a. Everybody speaks English.
b. Everybody feels comfortable speaking English
2. Remember that:
a. Most people learned English in a classroom setting and have never had the opportunity to use it with native speakers
b. Some people just don't like speaking other languages.
c. You are the foreigner and should be thankful when people try to help you in English. Showing frustration over
communication problems is also quite rude.
3. Try to speak English correctly!
a. Since most people have only learned classroom English, they are used to hearing and speaking it slowly and
grammatically correctly.
b. Speak slowly and clearly, but try not to talk to people as if they are small children.
c. Avoid using reduced forms and idioms; instead of saying 'I'm gonna be back at 8' try 'I will return at 8 o'clock'.
4. A few characteristics of French:
a. It is a Romance language as are Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portughese and Romanian.
b. Unlike most Romance languages, French is not spoken the way it is written. Final consonants and vowels are rarely
pronounced.
c. About half of all English words come from Middle French due to William the Conqueror, but they are pronounced
differently.
d. All nouns have a gender and everything is 'she' or a 'he', nothing is an 'it'.
e. Languages and relationships are very formal in most European countries compared to the U.S. Even when speaking in
English, it is very important to be polite - always greet someone when you first see them and when you leave. If you
know no French, learning French greetings will go a long way in getting people to respond to you favorably.