Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer
Rude tourists.
If I'm on vacation in a country I don't speak the language of and I enter a shop and the shop assistant says something to me I assume he or she is greeting me, and I will say hello (in English) back. If the shop assistant says something longer I assume it is in the line of "hello, can I help you with something", and I will also answer him/her.
A lot of tourists just in our shop just ignore you when you greet them, and the Dutch "hallo" is pretty close to the English (a language 99% of the tourists seem to speak) "hello".
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Could be a lot of reasons.
When I go into the sort of shop where I would even expect attention from staff or the proprietor I often really do not want to be greeted, nor asked "Can I help you?" That is if I'm just there to browse, maybe with out any intention of making a purchase, or would prefer to just find what I am looking for myself. I guess that greeting and/or "Can I . . ." just makes me feel like pressure to buy something or if I'm not going to do so to get out.
BTW I love visiting Holland. Everyone speaks and understands English and doesn't get affronted that that's my only language.