Friendliness of Americans vs. Non-Americans (foreigners)
So... if you read my last post you will see that o Brasileiro was REALLY nice. Crazy nice for only having just met him 20 minutes prior. So I was talking to a friend of mine and he said "Naturally he was nice. Foreigners are always nice."
At one of my old jobs I met a French woman and I was chatting with her and she said that she LOVES the USA because the Americans are so nice and warm and just much friendlier than the French people. I never thought about that. My friends who have gone to France have complained that the French were cold and mean and rude. Par contre, when I went to France I found them to be very warm and accommodating. I think, though, that it depends on a couple of things. #1- the region, #2- how touristy you are. I spent most of my time in the south of France, where ppl are known to be much warmer and welcoming. In Paris, where most people tend to go, ppl are busy, colder (like the weather) and perhaps rude. When I went to Paris ppl were very nice to me, though, and I wonder if it's because I speak the language. I've been told by sooooooooo many people that they think I am French (and when I say people, I mean the FRENCH think that I am French, probably due to my near flawless accent). So perhaps they were nice to me because they thought I was one of them. But the French are rabid about preserving their culture. ...and I think with due cause. If you think about it, would you want a whole bunch of loud, bawdy people wearing god awful outfits come to the USA and speak another language and expect you to understand them and serve them and whatnot???? I mean, no way. It's like "Dude, come to my country and if you want to be served and helped then learn the language, because I am living in my own country where I speak my language and not yours." I mean, could you guys expect all Americans to learn french or spanish or italian or mandarin or arabic??? I mean... no!!!! In this country we speak english. If you want pizza, ask for it in english. So, you need to think about it from their point of view.
I have done some travelling in my time, and during my travels I've gone to countries where I do not speak their language. For example, Poland and Hungary. And so when I needed something I used a WHOOOOOOOLE lot of body language. And I felt bad doing that. For some reason I feel like I have an obligation to learn the language (at least a little bit) or I shouldn't go there at all. But that was during my exploration of eastern Europe, where there were just too many different languages to have to learn. If I actually learned a little czech, a little polish, a little ukrainian, a little hungarian, a little
4 Comments:
At 1:51 PM,
E said…
I know when I was in Paris, I had much better luck with the people when I was with a friend that spoke french then when I was by myself and trying to get by on english. When they heard him try to speak french they were much warmer and helpful. Most would basically ignore me.
I understand your point that we should try to respect their language and culture as best we can, but it's obviously a bit much to ask that you speak the language of any country you're going to visit...you can't know every language. It's even more difficult for us in the US since we're so far away from other countries, we hear little other then english and some spanish. Unless you're a college student, what chance do you really have in retaining your language abilities.
I think it's funny that the french woman says that Americans are more friendly then people in her own country. Can it be that we're more accepting of people that don't speak English?? I don't really think this is true...but then again I don't think the opposite is true either...people don't judge the 'niceness' of a country based on how many people in that country are accomidating and friendly, they base it on the people THEY have encountered from that country.
truth is, there's probably just as many bastards in every other country as there are in our own.
At 8:17 AM,
ChemChyck said…
True. We cannot be expected to learn every language, but I think the effort for basic understanding should be made, or if not, you can do in my case and use a WHOLE lot of body language, but really, ban the english when you're going to a non-english speaking country. Because even if some ppl there DO speak english it seems to me that by using it you're almost kind of...imposing your language on them. Or... I don't know.
In any case, I think what you had to say is interesting. But do you not think that some countries or cultures are more inclined to be warmer to each other and help each other out more than ppl in other cultures and countries? I mean, it could even be a political thing. Like in a successful country, like the USA, where capitalism IS what we have here, ppl are taught to compete with each other and work for HIMSELF to prosper. In poor countries, and in countries, perhaps, like socialist or communist countries perhaps since ppl are used to working with each other to accomplish things as a team, instead of individually, perhaps they tend to be friendlier towards each other as a whole, going out of their way to help them and be accommodating. You don't think that some countries have fewer bastards than others?
At 1:09 PM,
E said…
well...I think it's impossible for most people to "ban the english" as you say. I agree that one should TRY to learn a little bit of the native languages of the countries they are visiting. However, I often found that if I spoke a few sentences of broken native language the person I was talking to would most often respond back to me in ENGLISH. This happens most ofen in the touristy areas and big cities where most people do speak english. The way I look at it, it's rude to assume that someone in their home country is going to speak your language, but if they do speak it, I see no reason not to use it. Asking soemone in their native language if they speak english, and continuing the convo in english if they say 'yes' is not a bad thing. Language is about communication above all and if I need to find a bathroom in Tajikistan then I'm not going to start pantamiming pooping :-P
"do you not think that some countries or cultures are more inclined to be warmer to each other and help each other out more than ppl in other cultures and countries?"
I think it depends...culture has something to do with the perception of how you are treated. In france tourists are often put off by the waiters because they're slow and never come back...obviously this is just a culture thing, the waiters aren't being rude, they're letting you have your privacy and don't think you should need constant attention.
Your example of capatilism vs. socialism/communism I think is a bit one sided. You could just as easily say that capatilism is a reason for people in USA to be nicer to one another. customer service is a bigger deal in capatilism then communism. If the people don't like you they wont come back, they'll go to the competition. In capatilism you have to fight for your customers and apease their needs.
does capatilism or socialism have an effect on how people treat one another outside of the business world??
can all difference in how people treat one another be completely explained away by culture differences or are there deeper reasons for the differences??
these questions I don't know...they are much harder questions to answer. As is the original question that got this all started--Are the people in the US nicer to or more accepting of TOURISTS(specifically non-native speaking tourists) then people in other countries. I've never been a non-native speaking tourist in the US so I'm not sure :-P
At 3:02 PM,
ChemChyck said…
Well I think what you said was nicely worded and I have to agree with a lot of it.
French woman says we're nice, Brazilian boy says we're cold. Does it depend on what they're used to based on where they're coming from? Have they had different personal experiences in the US? Who knows. All I know is that I think almost every foreigner I have come across seems to be extraordinarily nice.
Anyone else? Any thoughts? ANYONE?!?!? Anyone who reads this blog has a right to post his/her opinion, so please join the discussion, because I'd like to hear other points of view.
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