Going to Europe...
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- RobertGonzalez
- Site Administrator
- Posts: 14293
- Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2003 6:04 pm
- Location: Fremont, CA, USA
- Chris Corbyn
- Breakbeat Nuttzer
- Posts: 13098
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:57 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
My mum is so embarassing sometimes. We'll be in like Spain or somewhere that you can pretty much guarantee to be understood and she'll be talking in a slow voice and doing all the hand actions... she even exaggerates the tone of her voice... OMG I'm going red thinking about itfeyd wrote:I thought us Americans were the only idiots that did that.Jenk wrote:If you're worried about language barriers, don't be.. just do what the British do. Speak louder, slower and with a dodgy impression/accent of the country you are in.
It's refreshing to read that we're not alone in our stupidity.
- RobertGonzalez
- Site Administrator
- Posts: 14293
- Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2003 6:04 pm
- Location: Fremont, CA, USA
Very common in the bay area where there is a large population of non to minimal speaking Hispanics and Asians. It is rather embarassing watching someone say the same exact phrase louder and with a more irate voice thinking that the poor bastard that didn't understand him before will suddenly have learned enough English between sentences to catch on the second or third time around.feyd wrote:I thought us Americans were the only idiots that did that.Jenk wrote:If you're worried about language barriers, don't be.. just do what the British do. Speak louder, slower and with a dodgy impression/accent of the country you are in.
It's refreshing to read that we're not alone in our stupidity.
Brit: "I'd like two cappuccino's please."d11wtq wrote:My mum is so embarassing sometimes. We'll be in like Spain or somewhere that you can pretty much guarantee to be understood and she'll be talking in a slow voice and doing all the hand actions... she even exaggerates the tone of her voice... OMG I'm going red thinking about itfeyd wrote:I thought us Americans were the only idiots that did that.Jenk wrote:If you're worried about language barriers, don't be.. just do what the British do. Speak louder, slower and with a dodgy impression/accent of the country you are in.
It's refreshing to read that we're not alone in our stupidity.
Shop attendant: "huh?"
Brit: "DO, DO CAPPUCCINO, PALESIO!"
'do' being 'two' and 'palesio' being 'please,' both with incredibly shifty Italian accents. Had me in stitches.
The other one that gets me is when you go to places dominated by the English, and yet... a lot of people still think they are the only English there and often take disregard to what they are discussing. Makes for some interesting eaves dropping, depending where you go.
- Chris Corbyn
- Breakbeat Nuttzer
- Posts: 13098
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:57 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
While speaking louder and slower actually may help, I wouldn't recommend to imitate local accent. Depending on the situation it may get you in trouble (like being beaten) =)Jenk wrote:If you're worried about language barriers, don't be.. just do what the British do. Speak louder, slower and with a dodgy impression/accent of the country you are in.
I don't know what the Eurostar prices are like now, but that might be a handy route between London, Paris, etc
Route map is here: http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/t ... e_maps.jsp
Route map is here: http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/t ... e_maps.jsp