re: #75 austin_blue

Try as hard as you can with whatever you’ve got. Even if you are mangling their language, they’ll appreciate you trying to communicate in their tongue. Trust me on this. My French, Spanish, and Italian is horrible, and I can completely embarrass myself by trying to use it.

But it’s worth it.

Parisiens are notorious for being surly bastards, but I found that if you just made an attempt at speaking French, they were very accommodating. Surly, yes, but smiling and helpful. And not spitting in your food. Bonus. And having a pack of Gauloises was helpful.

One of my college buddies has a story about trying to order dinner at a restaurant when he was in France. He attempted to do it in French. When he was done and the waiter walked away a guy from the next table leaned over and said “You speak French like a Spanish cow.” He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be insulted.