You know how many people approach talking to foreigners – any language difficulties can be overcome by speaking louder and slower. I am surprised at how many people here adopt that approach with me.
The most recent was yesterday – I went into an AutoTag office (I needed some sort of sticker that goes on my car number plate). Anyway, I queued for 10 mins behind a Korean family who spoke limited English. The lady behind the desk adopted the above communication strategy. When it was my turn, she did the same. I didn’t think much of it initially (actually I thought she was a bit stupid or deaf – bless) until an American chap came in and she spoke to him completely normally.
At that point I couldn’t help wondering what it was that made her think I would benefit from the foreigner treatment. Particularly when in actual fact I think my English was rather better than hers….grrrrrr