Explanation for Metal Head87's signature...

[Ghost of Red Dragon]

Speaking of... You know what really bugs me? English speaking tourists who go to a country and expect *everybody* to know English. I just want to punch those poeple.

it's the same as the Hispanics in USA expecting the non-hispanics to speak Spanish

 

[flying_whale]

it's the same as the Hispanics in USA expecting the non-hispanics to speak Spanish

ignoring that you are homosexual pedophile, i have to say that i more or less agree. There is one thing to visit a country and get away with speaking English, French, Spanish, YouNameItish, but once you make that country your permanent residence or for a longer period aka 6 months or more you should learn the language.
But the other side of the story, Spanish is still an official language of the United States if i'm not mistaken. I'm sure it is in California, and near the border of mexico, so being non-hispanic and knowing spanish helps.
Pero tu es un maricon que le gusta los ninos. Tu madre es una putha tambien!

 

[Liverslapper]

I've never had anything to do with rednecks, so I can't speak from experience.
But from what I've heard of redneck English, It's much more coherent and intelligible than ghetto talk.

It is more coherent and intelliigible then ghetto talk.

 

[Lunar Still]

It's more coherent because it's not really intentional, and there is less slang.

 

[Dead_Lioness]

Of course, the worst people are those who live in a multilingual country and refuse to speak any language but their own. Here in Belgium, we have half a country that is too chauvinistic and arrogant to speak the language of the other half, while we have no qualms with speaking their language when we go to their side.

Fucking Walloons.

haha. The funny thing is,.... I really wanted to give that as an example
in my previous posts.... I agree with you 100% btw.

Tourists in general bug me. I can't stand it when they get in my way, then have the audacity to start asking me for directions

+

 

[Dead_Lioness]

I give the wrong ones on purpose. Someone once asked me for directions to Times Square. I was in a rush, and this person was pretty much asking me about a billion different addresses, which was really getting on my nerves. I couldn't believe how anyone could possibly have trouble finding it, since mid-town is so easy to navigate, so I gave them directions to the water.

 

[Metal head87]

I'm not sad about it, just irritated

 

[Dead_Lioness]

I think you need a lesson in sarcasm.

 

[Lunar Still]

I think you need a lesson in sarcasm.

And the violin!

 

[Metal head87]

Violins are for the children of those Asians I gave dilections to the watel

 

[Lunar Still]

The Asian chirdlen ale realning to pray the viorin?

 

[Metal head87]

Yes. They pray vely good viorin.

 

[El Stormo]

Helman Ri is cool.

 

[Liverslapper]

 

[Dead Winter]

You have a point Dead Winter. It often strikes me that so many English-speaking folks laugh at other people's accents or errors when speaking English. It's pretty pathetic, since many English speakers are monoglots. Mind, it's not just the English who are irritating in that regard. I'm an Inspector for the Airport Police, and I've lost count of the times that Spanish or Italian folks come up to me to ask whatever, and when I ask them, "Nederlands? Français? English?... Deutsch?" they only reply with "Italiano" or "Español", after which they start ranting about how ashamed I should be that I don't know their language. I tell you, it takes a lot of effort for me not to just grab them by the collar and let them spend the night in one of our fine cells. Simply the fact they're in my country and simply walk up to me ranting in their own language is rude as Hell, but then calling me names because I can't speak their dago language to boot? Damn.

No offense to any dagoes in present company

See, you have an even more valid point that is a whole different can of worms. In the case you're speaking of, that is even more pathetic of the Spanish and Italians. English is the "default" language when you cannot communicate in any others. Italians are usually pretty humble and don't really care about what people think. Arrogance is usually not in their vocabulary...except when speaking about languages. I am not at all surprised when you mentioned Italians berating you IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY for not speaking their language. Although the English/Americans may do the same, for all intents and purposes, it's ENGLISH. In this case, it would be acceptable to expect someone to be able to speak English. Italians still haven't figured out that the only people who speak Italian are Italians and ppl who border this country. That pisses me off to no end. Their argument is that if English is the international language, then Italian should be as well. Of course, MOST Italians don't feel this way and usually jump at the chance to practice their English. There are some, however, that you just want to shoot.

What really gets my goat is when they come to English speaking countries and expect you to understand Italian. They'll come to England and start speaking in Italian without even trying to say something in English. They usually know better than to try that in the states because Americans will get pissed off and tell them to fuck off really quickly. It would be different if they were in Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, or even France, but it's pure idiocy to expect English-speaking people to know anything other than English. We don't border Italy; we don't live anywhere near it. The Spanish I can forgive: it's the second most spoken language in the world, so I can give them that. The few Italians who do this have no excuse.

Then we have my students. Most of them try with all their might to learn English like the English speak. Idioms, phrasal verbs, slang, etc...however, there are a few students who think that if they can learn the bare minimum, they can do whatever they want. They can't comprehend the fact that they are learning English in a vacuum, and in the real world, people aren't going to stop and repeat everything slowly. Usually, I just let them go. I will speak to them in English like I speak to my family and friends in English, and if they don't understand, it's their problem. I tried to help them but they wanted the bare minimum. After a 10 minute conversation with me, they're more lost than they were before. This usually wakes them up.

So you see, I wasn't just speaking about us. I'm speaking about anyone who refuses to open their eyes and their mind to the world. In the bigger cities, it's rarely a problem. Where I live, it gets quite frustrating. I tend to just speak in Italian because after an entire day of speaking monosyllabically in English, the last thing I want is to repeat everything I say twice and at half speed.