Question of my battle menu

[moonburn]

They're still barbarians ...

this reminds me of the french matters not if you can speak 4 or 5 languages if you can´t speak french properly they´ll still consider you stupid and normally those french who do that can´t speak anything then french

just because someone is a barbarian (not being able to talk in latin and/or greek ) doesn´t make that person less inteligent it just make that person less of an asshole/idiot

[Basileus_ton_Basileon]

quite so. In fact, we should argue that the Romans themselves are the true barbarians of the ancient world. The greeks are not far behind, but at least they got points for trying to (appear, at least) to be less intolerant.

[Memnon]

The Greeks were much more intolerant than the Romans, at least the Romans let other people become citizens eventually. The Greeks actually created the term barbarian IIRC, it was meant to sound like a person babbling. Some Greeks (Athenians, Spartans, Thebans) even used the term to derisively describe other Greek states. Up until the Macedonian conquests under Alexander, who was definitely considered a barbarian until he defeated the "real" Greeks soundly, there was no effort to be seen as tolerant.

[Arjos]

Poleis extended citizenship to foreigners aswell (way before Alexandros) and later even made Romani participate in the olympics (meaning they recognized them as greeks).
Anyway there's little point in such a discussion: basically all cultures were, and to some extent still are, racist or chauvinistic. Be that in an open or unconscious manner.
It's pretty much human to view what is "mine" as what is "right". Thankfully we are also capable of going over this with an open mind ^^

[moonburn]

i dont wish to generalise but i experience that crap everyday here in paris wich sucks for those doing it because in the end of the day i´m always the asshole with the most sells of the entire internacional team altough my french friends the few i made aren´t like that normally the first feeling you get when meeting new people is that

ofc that that being said i have been pleasently surprised quite a few times when i said "pardon pour mon francais horrible c´est soulement ma cinquieme langue" and the nice one´s always reply "c est trés bon " ... right before they ask me if i´m german ...

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

[GLOW][/GLOW]The French are extraordinarily unappreciative of the British, considering our shared early 20th Century history.

Had I been Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, I never would have gone to France's aid against Imperial Germany in August 1914. I would have said "Sorry, but Britain's not getting involved in your mess - you and your Russian pals can get out of it by yourselves."

(And without British help, Germany would have beaten both of them within two years...)

[Vilkku92]

And Belgium and France would forever remember Britain as a big, cowardly traitor which turned its back to the treaties it had signed... Plus there would have been a very high chance of Britain having to fight Germany anyway, just this time all alone. Or possibly with some help from the USA. Surely everyone would have preferred that outcome...

[stratigos vasilios]

this reminds me of the french matters not if you can speak 4 or 5 languages if you can´t speak french properly they´ll still consider you stupid and normally those french who do that can´t speak anything then french

Haha +1 this. I was in France a couple of years ago and I experienced something similar. I am fluent in two languages (English and Greek) and can get by with what minor Italian I know, but I was in a clothing store in Paris and the store assistant said something to me in French (presumably, 'would you like some help?') and I responded in English. She literally rolled her eyes, made a loud 'pfffft' noise and walked off. Perhaps if I responded in Greek or Italian she'd have been a little more helpful? Otherwise I could have said to her 'hello', 'goodbye', 'this dinner is nice' and 'what cheeses do you have' in my limited French...

Of course not all French people would respond in the same manner, and in no way I am saying all French people would look down at you for not speaking French to them (I think they'd appreciate you trying other than not bothering to pick up some words), but it's just funny I had a similar experience to what moonburn posted.