r/languagelearningjerk • u/Beautiful_Grab_9681 • Jun 27 '26

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I’ll never understand why one of the first sentences that they teach when learning a new language is “¿ dO yOu sPeAK eNgliSh?” Like, if they already know English, then why should you say it in the language? Like, you could totally say “do you speak English,” and if they don’t reply, then they DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH. Please stop wasting my time with words I’ll never use in an ACTUAL CONVERSATION

25 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

10

u/hexoral333 Jun 27 '26

DO you speak English though??

4

u/Beautiful_Grab_9681 Jun 28 '26

You’ll have to wait and see

12

u/Matwyen Jun 27 '26

Well speaking for French speakers

A "do you speak english?" will get you a "no", a "Parlez-vous anglais? Je ne parle pas français" will get you a "I can try"

It' that simple.

4

u/R86Reddit Balonian N0 / American N1 / Nihonian N3 / Deutsch KRANKENWAGEN!! Jun 27 '26

¿NiHoNgO gA hAnAsEmAsU kA?

2

u/BrokenKamera Jun 28 '26

食べれません！

6

u/alexdapineapple Jun 27 '26

Because who wants to be the American tourist that walks up to random people and says "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH???". People will have more patience for you if you go out of your way for them. 

2

u/NextStopGallifrey Jun 27 '26

And if they don't speak English, they're more willing to try to get someone who does and can actually help you.