Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Right then Butty, Me and you is about to fall out, an I don't care how old you thinks you is, alright???????

Bloody English pensioners!!!!!

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Oh no, they are there. Take the slow train out of Paddington. The sign at Southall has english and another (some indian dialect at a guess) language announcing the station. Some of the jewellers around Hatton Garden have signage in Arabic. A lot of public buildings in Slough have polish and eastern european signs in their windows, then of course there are chinese restaurants ...

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

I believe were disscussing street signs, not web links to govt sites.:confused:

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

I`m wrong then.

Maybe that just proves the Spaniards hate the English then.;)

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Maybe you could put up notices in English, for the benefit of your neighbors?

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

I've already thought of that, been telling everyone and also put a notice in my window :thumbsup:

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Oh good, get the word out.. they do this where we lived in Greece as well. It's awful. :(

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

It's difficult to be against putting up signs in English about things like animal poisoning (wouldn't like my cat poisoned), but I must say, the more you molly-coddle immigrants the less effort they make to adapt and learn the language. There's nothing like necessity to make you learn some vital bits of of vocab. For the same reason, I think it's a huge mistake to put all those signs up all over Britain in ethnic minority languages, and to print all those local council leaflets in Urdu and whatnot. The Spanish policy (it's really the absence of a policy) is right: if you come here, you learn Spanish. Why do we still have so many older members of certain minorities in Britain with a poor grasp of English, after decades of living in the country?

Perhaps you think I'm being a bit harsh, but there we are.

Another topic. I'm a newcomer here, so I was wondering: what are these green residence cards people talk about? I live in Madrid and they've always been wallet-sized laminated affairs. I take it other comunidades do things differently...?

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

By the way, I shouldn't really have started out with a mini-rant: great forum - I particularly liked the info page, it might well be useful for me if I finally get around to buying a place this year or next.

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

And how then do you expect all those poor 'asylum seekers' would manage obtaining their rights to a free for all if the British Government didn't make sure all the information leaflets on benefits and housing etc were printed in so many languages. Now in Spain we aren't on benefits and simply need a little help with important issues and public information whilst learning the language.


No you haven't exactly come in with a very good first post :frown:

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Yeah, sorry about that. But I know too many Brits who've come here and not learned the language properly after years and years... people need incentives.

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Besides, I think it's a slippery slope down to calling Christmas "Winterval" in order not to offend. One of the things I like about Spain is that it has not yet succumbed to that kind of craven, self-hating political correctness.

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

I dont mean to butt inand ive possibly misread it, but IF, and its an IF, the Spanish-or indeed anyother nationality hate the British, do you blame them-i have worked extensively around the world, mainly in the tourism buisiness, and without a doubt, the British are the most disliked by the locals of most countries they visit, and AS a Brit in the leisure industry, its hard to dispute and disagreee with our negative image-we are viewed as arrogant due to our woeful and shameful refusal to engage in the language-i was raised in France to British and French parents, and i can absolutely tell you-as im sur most here would know, that the `natives`of most places will not eat you if you get the langauge wrong, but they respect you and will do more for you if you try speaking in the lingo-even if it is woefully inadequate-people appreciate the effort and you dont get it off most Brits ive had to deal with in my jobs, and all the world knows it.

Oh yea, and we are the worst tippers in the world-i managed a restaurant in the US staffed mainly by Brits, and most of the Waiters/waitesses drew imaginary straws for the table with the Brits,if they could get away with it. Primarilly, this was because the British were generally the most likley to be obnoxiousand ungrateful for the hard work (which often goes unapprecaited in restaurants) that all good waiters do for their guests-and Brits often wouldnt leave a decent,or even ANY tip-its a rude slap in the face not to tip people the appropriate amount, as tips are a replacement for low wages in many plces-and pleading ignorance is no excuse-if you go abroad, learn about the customs of the plac you are visiting.

Of course, we dont even need to talk about what British tourists have done to the coasts of Spain-my Spanish brother in law, nevermind my British friend who lives in a coatal town in southern Spain could turn the air blue with their opinions on British dominated holiday resorts-and i hve similar views as i lived in France for 13 years of my short 24 year life difference is i had a French mother so i can confidently avoid accusations of hypocricy in criticising British emmigrants), and the ancient cultural capitals of Europe-Prague, Amsterdam, Vienna, they all sufer from an invasiona of stag party wankers at some point in history.

We are loathed and rightly so-un til we can learn to be decent tourists, never mind decent emmigrees, we shouldnt be allowed to leave Britain.


The Irony is that most Brits are only going away for an innocent bit of sun, but its still not your country so you are always the guest and should remember so-and its also very interesting to consider the difference in perceptions between tourists from Britain an emigrees from Britain-many spaniards i know view british emmigrees very differently from the tourists-they viw them as generally willing to integrate, with the exception of a widespread resentment on the linguistic arrogance of the emmigrants (its not the duty of th sapnish to put English on their signs no matter what we do in ngland for our imigrants-learn the lanaguage, simple as).

I suppose its a vicious cycle-o much of Spain is economically dependent on Brits that it couldnt stop the flood of the `benidorm brits` even if many Spaniards would dearly love to-the country would loose to much

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

so true-its a simple but unpaletable reality-if you go abroad, you learn the language-if you struggle, well, grit your teeth and struggle through, because the country you are in owes you nothing-if anything you owe them something for letting you stay there.They do not have to adapt to your langauge but vice versa.

Re: Do the Spanish Hate the British.
 

Yes, we have - how can I put this delicately - a severe lack of cultural sophistication amongst certain sections of our population. I think it's fairly obvious to everyone, even though it's still politically incorrect to point it out. The Spanish phrase "no tener cultura" expresses it very nicely. Perhaps it's our sharp class divisions that have prevented civilised habits and attitudes from spreading further (I don't think it's a new problem, it was just hidden from the world before because they couldn't travel). Whatever the reason, I do feel sorry for the locals who have to deal with the constant barbarian invasions. Greece has the same problems wherever Brits congregate.