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Comment by larnon | Hacker News Reader

Because even in countries less developed(by western standards), there are more English announcements, so visiting tourists can also use the public transport. This isn't lack of speaking the language as well, it is more about not wanting to speak another language because "In Deutschland muss man Deutsch sprechen." It is reaching French level of racism at this point. Funny for a country that wants to attract so many international expats.

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This assume that a country should please english-speaking tourists but not everyone speaks that language. Here our perception is biased because we're in a english-speaking-forum. Tourism isn't a central concern for many people/countries and not supporting it is a valid choice.

> French level of racism

Racism really ??? As a Parisian I'll struggle to make tourists feel unpleasant but I assure you there's absolutely nothing to do with race. French from outside the capital get the same treatment, they just happen to understand our insults.

English is the international language. It is mandatory to learn it as the second language in most parts of the world, even places you never heard of. It is especially a no-brainer for a person who grew up in Germany(which is one of the most developed countries in the world, and definitely has the means to educate its own people). Again, this is a problem of choice. And since Germany is a country that relies on importing educated people to keep its economy afloat, choices like these are self-sabotaging.

This isn't an english-speaking-forum, its an international one. That is the reason English is being spoken.

I get why the French is still angry about this issue and refuses to speak English, since it isn't French that is considered the international language, but English.

I wouldn't expect a French to understand this though.

Germany isn't a country that relies on importing educated people to keep it's economy afloat.

It for the most part imports comparatively uneducated people and partially to suppress the wages of it's native population.

>I wouldn't expect a French to understand this though.

A weird reaction given the way you described them earlier.

France can be afforded such idiosyncrasies because the French are generally rational thinking people, not clockwork slaves to a bureaucratic machine like Germans are made to be by their culture.

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