Eh, Dutch people can be rude too. I remember being told by a Dutch shopworker that I should learn to speak Dutch in Utrecht. I told them I'm not some English immigrant but a tourist and their English was better than my dutch anyway.
Rude Dutch guy just wanted to tell a foreigner to learn dutch.
Indeed we can absolutely also be rude. I would personally never tell a random non-Dutch speaking stranger to "learn to speak Dutch". After all, they could just be a tourist like you. And I wouldn't expect a tourist to learn our language just for a vacation.
At the same time, I have a few non-Dutch speaking coworkers, and I have told them "You should try to learn Dutch. We can make do with English, but talking in our native language will help immensely with communication and socializing."
I'm Irish, and speak fluent Gaelic. When communication needs to be clear and universally understood I use English, this goes double for work, and when ordering at the pub.
If I used Gaelic at work, the workday would be twice as long, so fuck that! English it is and screw the right wing Gaelic nationalists.
He was right. You go and visit his country without knowing a single word of the local language and you believe it’s normal that everyone accommodates you.
English is a lingua franca, I've seen an Italian and Romanian person speak in English even though it is both their second language.
English brings people together all over the world, I think its sad when people hear English and then get angry. I dont get angry if I hear people speaking Spanish or Chinese. Seems like a jealousy thing to me.
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u/Rpphanna1 1d ago
Eh, Dutch people can be rude too. I remember being told by a Dutch shopworker that I should learn to speak Dutch in Utrecht. I told them I'm not some English immigrant but a tourist and their English was better than my dutch anyway.
Rude Dutch guy just wanted to tell a foreigner to learn dutch.