woolybanana Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Any trouble with Belgians, find out what their first language is (French/ Flemish/German) and go on about the wonders of the other community. Then ask them what is the most understood language in their country (English) and the second (Arabic). Normally this is like putting a match to a rocket so stand well back.I dearly love the Belgians you understand, was married to one, have half Belgian kids, and have also loved a few but that kind of cheek I would not take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Strange as my Belgian bosses carry on alarming about the french and so does our vet who is Flemish and speaks perfect english.I find the Belgians are so much more understanding of english culture and work ethics than the french ever are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Having kept a French colleague ( lives in Brittany, but from Alsace originally) up to date on the various concerns of the Brits in France, he cant understand why there is an adverse reaction to the Brits. His comments were that the Brits bring money, work etc to the area and make it easier for the local French young people to make a living etc without moving away. I guess he must just be an Anglophile (or a realist). He is also a well travelled expat engineer who has worked around the World for all his life, perhaps thats the difference.I also have a few Belgian engineer friends (not sure which sort - its never come up!) who have never shown any anti-Brit - in -France tendencies.They do speak English, French and Flemish though, again well travelled on various overseas jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 By and large Belgians expatriate well IF they dont miss their mothers. Of course, the long term well educated expats are more likely to be more open minded. But some of those (a dwindling band) who came back from the Congo are insufferable racists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I got trapped once in the square at La Roche sur Yon by a half sozzled Frenchman who insisted on telling me the complete history of the town. After about fifteen minutes of chat, he suddenly said "So, are you Belgian, then?". I said "Er, Anglais, actually". He broke out in a wide grin and said "Great - let's go and get a drink"...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Mustard Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Where I live the nearest town has an English bookshop, and an English grocery, and there are people organising cricket clubs and Guy Fawkes nights and carol concerts etc etc. I know that in theory we should be able to do all this, but the French are in for hard times under Sarkozy, and they are going to look for scapegoats. I do sometimes think that as a community we should keep our heads down more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Perhaps I am too sensitive but I also feel it is somewhat wrong to hold an audible (loud) conversation in English whilst in French company, I often ask guests and friends (who dont speak French) to speak quieter.I also will not take a mobile phone call in public (supermarket queue etc) if I have to speak English.Perhaps I am oversensitive but I cringe when I hear people doing the opposite.I met an English couple in hospital recently who spoke no French despite being here many years, they were proud of their monthly social gatherings of 25 english couples held in their local restaurants, I am sure that the patrons love the group but what of the other diners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Not noticed anything like that in Indre. But what goes on behind my back might be different to what I see face to face. But that's the same anywhere.Just get on with life. Don't know many English, although there's apparently 50 English speaking families in our commune. We have friends (mostly French) and we stick with them. Globalisation is happening the world over. The sooner people get used to this fact and realise people are, in essence the same, the better.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I don't think you're too sensitive at all. We've only been here 6 months and I have found myself blushing when out with a friend from "home" (who has been here 3 years) and WISHING she would not talk quite so loudly in English in shops and restaurants! Not only that, she and hubby are actually proud that they speak no French and have no intention of even trying. Needless to say, now my oven is installed and I am thinking of holding my first dinner party to include French & Brits, THEY will definitely be off the invite list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Your instincts are totally right Sweet17 . Stick to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I've never been on the receiving end of any anti Brit type abuse myself, but I hear about it increasingly, second hand, mostly from people who have not made perhaps the maxium of their opportunity to learn French and at least try to integrate a bit.There are the usual stock comments about house prices being driven up by Anglo incommers, but more frequently it is about Britons living apart - British grocery stores, bars, etc.I think it possible that the recent hoo-ha over early retirees and healthcare provision, which finally tickled into the awareness of the French media, has given some the impression that there are hundreds of thousands of freeloaders out there and some people see that as an excuse to have a pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I am somewhat familiar with this type of resentment, although it happened when I lived in Worthing in the 80s...Finding the front page of the Sun under the wipers at the time of the Thatcher anti-EU-anti-French rhetoric... very unpleasant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 To back up what Clair has said, it does happen the world over, my closest friend at work is French and she lives in England, I cringed when people approached our shared office, they would speak to her, then grimace and ask me the same question, in the end I got really cross, it was obvious what