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@Glory1 wrote:That's good to know @ComaChameleon and I didn't know the Dutch spoke German but that's not so surprising. It's only the Brits and Americans who, with the odd exception, only speak English and expect everybody else to speak English too wherever they are in the world.
Yes, very odd exceptions, @Glory1 
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I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. More and most schools now teach a second language as early as primary school.
I was taught French and Spanish and even took a year of German and two years of Latin. Granted it's a long time ago but whilst not a fluent speaker I could get by in most of the EU with the basics.
My reading and understanding is far better than my spoken and I love Latin phrases that are the basis of a lot of quiz shows.
Although forgetting much of what I have learned over my advancing years there are many things that stick in the memory including more than a smittering of Thai (although I'm needing a refresher course!)
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I do agree that schools teach a second language @jonsie , the trouble is we fail to make the effort as so many other countries make it easy for us as they usually speak English (or enough to get by)
Typical example with having my apartment in Spain for all those years. When in Spain I used a smattering of Spanish but as all the Spaniards spoke English I didn't bother to become fluent.
A lot of Brits in Spain are the same.
PS I was probably better at Latin as most of the medical terminology is based round that language. Lol
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@MI5 wrote:
Try visiting France. You have no choice other than to speak French!
Yeah. they don't even recognise the English as people let alone bother learning our language!
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@MI5 wrote:
Try visiting France. You have no choice other than to speak French!
I have been to France three times. Once to my sisters house in the Dordogne. She was fluent so I let her get on with it. 
Seriously though I do find French quite easy IF you are actually there. It tends to come back to you.
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Yes @jonsie I spoke Spanish as a kid and teenager growing up in New York thanks to Puerto Rican friends. And had French in school improved on thanks to a French friend I went to middle school with. I can get by in Spain and France when pushed. I understand French better than I speak it. And speak Spanish better than I understand it. Can read both languages better still.
But I also agree with @Cleoriff that most Europeans speak English thanks to many of our and American TV shows, as well as learning English in School. The exception is France, and @MI5 is correct you have to speak French in France. Even if they speak English they won't, they hate the Brits and Americans that much.
But the majority of Brits and Americans only speak English. Only if their grandparents or parents in America spoke another language are they bilingual. Usually Italians or Cubanos or Puerto Ricans.
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@MI5 wrote:
Hate is a strong word to use @Glory1.
Some regions in France have a dislike for some other nationalities but venture further south where there were strong bonds with the Resistance during the war and the Brits are loved. Without us, France would not have survived the German onslaught at all.
Perhaps @MI5 hate was indeed too strong a word but it's been my experience of France I'm afraid. I certainly agree with you totally that France would not have survived the German onslaught without Britain.
However, my experiences of France in Paris and other regions of France, though I can't remember specifically where we were as it was many years ago, was anything but friendly. Even when I went out of my way to speak French rather than assume they spoke English, I was looked at as if I just landed on a spaceship. My French may not have been perfect but at least I made the effort. In Spain and Italy they are pleased when you attempt to speak Spanish or Italian, laugh and correct you in a friendly way. Not so in France; at least that's been my experience.
You spend a lot more time in France than I did and have a home there. So your experience is clearly different to mine. But I can only speak for how I was treated on my visits which, apart from when I was with my late boyfriend, who was fluent in French and did all the talking, was anything but friendly.
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