Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
ive a hard enough time speaking english
Lol... It's a generational thing with you though, mate. Quite simply, the focus here now in schools should be on teaching pupils to speak, say French or Spanish, as much as in French and Spanish schools kids are taught English.

We (Brits) are simply too lazy when travelling abroad, and just automatically accept people to speak English, simply because it's one of the most spoken languages in the world, but I can assure you that that arrogance/lack of respect [often arisen from sheer laziness] isn't missed by the locals, who'll often be calling you all sorts behind your back!

One of my first tasks (as I'm more of a linguist than Del, although she speaks and writes German, which I can't) when travelling to a foreign country, if I don't already speak the language, is to spend a few weeks learning some basic phrases, and becoming competent with them, as the smiling faces of the locals when you put them into practice, and subsequent friendliness created, is always worth the effort.

Del generates friendly smiles, and the approval of locals, in other ways!

Marco.