30 replies to this topic

[Hum]

Congratulations, my fellow Americans. According to a recent survey, not only is the U.S. not the rudest place on earth, but we're not even in the top five.

France is the rudest place in world to visit with nearly one-fifth of votes, based on travel website Skyscanner.com's ranking. “This seems to be a fairly common stereotype, albeit not one which is necessarily true,” Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner's travel editor told the International Business Times.

Russia, the U.K. and Germany rounded out the top four most unfriendly countries to visit. The U.S. was ranked seventh after "Other" and China, and apparently play better hosts than tourists. Americans recently topped another poll as the world's worst tourists, but the majority of the respondents in that survey were ironically American.

This most recent poll generated more than 1,200 user responses--60% of the respondents from the U.K. and Ireland, according to the International Business Times.

Brazil, The Caribbean, Philippines and Thailand were ranked the least rude countries for travelers.

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[+McCordRm]

Germany? Really? They're abrasive, but I wouldn't say rude. I had hella fun
over there.

As tourists, though... I have to agree. For all our talk about respecting other
cultures, you wouldn't believe it watching how Americans treat foreigners
in the homeland.

Point of evidence: Americans get ****ed when they visit a foreign
restaurant, for example, and no-one there speaks English.

[Tuishimi]

I worked in a position where I dealt with people from England, France and Germany and never found them to be lacking in civility and hospitality in any way. I had a standing invite from a man in France to come stay with his family in Paris should we ever get over there.

Germans can SEEM abrasive sometimes, but they aren't really; when they are working, they are serious about their work. They think you should have expectations of them and they have them of you...

Don't know many Russians... I know a couple of people from Poland and they are always a pleasure to talk with...

I think people are people. I think we have preconceived ideas and then subconsciously apply them.

McCordRm, on 19 November 2012 - 02:21, said:

Point of evidence: Americans get ****ed when they visit a foreign
restaurant, for example, and no-one there speaks English.

You know, the only not-so-good experience I had in another country was in the French District of Montreal at a restaurant... I know, like, 2 words in French... She started talking to me in French and I responded in English and woah baby all hell broke loose! She gave me the RIOT act (in French, thankfully, so I didn't REALLY know what she was saying, except I know she was furious)... my French-speaking friend who was with me saved me with "Noooo noooooo nooooooooooooooo, AMERICAN!"

Apparently the French vs. English thing is pretty heated in Quebec.

[Growled]

Tuishimi, on 19 November 2012 - 02:33, said:

... I think people are people. I think we have preconceived ideas and then subconsciously apply them.

I agree. Good and bad people exist everywhere.

[Dushmany]

Tuishimi, on 19 November 2012 - 02:33, said:

You know, the only not-so-good experience I had in another country was in the French District of Montreal at a restaurant... I know, like, 2 words in French... She started talking to me in French and I responded in English and woah baby all hell broke loose! She gave me the RIOT act (in French, thankfully, so I didn't REALLY know what she was saying, except I know she was furious)... my French-speaking friend who was with me saved me with "Noooo noooooo nooooooooooooooo, AMERICAN!"

Apparently the French vs. English thing is pretty heated in Quebec.

Knowing my friend that can speak french (how I envy him) he'd probably be agreeeing with the woman, and the whole 'noo', part would simply be thrown in to make me think he was siding with me, lol

[DocM]

I can believe France - been there twice and it was horrid, as was Montreal, Quebec. Swore we'd never go back to either.

[SPEhosting]

Tuishimi, on 19 November 2012 - 02:33, said:

Apparently the French vs. English thing is pretty heated in Quebec.

french hate the english -____- almost as much as we hate them .... its a horrible place... though I dont blame people for putting the UK within the top 5 we are nice bunch of people over here .... bad sadly we have a lots of crap floating around (kids and good for nothings) which ironically are the ones who think they have the most right as to what goes on over here.... I dont see the problem with germany though ?

[Neobond]

I agree about France, I know... I've been there more than once and only because my ex was obsessed with the place lol. Pompous gits, the lot of them!

[Xilo]

Hum, on 19 November 2012 - 02:13, said:

France is the rudest place in world to visit with nearly one-fifth of votes, based on travel website Skyscanner.com's ranking. “This seems to be a fairly common stereotype, albeit not one which is necessarily true,” Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner's travel editor told the International Business Times.

It's not really a stereotype. We had a French team at work and man... They were some of the worst people to work with. There were one or two that were fine but definitely the minority.

[Gotenks98]

My aunt told me about her experience when she went to france, no one would help her as a tourist unless she spoke french. She had a english to french dictionary and struggled to get certain stuff done but they still would not help her.

[Ambroos]

As long as you make an effort to speak French there is absolutely nothing wrong with France They are a bit too 'proud' of their own language from time to time, but they are just ridiculously bad at learning other (especially Germanic, like English) languages.

Language is always an issue. When you don't understand people/people don't understand you it pretty much always comes over as rude.

I think everyone would enjoy Belgium. In general around here (at least in Flanders) everyone speaks Dutch, French and English pretty good, and some speak German too. In the Southern part of Belgium you'll have to rely on French or English if you're in luck.

[threetonesun]

Weird, I was in Montreal recently and every conversation went:
French accent: "Bonjour!"
Me: "Hello!"
Plain English accent: "Oh, you speak English."

It didn't seem to phase anyone, although I will say this hold less true the closer you get to Quebec City.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I've been to France several times and found the experience to be very enjoyable, though I stuck to the more touristy parts. I can imagine the rural villages being a very different affair. Still, I found Belgium and Italy to be much more friendly countries. As for the UK, while I wouldn't say it's inhospitable to tourists I can understand why it could be perceived as such given the Brits unwillingness to speak or attempt other languages.

As for the poll about bad tourists, I would have to agree with the US topping it. I've been to numerous other countries and I find it incredibly rude and grating how loudly Americans speak, as it's quite disrespectful. Walking around Pisa and Firenze you can't escape overly loud American tourists making banal comments.

[Slayer]

Here's the key to visiting Quebec:

"Bonjour! Je parle un petit peu de francais. Est-ce que tu parle anglais?"

In other words, don't go up to a French person and say "do you speak English?" Make an effort to ask them something in their language and they will be likely to respond in yours if they understand it.

[ILikeTobacco]

I agree with the notion the Germany is becoming a much more rude place than in the past. My mother is full German and even she says things are just not the same. There is a lot of racial tension building over there which in turn leads to cultural tension. I know that tensions between the German population and the Turkish immigrants is growing in cities like Mannheim where my grandparents are from.

That being said, if you stick to tourist areas, you don't experience the problems. It's the equivilant of going to L.A. as a tourist and accidently and unknowingly going into some of the rougher neighborhoods. Don't expect people to be nice to you in places you shouldn't wonder into.