Do you find it rude - when people are talking in a different language infront of you?

wordy said:
Well thats rude aswell, you go to live somewhere, you make the effort to fit in/learn the language etc. Being English isn't an excuse.

My opinion is if you move to another country you should want to embrace it's culture, live there for what the country is, not how much money you can make from it.
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Exactly. I spend a lot of time in the UAE and i know at least enough Arabic to greet people and ask very basic questions. Arabic is stupid hard though, so i dont think i'm going to try and become fluent. I do talk to the guards or the police when they're nearby. They find my basic grasp of arabic amusing, it tends to be a nice ice-breaker for conversation :P
 
Yes, My old managers & floor staff in the restaurant I work in were all Italians(we're not even an Italian restaurant lol) But they used to constantly speak Italian in front of the English staff, in front of customers etc. I found it more irritating than rude, as I could never get a word in edgeways, which was extremely frustrating sometimes.
 
wordy said:
Well thats rude aswell, you go to live somewhere, you make the effort to fit in/learn the language etc. Being English isn't an excuse.

My opinion is if you move to another country you should want to embrace it's culture, live there for what the country is, not how much money you can make from it.
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What is the culture of a country?

I often wonder what exactly is different between us europeans.

I live in Belgium where culture is a buzz word as the political infighting between the wallons and the vlaams is at its height at the moment. However, in the street the differences are more subtle. Sure a small village in the heart of wallonia has a strong culture but towns, cities don't really seem to have a culture. My friends all do the same thing be they greek, italian, spanish, belgian. They go home bath the kids watch some TV, eat dinner etc. What's the cultural difference there?

The right wing Vlaams Belang the flemish independance party witters on about the weakening of flemish culture by french speakers yet I'm still at a loss to so what has changed. Culture surely means more than simply which language we speak?
 
i find it rude when customers do it at work. Im trying to help and they go on at each other in whatever language and i have to just stand there untill they're done. I find it very rude
 
My boss is french, and so is her boyfriend, they live in the pub i work in. They regulary speak french to eachother, but can both speak english too. Doesnt really bother me, and i dont care if theyre talking about me, i can speak a little, but not enough to know if they were talking about me.

If i was in spain with an english friend, i hope the spanish wouldnt expect me to be speaking spanish to my friend, just so they can understand because its their country. I'll speak english to him, because its easier!
 
I generally don't have a problem with it, but that may vary according to the circumstances.

My girlfriend is Mexican and has absolute tons of friends from Latin America and Spain, so I'm used to her speaking in Spanish with her friends. Occasionally, they sit there speaking in English (which just happens without anyone suggesting it, it's strange), but to them, Spanish is a more evocative and colourful language which allows them to express themselves better. Besides, I'm trying to learn the language for when I visit Mexico with her....I'm just sick of asking them to slow down! :D

A few years ago, I used Afrikaans with a South African friend to pass comment on some young ladies who were stood right next to him. Not done it for a long time, apart from when our little group of ex-saffers have too much to drink and start seeing how many Afrikaans swear words we can remember - often loudly and aimed at one another :D
 
I'm English, work in a mixed Welsh/English speak company.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest if two colleagues are talking about their weekend, friends, family, day to day stuff. But work-related, then yeah it would be nice for them to talk in English (which generally they do)

But, my choice to move here, I should learn the language.
 
My girlfriend (who speaks better English than me by the way) often starts speaking Arabic to some of her friends, and to her family when she's at home, despite me being there. I find it a bit awkward because I'm stood there twiddling my thumbs. My solution - learn Arabic!
 
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I do this all the time with my girlfriend. She's originally from Germany and I've now picked the language up at a conversational level.

If we're out in public and want to talk about something privately we just switch to German. Thankfully most people in this country don't speak a second language :P
 
I'm a licencee. Nothing winds me up more than a group of people (I'm sorry, usually Asian) natter at the bar in whatever language, and then turn and rattle off their order in perfect English.

If you can speak English, then do so.
 
Not really, but depends on the circumstance.

Put it this way: when you + friend are on holiday in a non english-speaking country and need to speak to your friend in front of the locals, do you speak in their language? I hardly think so, you'd talk to each other in English. So it can be the same here.

Somewhere out there on a french forum, there must be someone who has the same problem with these "bloody english people not speaking french".
 
I find it rude when people do this, a bit like when people answer mobile phones infront of you when you are mid way through a conversation!

I went to Norway a couple years back for a gig and stayed with a couple people while I was there. For the whole week, them and their friends all spoke English whenever me and my mate were in the room as they thought it was rude for them to speak Norwegian! How polite is that?! :)
 
If people are talking amongst themselves then why should someone else care what they are saying? it's not like it's causing you harm that you're not able to eavesdrop now is it...
 
Pez said:
I'm a licencee. Nothing winds me up more than a group of people (I'm sorry, usually Asian) natter at the bar in whatever language, and then turn and rattle off their order in perfect English.

If you can speak English, then do so.
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See I really don't get that mentality. If they prefer to speak to each other in a certain language why should they not?
 
It's not rude at all, if they wanted to include you in their conversation then they'd address you in your own language, if not, stop getting uppity that you're unable to eavesdrop.
 
So it's not rude for two people who you know to stand in front of you and knowingly exclude you from a conversation? I think that's rude whether its done in English or any other language.
 
i suppose it depends if they know you and how well they can speak english and how well they can express themselves. if they are with some1 who can speak their native language and using it shouldnt really be a problem imo, if I was in france with some1 and we could speak broken french I wouldnt talk with them in french for the sake of other people being there
 
it is rude if they are doing it to exclude you from the conversation, its the same as whispering in my opinion. On the other hand if English is there second language technical information is easier in there native tongue.
 
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