Posted on 12/22/2017 6:42:03 AM PST by GonzoII
We spent a little time walking through the public spaces. It’s awesome.
We were at a very nice boutique place down the hill near the waterfront.
>> When talking business, English <<
I’ve seen the same phenomenon among educated Asian acquaintances and friends, whether they are Chinese, Indian, Filipino or whatever.
They will chatter along in their native dialects with one another for what can seem like hours about restaurants, cleaning the house, other family matters, etc.
But if they need to talk about science or commerce or international politics, they will slip into English without any effort, apparently even without realizing that they’ve suddenly changed gears!
>> I’ve been to Paris several times expecting the typical rude Parisienne attitude towards English speakers, frankly I didn’t see it <<
When I was first there almost 50 years ago, the rudeness was rife. A lot like NYC was in those days. But now I find that civility has reared its head in both places — a pleasant surprise!
Well fifty years ago, was when the “Soixante-Retards” were beginning to take over Paris.
we had a german exchange student 2002. Her family was from Halle in the east, but the wall was down. her mother was a psychiatrist and her father a dentist. Their income tripled when the wall fell and they sent their son and then daughter to school in California.
The daughter told us their father said, if you want to do business in germany you have to learn English. She also spoke French.
We had a French student the year before and she spoke spanish French and english.
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