OT- Spelling is out.

[Slynky]

Originally posted by Alneyan:
Nevertheless, I have to admit French usually have an issue with English, many barely know this language, and there are some who, even if they are fluent in English, are reluctant to use that language. I'm wondering, is such an attitude common in other countries or is that yet another oddity of France?

I won't pretend to speak for other counties but I can speak from experience. I can easily say, from personal experience in my travels, the following:

(1) The older a person was, the higher probability they didn't speak English.

(2) The "poorer" a country was, the greater the chance the (average) population did not speak English.

(3) The more a country (or area) was a tourist attraction, the better the chances English was spoken (except for France).

Those are some general assumtions I have drawn. Please understand, I was not the typical tourist. I RARELY used a tourist bus or travel agent. I drove or flew to get where I wanted to go and I rented a car (or used mine) or used the wonderful rail system to get around after that. And while I DID visit "tourist" spots, I made it a point to travel in "non-tourist" places (with my case of camera equipment)

In closing, I'd like to show my objectivity a bit. In general, US tourists are more likely to be a--holes than the average tourist from another country. Arragant a--holes. Many were the times I was embarrassed to be American. And, to stay on topic, during the time I traveled heavily, I noted it was rare that an American spoke the language of the country I was in. We Americans REALLY suck when it comes to speaking a second language.