I do speak German, Italian, English and some (very little) Spanish, Mandarin and French. In my view a language is a door to another culture. Without it, it is really hard to emerge. English did come relatively easy for me (coming from german) but I only learned it for 2 years. This is why I had to read some books and travel to US/UK/Australia. English is, de facto, the lingua franca. In most of Europe this is accepted like a social law - in the french speaking parts of Europe (southern belgium, Luxemburg and France) people still fight this fact a bit.
I know my European friends started learning English from an early age in school - much earlier than I (UK) had to start French & German. Pre-internet, the prevalence of American TV shows and British and American music were strong influences in helping Europeans pick-up English by osmosis outside of the classroom too. The network effect is definitely true, and I wonder if the European Union project which has actively sought to remove physical borders between European countries has encouraged an environment that is broadly more interested/enthused to communicate with each other - and English happens to be the easiest route - because of the influences of business & culture. From my experience some countries/areas of Europe tend to be more open to speaking (and likely fluent in) English than others - Scandinavia and Netherlands for example.
There is no animosity towards speaking English. As you pointed out, people associate the act of speaking English with "foreigners" - that is foreigners in general, not Americans or British particularly.
There is however an ample (almost consensus I'd say) feeling that Americans are uncultured, unhealthy, unintelligent - and most of all, impolite, lacking good manners.
Not sure why that is though. Hollywood doesn't export a very good view of Americans to Europeans.
Having travelled extensively throghout America on business and having met people from California to Texas to Florida to New York, from deckmen/shoremen to CEOs, there is no way to categorize all Americans as "this or that", every state seems to have their own unique culture, way of life, that differs radically from other states. This is tad difficult for Europeans to grasp, as there absolutely are differences from from someone living in Marseille (South of France) and Paris (North), but nowhere near as much difference from someone living in New Orleans to New York.
It is often easy for us to tell where other Americans are from. And to be fair, many Americans have a dim view of Europeans! It’s always easy to focus on the differences we dislike, rather than the positives. Had a wonderful trip, and yet I’m glad to be home :)
I do speak German, Italian, English and some (very little) Spanish, Mandarin and French. In my view a language is a door to another culture. Without it, it is really hard to emerge. English did come relatively easy for me (coming from german) but I only learned it for 2 years. This is why I had to read some books and travel to US/UK/Australia. English is, de facto, the lingua franca. In most of Europe this is accepted like a social law - in the french speaking parts of Europe (southern belgium, Luxemburg and France) people still fight this fact a bit.
I know my European friends started learning English from an early age in school - much earlier than I (UK) had to start French & German. Pre-internet, the prevalence of American TV shows and British and American music were strong influences in helping Europeans pick-up English by osmosis outside of the classroom too. The network effect is definitely true, and I wonder if the European Union project which has actively sought to remove physical borders between European countries has encouraged an environment that is broadly more interested/enthused to communicate with each other - and English happens to be the easiest route - because of the influences of business & culture. From my experience some countries/areas of Europe tend to be more open to speaking (and likely fluent in) English than others - Scandinavia and Netherlands for example.
Will be waiting for you to come to Vigo, I will invite you to take some Estrella Galicia here ;)
I’ll put it on the list! Thanks for reading
There is no animosity towards speaking English. As you pointed out, people associate the act of speaking English with "foreigners" - that is foreigners in general, not Americans or British particularly.
There is however an ample (almost consensus I'd say) feeling that Americans are uncultured, unhealthy, unintelligent - and most of all, impolite, lacking good manners.
Not sure why that is though. Hollywood doesn't export a very good view of Americans to Europeans.
Having travelled extensively throghout America on business and having met people from California to Texas to Florida to New York, from deckmen/shoremen to CEOs, there is no way to categorize all Americans as "this or that", every state seems to have their own unique culture, way of life, that differs radically from other states. This is tad difficult for Europeans to grasp, as there absolutely are differences from from someone living in Marseille (South of France) and Paris (North), but nowhere near as much difference from someone living in New Orleans to New York.
It is often easy for us to tell where other Americans are from. And to be fair, many Americans have a dim view of Europeans! It’s always easy to focus on the differences we dislike, rather than the positives. Had a wonderful trip, and yet I’m glad to be home :)
Always the best part of the trip - coming home!
Looks like you are in my country. Hope you enjoy it! Don't miss Barcelona... and Sitges.
I was on the north coast, though it was lovely as well! Be back soon!