.
The next thing I knew, the customs agent in Newark was snapping on a latex glove and thats when I awoke.

Hey NyFoodSnob, That was Funny.

>>With RATP, I noticed that a couple of Japanese girls in front of me had written down what they wanted (a Carte Orange), showed it to the clerk, and everything proceeded smoothly.<<

Wonder if that was me you saw, WillTravel. Ecole Militaire station - this past May? I'm not Japanese, but could be mistaken for it. :)

Anyway, I did the same thing. Said "Bonjour" and proceeded to hand over my slip of paper indicating I wanted a Carte Orange. She smiled and proceeded to finish the transaction with me in perfect English.

I had been apprehensive prior to going on my trip about possible communication problems - but found that it was not a problem at all.

>>Who the hell employs a passport control officer in an airport who cant(or is not willing) to speak english!<<

Give me a break! The French government employs this person to serve it, the government, by controlling who is allowed to enter the country. They're not there to answer questions from tourists. If you run into a problem with them, it's you who will likely be needing to speak French.

I am reluctant to say this but if someone would just kindly tell me...
Why is someone complaining that people in another country - which is not an English speaking country -do not speak English?
Do all English speaking people expect all the people of other countries to speak English?
I am getting the feeling (aside from this being an example of the dread Ugly American) that everyone is expecting the world out there to conform to our (Americans) comfort. Speak what we speak, eat what we eat..
what do you think? Or am I just too tired to make sense of this tonight?
Scarlett

You're making a lot of sense to me, Scarlett, and it's only 7 pm here on the Left Coast. :)

Merci, easytraveler~
How are things over there? We are on our way in that direction, at the end of September~

Scarlett, honey. Stop with the logic. You're really going to rock the boat that way. :-)

OK OK, you know it isn't like me to be logical ((L))

chepar, it wasn't you :). There were two Japanese girls together at the Montparnasse-Bienvenue stop in July, and I saw them display their slip of paper to the clerk. Now, I can't remember why I was sure they were Japanese, but I was pretty confident.

I was amazed at the horrible rudeness and nonexistent customer service of the Gare du Nord &quot;billets&quot; clerk last April when all I wanted was 2 'coupons' for our Cartes Orange. She <b>insisted</b> I hand over my entire Carte Orange to her. She had the unmitigated gall (gaulle?) to actually insert the ticket into the little pocket, add a tiny map (who can read those, anyway?) AND (this is <b>most</b> unbelievable!) she wrote the pass numbers onto the tickets <b>for me</b>. Mon dieu, it was unnerving!

Scarlett! How Marvellous!

Will you be in the Bay Area in September? A friend of mine from France is visiting mid-September. Maybe we can have a francophile meeting! &gt;:D&lt;

Not to worry, she also speaks flawless English and German.

Travelnut, the shame, the shame of allowing yourself to be treated that way.

How will you ever face yourself in the mirror knowing you let them treat you that way? :-)

Maybe this topic has been done to death but here goes another personal opinion.

Most of the posters seem to be arguing whether government officials should be expected to speak English or not. But the premise of the original inquiry was about snobbery and/or rudeness.

Based on considerable experience of France, I conclude that the French are well above average (average = my experience of US and other countries in NA, Europe, Africa, Asia) in civility, correctness with strangers, helpfulness etc.

They are often reserved, because they understand that distance is a component of civility in crowded and diverse communities.

There are some obnoxious jerks and some snobs, not unlike any other milieu, including this one.

But on the whole I have found less suspicion, less pushiness, less attitude and less relish for asserting power than elsewhere. This may not always have been the case: I think the French are more accommodating and certainly less superior than in my youth. Or maybe I just have more money, a more dignified demeanour (I wish!!) and a posher French accent than in my earlier days......

Think of it this way: if the average passport controller gets to look at one passport per two minutes, that's 30 passports an hour, 240 passports in an 8-hour working day, 1200 a week and 4800 passports in 4 weeks/a month. Even if they took their good old time with it and did only half that number, that's still 2400 passports a month.

So, here's the average workday for a passport controller.

He sees ((z)) ((z)) ((x)) ((x)) ((z)) ((x)) ((x)) ((z)) ((x)) ((z)) ((z)) ((z)) ((&amp;)) ((z)) ((z)) ((x)) ((x))

He feels like this:

Hour 1 :)

Hour 2 :-d (forced smile)

Hour 3 :-[

Hour 4 &gt;)

Hour 5 X(

Hour 6 :@

Hour 7 &gt;:-)

Hour 8 &gt;:)

You must have caught him during the latter part of his work day!

Very cute, easy!!!

English-friendliness, by country:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/...guage%20skills

What's that Spanish saying? 'To speak another language is to have another soul . . . ?'

Something like that.