she was saying despite her very strong accent (having been at Uni in England she spoke fluently). So this was simple racism, people even referred to her as 'the French one' behind her back.So if there are some small minded people out there ignore them and get on with your life, do your very best to integrate but don't be sorry to be English, I am happy to be known as English, I can speak French and do so when ever it's required but if I have friends to stay I speak as openly as I want to in my mother tongue, why wouldn't I?Forgot to say, she would very happily chat to her French friends on her mobile in french and loudly, again why wouldn't she?Panda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Katie Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 It seems to me in reading many of these posts that the biggest anti Brits are the Brits themselves. My town has historically attracted people from all over europe since the turn of the century. Firstly Italians, Spanish and Irish. These days Portuguese, Polish and Phillipino. They all have their own cultures which I respect and, should they wish to speak loudly in their own language so be it. Who are they hurting?For goodness sake, If a person moves to France they will ALWAYS be viewed as the British Person. Accept it, it is easier to be accepted for what you are not for what you want to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Well said Katie, very true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Katie Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 You beat me to it Panda! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 You know what they say about great minds and thinking a like! My other best friend is Welsh by the way!EDIT : and I realise I am not without blame on this front when I insist on asking her, when she gets up to leave 'whose coat is this jacket?' in what I consider a good Welsh accent (not) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 You have a Welsh friend, Panda? How unusual. What is she called? Taffeta[6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pouyade Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 [quote user="Colonel Mustard"]Where I live the nearest town has an English bookshop, and an English grocery, and there are people organising cricket clubs and Guy Fawkes nights and carol concerts etc etc. I know that in theory we should be able to do all this, but the French are in for hard times under Sarkozy, and they are going to look for scapegoats. I do sometimes think that as a community we should keep our heads down more.[/quote] I went to Auschwitz this week. Imho, no community should keep their cleective head down nor adopt this as a stance. The next stage is victimhood. Pouyade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I understand what the Colonel meant. He didn't mean keep your head down as such but, on the other hand, no need to keep drawing attention to yourself unnecessarily. I totally think that's right. It's just a kind of inverse perversity otherwise, "Look, I'm dIFFERENT!", as though that isn't already perfectly obvious.Like being a tourist anywhere; OF COURSE you're NOT going to be taken for a local but, people who go about wearing loud clothes and jewellery or drinking excessively at 10 in the morning also tend to be the ones who get their wallets pinched, their credit cards nicked, etc.I don't say they deserve it as such; just that, if they'd exercise a bit of discretion, it might not have happened to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Our local baker's changed hands about 2 months ago. I pop in every day for a loaf. Yesterday, I bumped into an English woman I know and we were chatting (not loudly, I promise) in the queue. When I got to the front, the lady behind the counter said "Are you English? I didn't know that, I thought you were French!" You have no idea how flattered I was. I'm really pleased when I blend in, but on the other hand, I'm not ashamed of being English, why should I be? Although I admit on occasions to being ashamed of some of my compatriots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 [quote user="Colonel Mustard"]Where I live the nearest town has an English bookshop, and an English grocery, and there are people organising cricket clubs and Guy Fawkes nights and carol concerts etc etc. [/quote]I am slightly uneasy about the Guy Fawkes night celebrations, as I used to be when watching the burning effigies of the pope on Bonfire Night in Lewes...I know it is symbolic, but I am still uncomfortable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 [quote user="sweet 17"]I don't think you're too sensitive at all. We've only been here 6 months and I have found myself blushing when out with a friend from "home" (who has been here 3 years) and WISHING she would not talk quite so loudly in English in shops and restaurants! Not only that, she and hubby are actually proud that they speak no French and have no intention of even trying.Needless to say, now my oven is installed and I am thinking of holding my first dinner party to include French & Brits, THEY will definitely be off the invite list.[/quote]Maybe you should invite them in mixed company, if only to demonstrate what they're missing out on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 [quote user="cooperlola"]Our local baker's changed hands about 2 months ago. I pop in every day for a loaf. Yesterday, I bumped into an English woman I know and we were chatting (not loudly, I promise) in the queue. When I got to the front, the lady behind the counter said "Are you English? I didn't know that, I thought you were French!" You have no idea how flattered I was. I'm really pleased when I blend in, but on the other hand, I'm not ashamed of being English, why should I be? Although I admit on occasions to being ashamed of some of my compatriots.[/quote]A few weeks ago and, strangely, also in the Baker's I was mistaken for a Parisien.I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Round here that is a real insult Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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