Americans, Europeans, and speaking English

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm French.

This has been happening for some time now, you just didn't notice.

35 years ago, I can remember Parisian waiters in cafes not speaking a word of English and treating non-French speaking tourists like second-class citizens. You couldn't go to a restaurant bathroom without being afraid of catching something. Gradually France has awoken to the realization that it makes a ton of money on tourism and that they'd better offer cleaner bathrooms, smile and speak English. The turning point was in the 90s when Japanese tourists started appearing en masse, spending staggering amounts.

I studied and later volunteered in France for a total of 13 months (13/14 years ago) and have also visited many times since then. I have definitely noticed a change since that time. It would have been much more difficult to navigate without speaking English in 2009 than it would be today.

In response to the main question, I was recently in France and spent a lot of time with a variety of Europeans. Most did NOT speak French and they did NOT attempt to speak French but immediately went to English when we were out. A couple of times I clarified in French and I saw an appreciation when I actually spoke in French but it was a very interesting dynamic! The only American in the whole group amidst Europeans, was the only one to speak French. Of course, all of these Europeans were completely fluent in their native language AND English and some spoke some additional languages.