parts of Belgium where people are snooty about speaking French to the point of pretending not to speak Flams
I live in Flanders and haven't spent much time in Wallonia, so I can't comment on that, but I have totally gotten the hairy eyeball from people here just for offering to switch to French when my Flemish proved inadequate for the situation.
The only time it's actually annoying is when it's a bureaucratic situation where some piece of business has to get transacted and we're failing in both Flemish and English. Last week the guy at the tax office looked at me like I'd just peed on his desk. I know I need to get better at Flemish, but I seriously just wanted to pay my taxes :(
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Date: 2009-08-14 10:43 am (UTC)I live in Flanders and haven't spent much time in Wallonia, so I can't comment on that, but I have totally gotten the hairy eyeball from people here just for offering to switch to French when my Flemish proved inadequate for the situation.
The only time it's actually annoying is when it's a bureaucratic situation where some piece of business has to get transacted and we're failing in both Flemish and English. Last week the guy at the tax office looked at me like I'd just peed on his desk. I know I need to get better at Flemish, but I seriously just wanted to pay my taxes :(