I’m about to sound like the ignorant American I am, so I apologize in advance! We’re looking at a trip to Germany, and possibly Prague, and we’ve noticed that a lot of the hotel names are French and a couple hotels that aren’t named in French have replied to comments with things like “Bonjour! etc etc” What’s up with this? Is French just the most commonly spoken common language, even in Germany and Czechia? (I know that Germany and Czechia have their own languages, of course.) Or is it something else?
You’re American. Marketing data says that you like all things French and Italian.
Guess what happens next in this salesforce driven industry?
:)
East of Munich you’re best bet is German, but English is also spoken widely. West of Munich you’re more or less fine with English. In the northern countries we are used to the fact no one speaks our language so we all speak English, a lot of people French and a lot of German because it’s close to our own.
Italians try English. As do most Spanish. Try is the magic word here, it’s like your Spanish after high school or my French. :)
French don’t try. They speak French. Period. In hotels etc. (tourist spots) English is spoken by few employees. But they are there. :)
In the balkans the situation is mixed. Some parts English, some German, some French, some Russian. I get by with an English/German mix in Croatia. my German is better then my French… But not a lot). Here in the Netherlands my level of German is widely called “steenkolen Duits” (coal German) because it’s course, harsh, hard and dirty)
Anyway you’ll be fine. Have a great vacation.
Yep, we try English. We are not very good at it (thanks Mussolini) and the situation is not gonna improve. But you’ll survive, even here. Last time I was in a hotel here a foreigner was communicating with the receptionist via Google Translate ;p
I’ve been to Italy multiple times (actually on a plane to leave for Milan right now). I never had any problem communicating while there.
Lucky you. Sometimes I have issues understanding other people’s incorrect Italian…
I mean, I feel like I’ve been seen, but also called out. 😂 Thank you for all of this info!
That’s actually not the etymology. Steenkolenduits (spelled without a space) is a riff on steenkolenengels, which was the basic/broken English spoken by dockworkers with sailors on incoming British coal ships (steenkolenboten).
https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steenkolenduits
Thank you for clearing it up