On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:13:48 -0500, "TMOliver"
wrote:

Perhaps they simply don't want to speak English to/with you......

There's a lot of that going on. I was stationed in France when I was
in the army, and it was my impression that most Parisians preferred to
oblige the foreigner to speak French even if they were fluent in it.

In Saigon some years ago I fell into conversation with Andre Le Bon, a
one-legged war correspondent. (He left the other leg at Dienbienphu.)
We had these excruciating (for me and I suspect for him) talks about
military strategy on the part of the French and on the part of the
Americans. If I couldn't think of the French phrase, I'd said it in
English: "Regimental Combat Team" and Andre would supply "Groupe
Mobile" and we would rattle on till the next crisis. Clearly his
English was far better than my French, but we never spoke English.

After I graduated from college, I chased a girl to Montreal and hung
around there for a week. If I asked a question in French, the other
person invariably answered in English. But some years later I went
back and I found the situation had reversed: if I asked a question in
English, the other person invariably answered in French. (I.e.,
Montrealers had become Parisians.)



Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
forthcoming from HarperCollins www.flyingtigersbook.com