Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
but, i also really appreciate it when a tourist acknowledges the culture of the country they are visiting by making an effort, however small, and it makes all the difference in my response to them. if a tourist says just "bonjour" or "s'il vous plaît" or "je ne parle pas français" or any word or three in french, even badly butchered, i am much more likely to take the time to answer their question than if they talk to me in english and just expect me to understand (why should i ? this is france ! we speak french here !).
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Thank you, Zee. My assumption was that people would be more offended by bad attempts to speak their language and you've already convinced me that the opposite is probably true. I will hereby change my ways. (doggie trots off to bookstore to buy phrase book for upcoming trip to Australia - I wonder how they say "May I have some more bacon, please?" down there?)