[Michaelson]

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Also, why do people pretend not to speak English?

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The following conversation literally happened:

Me, as slowly and clearly as I can: 'Excuse me miss, we would like to buy a pair of shoes.'

Her: 'Je ne comprends pas. Ne parle pas anglais, desolee.'

Me: 'Nous voudrions acheter des... <gesture> shoes!'

Her, with no accent at all: 'Ah, you want shoes? What kind of shoes? (..) To get into the casino? We have a bunch of nice shoes over there, have a look!'

WTF?

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Believe it or not, there are people in the world who think their language is pretty nifty and would like for you to make at least a minimal effing effort to speak it when your in their [censored] country.

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Why do you (and a lot of people in France) feel so strongly this? Do you consider it a personal insult if people address you in Engish?

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Not that I've ever experienced this issue, but if tourists in my own country habitually expected me to converse poorly in their language so as to save them the hassle and effort of having to converse poorly in my language, I'd find it pretty freaking annoying.