11 Comments

  1. swanpride
    June 11, 2014 @ 1:02 am

    You know, in a lot of Eastern European countries you should try German if English fails…a lot of people over there speak German, some of them even as first language (partly because they were taught in school, partly because they learned in the hope to emigrate at one point, partly because it is technical their mother language because of their ancestors)…the “one language for the whole country” concept is not really true there, so a lot of people speak multiple languages in general. Testing out which one works might pay off. Well, not necessarily in France…unless you are in the parts which used to belong to Germany.

  2. Yvonne
    November 14, 2011 @ 8:04 pm

    love this post! so true. but speaking about Strasbourg… reminds me of a funny story… been there with two friends some years ago and on the way we started to talk German with a french accent as we love the sound of it… so we kept doing this for hours and when we finally arrived in Strasbourg we couldn’t stop… well and you may know they also understand German pretty well there… brought us in some funny and embarrassing situations… 🙂

    • Andrew
      November 15, 2011 @ 8:41 pm

      That is hilarious. I can’t imagine what they would think. Did anyone say anything to you or just look at you funny?

      • Yvonne
        November 15, 2011 @ 8:45 pm

        haha, we got a lot of funny looks and one waiter was really pissed as he thought we were making fun of him. oh my. but we had fun 🙂

  3. Michael Hodson
    November 10, 2011 @ 4:32 pm

    Love this post and agree 100%. Thank god that “beer” usually works in most places 😉

    • Andrew
      November 10, 2011 @ 11:34 pm

      Thanks Michael. Yeah, beer is nicely universal. Although it takes me a while to pronounce the word in Spanish, especially with the Spain lisp.

  4. Best of France by Travelers Around the World | Vagabond Quest
    April 1, 2011 @ 3:04 pm

    […] land over the river. The border is only 5km from where I live and less than an hour drive to Strasbourg, where this painted facade is. Alsace is the side of France I know the best, with its mix of German […]

  5. Andrew
    August 1, 2010 @ 2:17 pm

    I experienced that in Croatia too. I would expect they get so many tourists that don't even really try that much. Like you say, the less well known language countries seem to appreciate it more. Somehow the opposite when I go to France.

  6. Jul
    August 1, 2010 @ 12:16 pm

    In Zagreb recently we got a lot of positive feedback from locals about our attempts (however pathetic) to use a couple words of Croatian. It seems like such a minor thing, but learning at least a few things always seems to generate goodwill, especially in smaller countries.

  7. André Silva
    July 30, 2010 @ 8:32 pm

    Very nice. When I go to a place that do not speak portuguese nor english, I usually learn to say:
    Good monning, Thank you, Please, The check please, Do you speak english ?, bye and today
    With this words/phrases, we can go to any place =)

  8. André Silva
    July 30, 2010 @ 8:32 pm

    Very nice. When I go to a place that do not speak portuguese nor english, I usually learn to say:
    Good monning, Thank you, Please, The check please, Do you speak english ?, bye and today
    With this words/phrases, we can go to any place =)