Americans can be funny
So I’m in the De Markten cafe, one of my favourite cafes in Brussels which I frequent very often and this place gets quite a few foreigners.
In fact I myself have travelled a fair bit and seen my fair share of tourists/travellers/foreigners from various nations, and overall, Americans definitely stand out for the most foot-in-mouth moments or general faux pas.
For instance right here next to me in, two young (late 20s) male seppos just sat down so I knew I’d be good for about an hour of entertainment. First little tidbit:
Yank 1: i’ll have a Stella Art-wah (in a very pronounced chic French accent, hey buddy we just call em Stella)
Yank 2: i’ll have one of those Hyundais [sic]
Waiter: a what?
Yank 2: it’s there at the top of the drinks list
Waiter: Oh… Bionade
Tidbit 2
Yank 2: Hey what’s that croh-kay (sic)? It looks really big!
Waiter: Yeah that’s the croque madame
Yank 2: OK, I’ll have a croh-kay mah-daaaaaaaaam (sic)
Well at least you gotta hand it to ’em for trying.
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It’s always a bit of a toss up that one… do you give local pronunciation a go and look a bit stupid or ignore it, say it how you will and let the local figure it out.
I’m all for ballsing it up and giving local pronunciation a go. Even slipping the few foreign words I know into an otherwise English sentence.
btw how’s your
that was meant to say:
how’s your Flemish? French? coming along? How long are you overseas for?
catch you later,
W
Hey mate,
I’m all for giving it a go but some people are so bad at it that it turns out very funny. When it comes to seppos, they make everything funny somehow… or palm-on-face cringeworthy.
I’m overseas for abt 3 months, coming home March 1st and my French is terrible, at the start I held out some hope for trying to pick some up but quickly gave that up because i just can’t be arsed right now 😛