Germans tend to say ‘ah, our language is difficult but I think you mean to say…’ or ‘we pronounce it…’ the French on the other hand are far more likely to say ‘I don’t understand what you are saying at all’ or ‘it sounds disgusting when you speak’
My friend that’s French born but lived in the UK a decade went back and got the same treatment, the shop keeper literally ten minutes from where he was born did the whole pretending not to understand and acting superior thing - I’ve never known anyone in germany do that. Spain you might get scolded for not speaking the correct dialect especially in Catalan but it’s rare.
France is beautiful and the people can be wonderful but they have some weird issues too especially around language and identity.
I’d rather someone force me to speak properly than just refuse to engage at all, which is what happens if you meet a German who cannot/will not speak English.
Germans tend to say ‘ah, our language is difficult but I think you mean to say…’ or ‘we pronounce it…’ the French on the other hand are far more likely to say ‘I don’t understand what you are saying at all’ or ‘it sounds disgusting when you speak’
My friend that’s French born but lived in the UK a decade went back and got the same treatment, the shop keeper literally ten minutes from where he was born did the whole pretending not to understand and acting superior thing - I’ve never known anyone in germany do that. Spain you might get scolded for not speaking the correct dialect especially in Catalan but it’s rare.
France is beautiful and the people can be wonderful but they have some weird issues too especially around language and identity.
I’d rather someone force me to speak properly than just refuse to engage at all, which is what happens if you meet a German who cannot/will not speak English.