Is Europe confusing?

[Deleted]

Most of the time you can get by with english (someone will usually speak it). It helps if you try to use a few local phrases, its just polite to try and talk to people in their own language and they'll usually respond in english once they see you struggling.

[Slant]

Okay, sounds like Europe is okay to visit now.

Uh, about that... we all suck at English. And the French despise Canadians.

[tithian]

As someone from Austria I barely know a person with an English that worse that they wouldn't be able to understand an simple order... it's probably a bit worse in countries like Greece, Romania, Serbia or countries like that (of course unless you're in a tourist location) but I can be wrong.

In Greece if you work as staff to cafes, hotels, restaurants etc. it is mandatory to know enough English to talk to customers. Even on the street a good majority of random people will be able to help you out with decent,mediocre, or occasionally broken English. A lot of people even have a good grasp of French, German or Italian. Not surprising since tourism in Greece contributes heavily to the GDP.

If you are an English speaker Greece is far more accomodating than, say, France or Germany.

EDIT: And before you say that this is limited to tourist areas; pretty much all of Greece is a tourist-y area except maybe some god-forsaken villages in the mountains. Good luck there

[Vilendor]

OP, your avatar fits you and your attitude perfectly.

[Danner]

I've never been out of Canada. How do you visit a continent with hundreds of languages that don't even speak english. Why isn't english universal in europe? My french is so/so , so france would be okay to visit I suppose.

There may be a hundred languages if you count them all, but most of them are tiny and everyone natively speaking them obscure languages also understand the official language of a country. If you limit yourself to that, there are two-three dozen or so official languages in Europe. But you will find that even these resemble each other quite a bit. A norwegian will have no problem talking to a dane in their respective languages. On the broader scale, most of the european languages are heavily influenced by Latin and/or German, and share a lot of common words as a result.

Largely, the five big languages of Europe are
- English (the business language)
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Italian
You will find that every european speaks at least one and usually two of these. So a hundred languages is a vast over-generalization, and five is a simplified understatement. The answer is nonetheless closer to 5.

Either way, everyone including their grandmother speaks English. Yes, even in France as long as you do exclude those grandmothers (France started English language training in school decades later than anyone else in Europe). No, Frenchmen won't admit to understanding English. Since you're from Canada and know about the linguistic plights of Quebec, you probably understand how that works. But if they swallow their pride and decides they actually want your money, they will understand English. If not, go to the next café and spend your money there instead. If you understand French, no problem!

You will of course find people who do not understand English well. Really really old people usually didn't have enough schooling to have learned a second language (usually due to poverty); or did but learned German as the business language (it was a very big european cultural influence, pre-war). But unless you're talking with someone 75+ years old, that's generally not a concern.

Also, first generation immigrants often have no English training. You might have a problem ordering a kebab in English if you go to a non-natively-English-speaking country. Second-gen immigrants learn English just like everyone else.

Ultimately, all of Europe uses the same alphabet. That's a big deal, because it means you can read any signs regardless of language, and that makes any translation easy. If someone tells you to go to Brandenburger Tor, you can find that location on google maps and there you are. That's not quite as easy in Thailand or Japan; going to Asia you might find yourself both mute, deaf and illiterate. It's much much harder, even though you only have to relate to a single foreign language.

[Crispin]

There may be a hundred languages if you count them all, but most of them are tiny and everyone natively speaking them obscure languages also understand the official language of a country. If you limit yourself to that, there are two-three dozen or so official languages in Europe. But you will find that even these resemble each other quite a bit. A norwegian will have no problem talking to a dane in their respective languages. On the broader scale, most of the european languages are heavily influenced by Latin and/or German, and share a lot of common words as a result.

Largely, the five big languages of Europe are
- English (the business language)
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Italian
You will find that every european speaks at least one and usually two of these. So a hundred languages is a vast over-generalization, and five is a simplified understatement. The answer is nonetheless closer to 5.

Either way, everyone including their grandmother speaks English. Yes, even in France as long as you do exclude those grandmothers (France started English language training in school decades later than anyone else in Europe). No, Frenchmen won't admit to understanding English. Since you're from Canada and know about the linguistic plights of Quebec, you probably understand how that works. But if they swallow their pride and decides they actually want your money, they will understand English. If not, go to the next café and spend your money there instead. If you understand French, no problem!

You will of course find people who do not understand English well. Really really old people usually didn't have enough schooling to have learned a second language (usually due to poverty); or did but learned German as the business language (it was a very big european cultural influence, pre-war). But unless you're talking with someone 75+ years old, that's generally not a concern.

Also, first generation immigrants often have no English training. You might have a problem ordering a kebab in English if you go to a non-natively-English-speaking country. Second-gen immigrants learn English just like everyone else.

Ultimately, all of Europe uses the same alphabet. That's a big deal, because it means you can read any signs regardless of language, and that makes any translation easy. If someone tells you to go to Brandenburger Tor, you can find that location on google maps and there you are. That's not quite as easy in Thailand or Japan; going to Asia you might find yourself both mute, deaf and illiterate. It's much much harder, even though you only have to relate to a single foreign language.

Sorry but you're wrong on several parts, everyone and their grandmom do not speak english, my in-laws and my mom are crap at it altho they understand very basics as they do with german, french etc., and there are several times where english have been completely insufficient for ordering food at non major tourists cities or even reading the menu, that said you'll usually figure it all out.

One example is the American woman I once saw at the pantheon, who were asking at the small booth at the entrance for the toilet... the italien woman had no idea wtf she was talking about and she left frustrated, which was the right direction since there's no toilet inside the pantheon.

