Why are the French so lazy.....

[Quillan]

when it comes to languages and inparticular English.

 

Now before you all go off on one I am not talking in reference to us Brits living here, more about people visiting France, let me explain.

 

We get visitors from all over the world of which only about 20% of them are native English speakers. It is quite normal to have four different nationalities at breakfast and dinner. The one thing they have in common, except for the French couple, is they all speak English at various levels. So you have Italian, Israeli, Romanian and French. Three couples quite happily talk about their visits the day before over breakfast and pass on suggestions of places to visit to each other except the French who don't understand a word being said. On top of that they have the audacity to give a review that says you need to speak English if you want to stay here. Needless to say their review got a swift reply putting them straight although the words lazy and ignorant were censored out. I would like to point out that I did talk to them in French and if there were other French couples here I would, of course, talk to them in French.

 

So given that English is the official second language of the EU and that from the 14th July 2014 to the 14th July 2015 83.7M people holidayed in France (making it the most visited holiday destination in the world and a nice little earner for the French) and  most of whom spoke English as a foreign language you would like to think the French would make a little effort if only to take the money of them. You have to hand it to the Spanish and Greeks, at least they make an effort because they know they need to speak it to get their hands on the money.

[Loiseau]

Surely your Italian, Israeli and Romanian guests would have been the more adventurous, outgoing types, prepared to travel and drive abroad, experiment with new food ,language etc.

While your French guests were possibly stay-at-home types, and not willing to embarrass themselves with a poor stab at English - which they did not realise would be so necessary in their own country on the night in question.

Angela

[Alan Zoff]

I can see where you are coming from Q but, if you are talking about French holidaymakers rather than business people seeking international custom, I wonder how many Brits staying in a British B&B would expect to speak a foreign language in their own country.

[andyh4]

I am very much with Alan on this one Q.

If I went to a B&B in Torquay and found it full of Polish, Czech and Bulgarian tourists all discussing their day in Russian as their common language, I think I might be just a bit put out.

Irrespective of whether English is or is not a major EU language it does not, nor should it make it compulsory to speak the language fluently.

I suspect that the influence of the internet has more to do with the younger generations learning English than any influence from Brussels - much as pop music did for my generation.

[marmite]

I think it is more of an attitude problem, you have the French government always going on about English speak creeping in to their language. Yes the other countries don't have such a hang-up about speaking in English however poorly, just like my French!! And they hate the capitalist English. Bet they were ruggered that American guys stopped the carnage a few days ago on the train, and lets not forget about the Tour de France spitting episodes.

[Quillan]

We have had the conversation many times about people coming to live in France and the need to speak the language but holiday makers? We get a lot of Catalans and whilst many also speak Spanish they also speak English yet few speak French. I find that interesting as Catalonia spreads well into France.

 

Like it or not and to be fair pretty handy for us Brits English is the second language of the world. We have had Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian and most of Scandinavia to name just the northern hemisphere and they all speak enough English to get by. Actually it is quite amazing how well Russians speak English given modern history. Most of them speak little or no French.

 

The point is there is no prerequisite to speak the language of the place you go on holiday although of course the odd phrase comes in handy. The fact that many do speak some English and use it to converse with other guests is convenient for many. Part of the CdH experience is to have breakfast and/or dinner together talking about and sharing your experiences of the day along with any suggestion you might have on places you've visited. In some ways I feel sorry for the French because they get locked out of these conversations.

 

Given the quantity of people visiting France and the badly needed money they spend when they get here the attitude of some French borders on biting th hand that feeds you.

[sid]

I can't see you point of view at all Q; I think the other replies have pretty well summed it up, holidaying on home turf you expect to be able to relax and speak your own language. Sometimes I think it's us Brits who are lazy about languages, going to Spain where "everyone" speaks English and all you have to do to make yourself understood is shout louder!

[Chancer]

Quillan, your Booking.com page does say that only English is spoken in the establishment so the guest does have a point.

 

I admire you for not claiming to speak French if you arent happy with your level, most of the hébergeurs around here advertise that they speak English but they only know "hello, good bye and money" and I think you have done very well to have built up a sucessfull business whilst not (advertising) speaking French.

 

You are right about English being the dominant language and its only since starting my tourist rentals this year that I have realised what an advantage being bi-lingual is, after 10 years of my mother tongue being of no use whatsoever now it has become an asset, the Flamands be they Belgian or Dutch are usually more comfortable speaking English that French, French Canadians cannot understand me when I speak French nor I them so we dafault to English, it has been of more use to me than French for all the other nationalities although I had to dig deep to speak Spanish recently.

 

The majority of my customers have been French and I doubt that any of them spoke English, if they prefer to Holiday within their on country its odds on that they dont, I could be wrong though, one Customer has become a friend and she now stays with me as a co-locataire in one of the unfinished apartments 4 nights a week, we have only ever spoken French but I knew she was well travelled, its why we get on so sell, we went out to eat with an English lady guest who doesnt speak French and to my surprise and delight I discovered that my friends English is far far better than my French.

