Totally agree with your post Andy, it's the,"Brits abroad syndrome," whereby they leave any brains they had, in the departure lounge of the airport they've flown out from. They expect to be waited on, hand and foot and treat their hosts like s**t. There is no respect shown, irrespective of the fact that Turkey is a Muslim country, you can see them a mile off, not wearing a shirt with an over hanging belly that would put Giant Haystacks to shame, not a pretty sight. This vision is seen in shops, out on the streets and sat in bars on chairs that someone else will sit on, after their sweaty body has vacated it. If you can't respect the culture, don't go there. A high percentage of Brits only go abroad to sit and drink all day, what a waste of money. They would be better served going and buying the 24 packs from the supermarket and sit in their lounges for a fortnight rather than pay X amount of £s to do the same thing abroad.

Les

Yup, I'm an ex-pat in Spain speaking some Spanish, not fluent but I get by. If I had a Euro for everytime I hear an ex-pat say "and they didn't speak any English" I could retire. A couple of days ago I overheard a conversation in a cafe between a Brit, a Spaniard and 2 Danish women. The Brit was complaining, in English, that "the biggest problem here is the language barrier......" I nearly PMSL at the irony.

I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't dream of not saying please and thank you here,so why wouldn't I not say it abroad.My Turkish is very limited,I'll be the first to admit it. I have learned some basics though. I can manage a hello, good morning,please and thank you,I can also order food and drinks. I always ask the waiter/bar man's name too. I like to be able to thank them by name. This always seems appreciated.
One you forgot to mention Les, topless women,it's so disrespectful in a muslim country.

Sharon, I haven't seen any of those on the streets of Altinkum, yet !! I know where you're coming from and agree with what you're saying, this is what I was driving at in my earlier post. Men not covering up in public places is disrespectful to the Muslim women but having said that, we were at the market yesterday and there were both young and older TURKISH men without shirts on.

Les

For almost 2 years I went out with a guy from Leith near Edinburgh and he drove me mental.... Always complaining that: the bacon, the bread, the sausages etc didn't taste like they did at home. (He was studying law at Salford Uni and was a part time quantity surveyor lecturer at Preston poly).

Finishing up I told him if things were so much better back in Scotland why didn't he just p**s off back there?

Needless to say, the relationship went steadily downhill after that!

But it always takes me right back there when I hear people moaning either when they're on holiday or if it's the ex-pats whinging here too.

cyprus100 wrote:

For almost 2 years I went out with a guy from Leith near Edinburgh and he drove me mental.... Always complaining that: the bacon, the bread, the sausages etc didn't taste like they did at home. (He was studying law at Salford Uni and was a part time quantity surveyor lecturer at Preston poly).

Finishing up I told him if things were so much better back in Scotland why didn't he just p**s off back there?

Needless to say, the relationship went steadily downhill after that!

But it always takes me right back there when I hear people moaning either when they're on holiday or if it's the ex-pats whinging here too.

The bit about ex-pats whinging is a good one Shell.

I have recently joined a forum that has loads of Ex-Pats on it, it's almost as if they have formed a forum specifically to moan about the Country they have emigrated to I keep thinking why are you living there then, also they seem to spend a lot of time talking about the UK . The other thing that amazes me is people who move aboad and still can't speak the language of the Country they have emigrated to after 6 or 7 years, surely that would be a prioriity ?

How on earth do they transact any business, deal with Doctors, Councils, Solicitors, Banks, Police etc let alone form a social life with the locals. Very odd. What a lonely life, no wonder they are on forums all the time talking to other Brits about the good old days, whatever they were.

I can't imagine moving abroad without having taken the time to learn the rudiments of the language first. I'm always amazed at the tv programmes where people sell up in the UK and move abroad to renovate a property and set up in business without bothering to learn a word of the local language. How can you possibly deal with tradesmen, utility companies, local government, etc if you can't communicate in their language?
I always ignore the reviews where people rate accommodation or a resort badly because they could only get spicy food in India or the locals didn't speak English. Why go abroad if you want eggs, beans and chips for your meal?

many people only have one holiday abroad per year, some go to different resorts/countries each year, it is forgiveable that these people do not speak/understand the local language,and reports saying English not spoken/ or not spoken well may help them make a decision.
however
Ex pats/owners abroad/those who go to the same country/resort every year, have no excuse, a few years ago a friend introduced me to some of his family at a party his son in law was in his late 20's during the discussion it was mentioned that they had a new villa in Cyprus, also during the chat it was said that this wasn't the first and they had been holidaying 2 months a year[and Christmas] since he was 7 or 8,i commented he must be fluent in village Greek and he said no one in his family had bothered, why should we we paid good money for our villa it our holiday!
fortunately all too common,

as for the ex- pat they come in 2 types, those who want to live/possibly work and absorb everything local [these usually can speak [if not read] the local lingo. and the second group unfortunately the biggest move to an enclave with hundreds like them who had the dream and think they are living it, when they are only living as brits abroad and that's all they will ever be

sorry if i upset anyone

Yasus
wizard

+1 Wizard

Doe
It wasn't an expat Cyprus forum was it? My sister could never understand why everyone spent their time whinging when they had chosen to move to the country.

I agree with you completely Andy. I can never understand why people go abroad and then moan because people can't speak English or the food is foreign! If you want people to speak English to eat British food then stay at home.

