"On my first solo trip to Spain as a college student, I confidently boarded a bus in Madrid to buy a ticket. I mispronounced my words and asked for a napkin instead of a ticket. Flustered by the driver's confusion, I tried to say I was embarrassed but ended up announcing I was pregnant. After several failed attempts, the bus driver and nearby passengers burst into laughter."
""While they do it with the intention of making communication easier, it comes across as condescending, a bit as if they were assuming the other person was a child or had an impairment. It's really embarrassing, especially in bars and restaurants, where the waiting staff have no choice but to patiently smile," she explained. The volume approach becomes doubly ineffective because Americans continue using complex phrasal verbs while raising their voices."
On a first solo trip to Spain, a traveler mispronounced words, asked for a napkin instead of a ticket, then mistakenly declared being pregnant, prompting laughter from the driver and passengers. A Preply survey found 80% of Americans believe learning basic phrases before travel is important, but only 58% actually learn them. Nearly a quarter of US travelers think speaking louder will make English understandable abroad. Language researchers with multilingual experience describe loud repetition and continued use of complex phrasal verbs as condescending and ineffective, especially in service settings where staff must smile patiently.
Read at BuzzFeed
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