 

To a degree I can understand the comment of your guest, when they booked it was written "English" Under "languages spoken" and whilst no doubt you dealt with them in French if at the dinner table they found only English spoken by the other guests (which I understand entirely) I could see them being a bit put out, they had after all chosen to Holiday within their own country. How would you feel in a B&B in Brighton if the host and all the guests only spoke Arabic?

 

When I backpacked around the world the common language in all the hostels was English, it was great Learning for all the others but didnt help me one bit.

[Jonzjob]

"all you have to do to make yourself understood is shout louder!

"

And speak more slowly Sid!

I can only go along with you that  a holiday in your home country then why the hell should you need a foreign language?

Much worse than that in my opinion are the people who come and live here and expect to be able to speak their home language and don't even bother to try to learn French! I know several people like that and apart form anything else they are missing out on so very much of the life here.

As for the Scandinavians speaking English? If they didn't nobody would have a clue what they were on about. How do you even try to understand Finnish?? Unless you are Finnish of course [8-)]

[Chancer]

Quillan.

I have just trawled through all your reviews because I wrongly though that the one in question would be a low score so went through in order ascendant, worthwhile nonetheless to see that you cant please all the people all the time and it made me happier with my few low scoring reviews to know that there are much worse clients out there.

 

I found only two comments about English being spoken, I wont repeat them verbatim but both left you a very good score and were saying that you were very personable and sympa but you needed to speak English to really appreciate it, I thought they were complimentary, maybe they were saying that you were much much nicer in person than their first impression but that if they didnt speak English it may not have come through as strongly, that has always been my motivation to speak better and better French so that people dont just dismiss me as ignorant.

 

And on that note unless their reviews have also been editted then you should be very thankfull that your comments about them being lazy and ignorant were censored, unwarranted and undeserved based on what they had written, which to my eyes were glowing reviews of 8.8 and 9.5.

I have one more night of rentals before returning to long term lets, I hope I can keep my cool for that time, some of the reviews have made me feel the same way but I always reflect on them for at least a week before responding, I can usually eventually see their point of view.

[Quillan]

[quote user="sid"]Spain where "everyone" speaks English and all you have to do to make yourself understood is shout louder![/quote]

 

Trust me the Spanish do the same thing even to each other. Seems a lot of the time they can only shout and not speak. [;-)] Perhaps the English in Spain have caught on that to get heard in Spain you need to shout whatever the language.

 

What was quite funny a couple of weeks back when we were full with French couples was a  chap who I just could not understand at all because of his accent. He got a bit fed up with me because I didn't understand him and being a long distance lorry driver who visited the UK regularly spoke to me in English. I asked another guy (in French) "Please don't think me being funny but I have a real problem understand M. XXXX", "Don't worry" the guy said "Neither can any of us, he comes from Marseille" and he wasn’t joking.

 

As to being on holiday in UK B&B I woudn't give a toss what languages other people wee speaking. Indeed if I owned a B&B in the UK (which is quite different to a CdH by the way) I wouldn't give a toss what language the guests spoke. Bums in beds, money in till, thats the name of the game, I adore the sound the till makes when it opens, it is like music to my ears. I swear mine is like Arkwrights.

[Chancer]

That is the one thing on which we really do differ Quillan.

 

The money is not at all important to me, after living for so long on so little even with the small amount now coming in I feel like a millionaire, its embarrassing actually because I dont feel that I have either earned nor deserve it, my revenue de reference for last year was €1923 which would qualify me for every benefit available in France but I wont be requesting any of them.

 

I do take pride in getting up to 95% occupation in only 3 and a bit months and will be at 100% for the rest of the year I hope, I also take pride and sometimes offence at the reviews left, I need to grow a thicker skin.

 

The only reason I would stive to earn more money is actually striving to get more apartments finished and at a high occupation rate, only because that will in turn mean that I can sell the business for the maximum so I am nonetheless driven albeit sub-consciously by money.

 

I suppose I am also proud to have created a sucessfull business despite the fact that I had no intention of going into business ever again.

 

I can usually tell the difference between a host or guide who is doing it for the love or for the love of money, it takes a rare person to do something for the love over many years, it just becomes work, my sympathies are with those that have no choice but to do something they no longer love or enjoy simply to survive and make a living.

[Chancer]

Country apart, what to you is the difference between a CDH and a B&B?

I understand the difference between TDH and B&B.

[Quillan]

To answer two questions in one post.

 

Booking.com are not the only place you will find reviews. Indeed these people didn't come via Booking.

 

CdH loosely translated means room of hosts, a room in a private house as part of the family. There is a limit on the number of rooms (5) and guests (14 I think), you eat at a communal table with the owner, in other words the hosts share their house, breakfast and dinner with the guests. Initially it was a way for the farmers wife to gain a little extra money. UK B&B's originally were like that, I remember staying in a few as a child but they have moved on quite a bit these days. Many are basically mini hotels often with between 8 and 12 rooms some of which may be family rooms taking two adults and a couple of kids.

