Meanwhile all tourist-facing workers in every non-Anglo country have heard “I’M AMERICAN! SPEAK ENGLISH TO ME!!!” at least once.
I don’t travel. Is it common for the locals servicing tourists to not know at least enough English to get by?
Often, however:
- Tourists tend to seek out “authentic” parts of the country.
- Some places tend to German or French speaking tourists primarily.
- Tourist industries can have high worker turnover, so there’s always someone learning the ropes.
- Even perfect English might be unintelligible to a gammon if the accent is thick.
I saw a tiktok of a Brit talking about this with the upcoming ban in the US, and he made an interesting point. The Americans who can afford to travel and take time off work, are more often the ones who have lived privileged lives, and as a result act more entitled than the average American. He commented how interacting with regular Americans on tiktok changed his perception of what they are like, because only interacting with the tourists makes it seem like there’s a higher percentage of entitled a-holes.