Also all of europe does not use the same alphabet.

[Danner]

Sorry but you're wrong on several parts, everyone and their grandmom do not speak english, my in-laws and my mom are crap at it, and there are several times where english have been completely insufficient for ordering food at non major tourists cities or even reading the menu, that said you'll usually figure it all out.

One example is the American woman I once saw at the pantheon, who were asking at the small booth at the entrance for the toilet... the italien woman had no idea wtf she was talking about and she left frustrated, which was the right direction since there's no toilet inside the pantheon.

Also all of europe does not use the same alphabet.

Fair on the last part. There are differences, and I skipped them to make a point. Nordic countries use those extra letters ÆØÅ. There are accents and stuff on letters in some countries that may give foreigners creeps. Cyrillic letters is a thing. The Greek alphabet is a thing. But the wider part of europe use the Latin alphabet, with variations. And semantics aside, the intent of my stamenet remains. Tourists can read signs in Europe with no issue.

I also concede that in parts of southern europe, as well as France as I mentioned, mandatory English training in school didn't start until many decades after everyone else settled on English as the Lingua Franca. To my knowledge though, all school systems in Europe offer English language training these days, but I would be interested in knowing about exceptions.

[Crispin]

Well places like Spain arent too strong on english, but it makes sense when you consider the large amount of spanish speaking countries, there are a vast amount of spanish movies, music etc. the states are very aware of how widespread spanish is, I'm sure it affects their culture alot more than it does in Europe, since it's "just another language", you'll probably get further in Spain with French or especially Italien than English overall, altho ofcourse tourist places are most likely stronger in English.

But in the end, if noone knows wtf you're saying, they'll probably find someone who does and can translate, was at pizzaria outside Verona some years ago, where the owner called his daughter/niece or whatever, so she could come and translate, because my girlfriend figured it would be a good time to order food but leave some out and add something else

[Deleted]

Why isn't english universal in europe?

Because we actually have a history and a culture of our own, unlike Canada.

[Kezotar]

Everyone speaks english here. The french (and maybe germans also) are just butthurt and pretend they don't.

"Butthurt"?

[Lytrwths]

Hold on, we are not offering an invite.

I laughed more than I should on this one

[Paklaaji]

You`ll be surprised by how many young/middle aged people in Eastern Europe know English.

Older generations, sure. But now it`s changing.

[Deleted]

I've never been out of Canada. How do you visit a continent with hundreds of languages that don't even speak english. Why isn't english universal in europe? My french is so/so , so france would be okay to visit I suppose.

It kinda is universal in Europe. The reason the French and Italians don't speak it well is that France are too proud too and Italians just...never get to.
The eastern European countries don't have good english because they don't get taught it in school, or have no incentive to do so, as learning something like Russian is much more useful for them.

But with English you can easily get around northern and central Europe without trouble. Especially in Scandinavia, where most of us speak English better than the English. Even my old parents can understand and make themselves understood in English.


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Well, there's many apps that can translate for you. There's also a new earpiece device that translates between users speaking different languages. They're already taking pre-orders.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/m...ranslator--2#/

You're pitching some freaking indiegogo project as a universal translator? I sincerely doubt its functionality.

[Paklaaji]

The eastern European countries don't have good english because they don't get taught it in school, or have no incentive to do so, as learning something like Russian is much more useful for them.

False. No one actually is learning the Russian in places like Baltics - you just pick it up on the streets as I did. Those who choose it over German or French just want to cheat their way around the system and get an easy 10 (A for burgers).
A lot of more people study German, French than Russian elsewhere in Eastern Europe - English is a part of curriculum.

[Deleted]

You would be suprised how few people speak english, I myself thought that in my country ( the Netherlands) most of us spoke English without problems.
But after having a foreign girlfriend I noticed how few people speak English outside maybe Amsterdam.

[Wildtree]

i lost him at "hundreds of countries"

he said hundreds of languages..
And, honestly, without knowing he was right with that.

Yes, we have the primary languages for every country. But within the country, the ballgame changes.
North America is not as diverse with dialects as we are in Europe.
Germany alone has easily 100 different dialects. Some are so heavy that people who aren't from that region don't understand a damn thing despite of being Germans lol
I've yet to fully figure out Swabian, Cologne dialect and Low German/Low Saxon.
That is not to say, that I cannot fall into a very heavy Franconian dialect myself and blend non Franconians out of the conversation if I want to.

I believe same goes for the French, English, and Spanish at least.

[Zoibert the Bear]

From my own experience, I've visited quite a few countries in Europe (e.g.: Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Croatia, Greece, Italy, France, UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic and a few others) and have had no problem at all using just English.

Beer is a universal word mate, it even works in fucking China.

[markos82]

I've never been out of Canada. How do you visit a continent with hundreds of languages that don't even speak english. Why isn't english universal in europe? My french is so/so , so france would be okay to visit I suppose.

Most people in Europe ( younger ) speak at least 2 foreign languages..... You seem like a troll..

[Deleted]

Why do you not speak mandarin? There are more people talking mandarin then english so why isn't it universal in the US?
And why do you think that people in Europe generally only speak one language? Personally i can speak 3, but where i live that is "on the low side". Normally you would learn at least english, french and german next to the native language.

Dafuq?

https://www.google.fr/search?q=manda...&tbm=isch&sa=X

[Kalis]

Most people in Europe ( younger ) speak at least 2 foreign languages..... You seem like a troll..

Jayburner gets confused tying balloons, what makes you think he would not find a continent confusing?