[idun]

I would imagine that a B&B in the UK was much harder work as really it should have a good 'proper' breakfast and not the all too easy continental buffet. Which as one cannot expect more, can be good especially if done say as in Germany or Holland or Austria, rather than the typical french one, but still is far from a 'full' breakfast one gets in the UK when it is done properly.

[NormanH]

While I agree that many French people are almost as bad at learning foreign languages as many English are I don't think that qualifies them as "lazy" in this case. As others have said they are in their own country at your B&B, and there is no reason why they should know any English at all.

It could be said that it is you who are lazy, for not using the language of the country you have your business in, but as I know you can just about get by I wouldn't go that far.

The people I would call lazy are the British Immigrants who live here but haven't bothered to learn any French.

Last night I was at an event that attracted a crowd of these people who were demanding things such as a "lager and black" from the bemused French waitress...

[woolybanana]

Please tell me someone, whatever is a laager and black? It sounds suspiciously like something the old Voortrekkers dreamed up!

[idun]

Surely lager and blackcurrant???? as opposed to lager and lime[:)] Don't think it would be a black and tan?

NH,were they really residents???? we would have just spoken french and ignored them.

[Quillan]

Wooly - Lager and blackcurrent would you believe. You should try Tokyo, finest French red mixed with Coca Cola. [geek]

 

Norman - I wouldn't mind if they picked me out because as you have pointed out I have always said I slaughter the language but I do try and can on the whole carry a conversation in French. Their comment was aimed at the other guests and don't forget the French do the same thing when they are on holiday outside of France in non French speaking countries. Go to Belsize Park in north London and all you will hear is French being spoken. I too have a problem with Brits who live here and make no effort to speak the language. I know one woman who I see in the supermarket quite often over the last 5 or 6 years and still talks English to the checkout staff expecting them to understand. It's the same woman who I heard in the bar chatting to some English people who said she left the UK becuase nobody spoke English anymore "I mean you only have to stand in the gueue in Tesco's to hear nobody speaking English", how she made me laugh, what an idiot. Sorry for the typos my smell checker has stopped working.

[mint]

[quote user="idun"]Surely lager and blackcurrant???? as opposed to lager and lime[:)] Don't think it would be a black and tan?

NH,were they really residents???? we would have just spoken french and ignored them.

[/quote]

I cannot think, offhand, of a more disgusting drink than lager and blackcurrant[+o(]  Nor does lager and lime sound much better...double yuck!

I can just about drink a small lager if there is nothing else to drink and I feel pretty desperate for something alcoholic.

Nothing much to drink here this evening so I'll stick to cold water.

Sorry to off topic, I am only on this thread to say hello to idun.  I can't be bothered to answer the sort of silly and irrelevant pretend question that is on offer here[+o(]

[Judith]

"going to Spain where "everyone" speaks English and all you have to do to make yourself understood is shout louder".

Not just south of here they don't - it's Catalan, Spanish and just occasionally French.  Once they find you are English and can't speak Spanish or Catalan (and sadly I have only a few words in Spanish and nothing in Catalan, or Occitan, a related language spoken this side of the border), they do not want to know you.  Maybe in the costas, but not this side of Barcelona - no way!

As far as Q's comment regarding speaking English in his CdH, if it says only English on his web site page .. well they should perhaps have expected not to be able to speak French much!

[Loiseau]

QUOTE Quillan

CdH loosely translated means room of hosts, a room in a private house as part of the family. ...

END QUOTE

I always understood "hôte" in this context to mean "guest". I remember an expression "hôte payante" = "paying guest".

Angela

[EuroTrash]

Yes I always assumed it meant 'guest room'. 'Host room' doesn't make much sense to me.

I hope Quillan's smell checker is working again - try blowing your nose hard, that might do the trick.

[woolybanana]

I think he writee better when it is not working, certainly his spelling improves!

By the way, I did learn something on this thread today; I always thought that Belize Park in London was where the people from Belize lived.

Oh, and some people have terrible taste in drinks; why the heck spoil a perfectly good fruit juice with some sort of adulterated sheep's urine in a long cold glass.

[Quillan]

[quote user="EuroTrash"]Yes I always assumed it meant 'guest room'. 'Host room' doesn't make much sense to me. I hope Quillan's smell checker is working again - try blowing your nose hard, that might do the trick.[/quote]

 

Well I always thought it ment host and having checked in my Roberts French/English English/French dictionary I was right.

 

Anyway re the English thing on the Booking website. I contacted them about this as some in my local area say French and some don't. It appears there is no logic, ot is up to the website people which boxes they click on when building the page. Even some French owned hotels here and abouts do not include French as a language spoken.

 

Wooly "Black Velvet" drunk in Galway, quite a bit during the oyster festival, is a good one (Guiness and Champagne, half and half). I tried it with Blanquet de Limoux, quite nice actually.

(Snell checker till not burping.)