It doesn't take much to learn a couple of words in the language of the country you are visiting and it is always good to find out a little of the local culture so you don't offend anyone. Many of these "Brits Abroad" types just go along and think they are entitled to take over a place, be loud and abusive, drink themselves silly and completely ignore the fact that other people actually live there.

The Turkish people are mot impressed by this kind of behaviour at all, they think that people who act like that are ignorant and unfortunately it is always the bad ones who give the rest of the British holiday makers such a bad name.

I lived in Turkey for a few years and I tried to learn the language as much as I could, I never actually mixed with any British people, I lived amongst Turkish people all the time, luckily my lack of language skills was never a problem as my husband is Turkish but if I had been alone I would have had to learn a lot quicker just to get by.

I'd have to learn the language as I'm too nosey I couldn't bear not to know what everyone was talking about around me.

I did learn a little Dutch when I lived in Holland but it was really difficult as, as soon as a person realised I was English they wanted to speak in English.

Food:- I've always tried the countries food, I'm not bothered what I have for breakfast so aren't a staunch British eggs and bacon type (although hubby does enjoy his Brit brekkie). The only thing I'm not too keen on is when a menu is only fish & that's because I'm paranoid about fish bones .

Again in Holland I loved being introduced to their food, raw mincemeat & onion rolls, chicken satay in peanut sauce Recently whilst in Spain we came across a Dutch restaurant and I just had to get a carry out of some of their nibbles that I hadn't had for years. So there I was, English in Spain eating Dutch food.

as for the ex- pat they come in 2 types, those who want to live/possibly work and absorb everything local [these usually can speak [if not read] the local lingo. and the second group unfortunately the biggest move to an enclave with hundreds like them who had the dream and think they are living it, when they are only living as brits abroad and that's all they will ever be

sorry if i upset anyone

You should never have to apologise (to anyone) for stating the truth.

Sanji

People go on holiday for different reasons, for some it's experiencing a different culture, for others it may be the food, for a large majority it's the weather.
My late parents often went to Spain or Italy, the warm sunshine did wonders for my father's arthritis, the latter years of their lives I often accompanied them and we always stayed in hotels where the food would lean towards traditional British tastes.
But according to previous posters my parents should have stayed home rather than holiday abroad because my 91yr old father wanted to eat food that he was familiar with.
To be honest I do expect hotel workers in major hotels/resorts to understand some English, German or French. These hotels exist almost entirely for foreign tourists and any hotel manager worth his salt would ensure that his employees had some rudiments of the language of the people paying their salaries.

To be honest I do expect hotel workers in major hotels/resorts to understand some English, German or French. These hotels are there purely for the tourists and any hotel manager worth his salt would ensure that his employees had some rudiments of the language of the people paying their salaries.

I would expect (hope) that the front line staff may know some English, such as the Director and those working behind the reception desk, but beyond that, no I don't expect anything because people like the gardener, the plumber or the chamber maid are low paid workers, some of which may have had very little education in their own language, and the only reason why people such as chambermaids and waiters can speak a little English, German or French, is because of being exposed to the language and the tourists asking for the same things, day in, day out.

Sanji

I guess it depends a lot on the hotel. I worked on a contract for three years teaching English to employees of a large chain hotel, other than front line employees everyone attended classes, some learned just simple words and phrases that would help them understand when asked questions or told of problems, others who had more contact with guests were taught more advanced English. Front line employees already could speak English and wouldn't have been hired without it. Management obviously thought it was worthwhile.

I have to agree with Judiths last point , that understanding./ speaking English is necessary and desirable in the work they are doing and I have found that they want to converse in english , they have worked hard to learn English and want to impress you and the more they practice the more relaxed and better they become .
Us Brits are just lazy at learning languages and it starts from our early life and our education system , I did German at school for five years , I can understand some words and I'm probably adept at saying thank you very much in a confident manner, and that's about it !!! If you ever meet a German they can speak in English as well as their own language , you only have to listen to Boris Becker, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel ( who can even do local accents !!) ahhh, but they are top sportsman and work in an international world , so how many British sportsmen are fluent in a foreign language ? I know Gary Lineker can speak Spanish ...... And ...... Oh there must be others?
Other countries realise that speaking English is important and we just rely on that fact , you could say that is arrogant or ignorant , I think it's a bit embarrassing , I like to be able to at least say hello/goodbye, please and thank-you in the local language which is the minimum , that plus a smile is politeness and forgiveness for not bothering to learn a bit more .
But which language do we think should be taught first and foremost in schools ? Which language is going to be most beneficial to us in our working life and our personal life ? It's difficult for us because everyone else takes speaking English as being most important and they actually become even better at speaking English than people who are born in Britain and grow up here.

Brits and food, to be honest the Brits will eat anything and they do , I would say out of most European countries we are the most adventurous , like Glynis said we will even go to another country to eat food from another country .

Front line employees already could speak English and wouldn't have been hired without it.

Yes, that is why they get hired to work behind the desk, but you'd rarely have or find a chambermaid able to speak fluent or a good level of English, because if they could, they wouldn't be working for peanuts and cleaning toilets for a living.

Sanji.

The words I used were rudiments of the language, not fluency. The chambermaids I taught were expected to understand simple words and phrases after the classes finished.