Walking down the high street today we noticed a shop with a sign up in the window saying NO ENGLISH!! do you thing that means people or the language?
if they don't speak English (the native language) to me it seems a bit stupid to make a business in the country. just my opinion, just seems a bit silly.
You hardly open a shop in the UK, where the language is English, without the ability to speak English. Could you imagine a Brit opening a business in France and putting up a sign stating "No French", you would be out of business in a week.
Yeah you would be out of business within a week. Except England is so culturally diverse that shops like the one in the OP can exist. Mind you how much do you speak in a shop? Go in, pick up what you wanted, give money, receive change, leave, enjoy your sweets.
It's possible because of the diversity in Europe. And yes there are non-french speaking businesses in France. You might just keep close to your comfort areas in the UK and not know what's around you. Hell come to the States and I'll take you to a place that they speak Russian only (I have to take a friend to translate for me) but they make one hell of a meal. If the people running the shop are old country (older people) there is a chance they might not speak english and only their children speak english.
I travel constantly throughout the UK on business, and come across this to a certain extent. I feel it's completely inappropriate to emigrate to a country without having the courtesy to at least learn the language, much like the many UK ex-pats that go and live in Spain without learning Spanish.
Yeah, they should just sponge off the state like proper foreigners. But Chester, perhaps they're Welsh Nationalists and really do want the English to piss off.
It entirely depends where the shop is - I'm sure there are more than enough "English Bars" in Spain run by Brits who don't speak a lick of the local lingo. The same in some parts of America with a large Hispanic population too I bet - whole areas are Mexican/Cuban speaking only. It's probably the same in Wales - some shops there refuse to speak English just out of principle. If it's a Polish shop with Polish goods for Polish people, are you going to shop there? No. Is it ever going to be a problem? I doubt it. Like UrbanMarine said - I've been to Chinkies D lovable racism) across the UK where the parents haven't spoken a lick of English but the kids basically run the shop front. Meh, if they make great food and it's a good price, I don't care - I'll try a bit of Cantonese/Mandarin given a chance. If they mean no English people, then that's another matter entirely.
I dunno, my local Tesco has some really good Polish stuff; sausage, energy drink, weird pretzel things...
There's a Polish shop around here that seems to be doing okay (I know the rent on the building is close to a grand, I used to be quite friendly with the previous person who ran a shop there, til I moved house) and they don't understand even a slight bit of English. I guess it's because around here there are loads, scary amounts (Half the customers in the offlicense I worked at ended up being Polish nearer the end of my time there) even. Not scary in the bad way, before anyone thinks I'm being a douche, more in the sense that I didn't realise there was enough space in this asshole of a city to house them all.
A tad ironic that the sign was written in English. I don't trust a sign that contradicts itself - you should submit a letter to management. =)
