In much or most of Europe, English seems to be the first choice for communication between a tourist who doesn't speak the national language and a local resident.
In countries corresponding to the major languages of Europe, like France and Germany, I can imagine natives being a little annoyed (tho resigned) at foreigners who simply address them in English without making any attempt to speak the local language, or even, out of politeness, asking, "Do you speak English?" or "May I speak English?"
Now let's turn to Scandinavia, where English is so widely studied, and so well spoken, that I wonder if the situation might be somewhat different. If I ask a Dane, "Do you speak English?", or "Taler du engelsk?", might s/he not take offense? ("Do you think I'm so ignorant than I don't speak the international language known by every educated person here?") Should I then, if my Danish is inadequate to the task at hand, simply walk into a shop in Copenhagen and launch into English, ("Hello, do you sell...") as tho I were in New York? Or might a good compromise be to ask, "Hej. Må jeg tale engelsk?", implying, "I'm sure you speak English, but since I'm in _your_ country, I'll ask permission before using _my_ language"? If such an introductory phrase would indeed be welcome, is my choice of words correct and appropriate for Danish, or would native forum members suggest something else? (So this is both a "socio-linguistic" and a word-choice question.)
Thank you!
In countries corresponding to the major languages of Europe, like France and Germany, I can imagine natives being a little annoyed (tho resigned) at foreigners who simply address them in English without making any attempt to speak the local language, or even, out of politeness, asking, "Do you speak English?" or "May I speak English?"
Now let's turn to Scandinavia, where English is so widely studied, and so well spoken, that I wonder if the situation might be somewhat different. If I ask a Dane, "Do you speak English?", or "Taler du engelsk?", might s/he not take offense? ("Do you think I'm so ignorant than I don't speak the international language known by every educated person here?") Should I then, if my Danish is inadequate to the task at hand, simply walk into a shop in Copenhagen and launch into English, ("Hello, do you sell...") as tho I were in New York? Or might a good compromise be to ask, "Hej. Må jeg tale engelsk?", implying, "I'm sure you speak English, but since I'm in _your_ country, I'll ask permission before using _my_ language"? If such an introductory phrase would indeed be welcome, is my choice of words correct and appropriate for Danish, or would native forum members suggest something else? (So this is both a "socio-linguistic" and a word-choice question.)
Thank you!
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