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92 Comments
- Zuggy, on 10/10/2007, -5/+95If we (in the US) were to do that to Mexicans who can't speak English we'd probably get sued for discrimination.
- Anrkist, on 10/10/2007, -5/+77I'd pretend I was a deaf mute... pay the lesser fee, once I got in I'd become the most annoying American they ever tried to swindle.
- skjede, on 10/10/2007, -1/+65I'd assume it costs more to hire someone who speaks English, hence higher than normal prices.
- praha, on 10/10/2007, -0/+36Since learning to read numbers in Czech, we've saved money at popular tourist places. Karlstejn Castle, for example: "English tours: 120 crowns", while in Czech the tour price is "Eighty crowns" (written out in Czech).
But hey, English speaking tourguides are a premium and probably command a higher salary. So, keep paying for it! - zestyhedgehog, on 10/10/2007, -1/+33Russian museums charge russian citizens a considerably less entrance fee compared to one they charge foreigners. Sometimes even twice or three times less. They justify it by the fact that russians earn less money than foreigners. I can't blame them, after all it is their own country, and those are citizenship perks.
- aikahanyou, on 10/10/2007, -1/+26Can't blame 'em.
- neoblaque, on 10/10/2007, -7/+31Give it to the Catholics, they do know how to turn a profit in their church.
- AshUK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21That's simply not true. Some are free, others are not, and it is often like that in other parts of the world.
- TiMMY8765, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16yes there is, but only if you speak russian
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Probably get sued? It would be front page news for 6 months. And countless Digg repeat submissions.
- aberdeen52, on 10/10/2007, -5/+18Amazing! English speaking tour guides don't work for free?
- neoblaque, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11Not quite it was around $20.00 US to see the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, and it had a 30 minute wait.
- kiwimonk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I bet your Nike shoes and Bush is my hero shirt would tip them off that your not exactly Russian.
- raybury, on 10/10/2007, -6/+15Yeah, who pays for those translation phones in the doctors' offices? Or the pay differential for medical assistants who speak a second language, or the DC Metro bus drivers who get a stipend for speaking Spanish, even if they speak virtually no English?
Oh, forgot: Me. - lyssword, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Yeah, I did it all by myself. I was 12 and I swam over the ***** ocean, jackass..
(if you still don't understand the sarcasm, it was my parents who really immigrated) - sol2006, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I agree with Zuggy. For some reason, other countries are allowed to have an official language and expect you to know it, and if you don't you pay the price. We (USA) may be the melting pot of the world, but even melting pots have main ingredients (ie English).
- ICSU, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8and the fact that they pay no taxes...
Anyway, they are actually the Russian Orthodox Church. They wanted to keep the money for themselves from the beginning. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Was it running on the latest iMac?
- elvenseven, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8In Soviet Russia, museum scams you!
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -8/+14In UK, museums and art galleries are free.
- Tarnum, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Its just supply and demand. There is no shortage of Russian-speaking tour guides in Moscow, I can assure you. However people with good foreign language are much harder to hire and they expect much higher salaries.
- undergrace, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Even if you were a deaf-mute, you would still have to read Russian to end up at the cheaper ticket booth. Unless you somehow could pull off being illiterate as well...
- J0hnD0e, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5For those wondering what it means...
..http://www.rustran.com/promt.php4?status=translate&direction=re&source=%C4%E8%F1%EA%F0%E8%EC%E8%ED%E0%F6%E8%FF%21 - lyssword, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5They must have started to teach English recently, as most of the world. I'm a Russian immigrant and when I came to U.S 9 years ago , I didn't speak English at all. At least up to 6th grade they didn't offer any English classes.
- Jowe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Sortie means Exit in French if you was wonderin' yo.
- vjrao, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7It is very common in Russia to charge all foriegners (not just English speaking ones) a higher price for entrance to museums and other national landmarks. The Russians justify it by saying a) that Russian citizens already pay taxes to support the museum, so they should get a cheaper entrance fee and b) most Russians earn less than the foreigners that visit these museums, so thye wan to make it affordable for locals to enjoy their local landmarks.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4ЧУВАК Я С ТОБОЙ!!!1111111111111АДИНАДИН
- ICSU, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4The hatred of some US citizens towards yet to be US citizens is appalling, especially considering their ancestors were in the same position some decades ago.
- Solafein, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Having a national language is the norm....as it should be. It was a bad decision to not adopt one in the US. At the time it must have seemed fine since most immigrants actually tried to learn English and to fit in instead of remaining unassimilated and divisive.
- fkr3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Tourists everywhere are a premium. I'm a foreigner in the country I live in and everything has a hidden surcharge because of that. Often it can be argued away but because my skin's white they look at me, assume I've got craploads more money then them (which isn't hard) and make a pitch for a more expensive price.
- elvenseven, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8Female digger... having a boyfriend?
/head asplodes - Grok22, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5more than likely it is because the locals pay taxes that support the arts while the forniers do not. its similar to instate and out of state tuition
- EnP24, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3clever
- zestyhedgehog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3And get beaten by gopniks. :)
- hassanchop13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3speak english in alot of places, especially small stores that dont have set prices and the store owner will charge you more. they know you have the money, its like walking into a hyundai dealership with a lamborghini and trying to haggle.
- jschlegel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My wife would buy both our tickets. Thus we got in for Russian prices! St Isaacs' was 15 Rubles ($.50) for Russians and 300 for foreigners ($10). Kremlin was similar pricing, but we got a Russian/English tour guide. Petergof, we paid 50 rubles each, I learned how to shut up and stand off to the side.
- blackjack75, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The slight difference is that Americans and other westerners in Russia are always richer than the average russian worker. In america you couldn't do it to mexicans who tend to be poorer. You might try to put a sign in Swiss-german though. Would be fair.
- LacY, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You can't really argue with that logic...
- ClunkClunk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You must have gotten duped, or it was a unique event, as I was just at the British Museum over spring break, and we saw the Rosetta Stone for free. Yes, there was a crowd, but it wasn't too bad (5 minutes wait, tops).
- Scottamus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's like that all over Moscow. Any museums will charge foreigners a butload more. Same goes for any of the open markets. Better hope his accent is flawless.
- manitoba98xp, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Whereas Russian-speaking tour guides do?
- Tarnum, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The language Texans speak is English?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3It would be something like "Пососи мои яйца" [p o s o s i .... m o i ... y a y t s a], feel free to use it anytime you're in Russia or near : )
- Sirsri, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This is fairly common, even if the signs are in english (like india) one price for foreigners and one price for locals. The price for the foreigners of course includes whatever bribes need to be paid to actually let someone in, whatever the sign says.
I've seen this sort of thing in english speaking countries for everything from trains, fuel and hotel rooms to bloody expensive tourist attractions.
Really, Russia is relatively well off on the scale of things, but for some places a 10 Euro admission fee is a weeks pay for the locals, to see their own countries monuments, so they charge the foreign guy 19 the local guy 1, and net, truth be told it works out to probably the same percent of each of their respective incomes.
Let us not of course underestimate the virtue of not having to pay bribes either. It's not something most western europeans, japanese or north americans are accustomed to (and tend to screw up royally when they try). If you're a local and you want in, there's the admission price, and then the price to persuade the gate guard to actually let you in. Of course his bosses (all the way up the civil service) are in on this game, and each want their cut, so the gate guard has a fixed rate he has to charge and everyone up the chain demands their respective cut.
I don't think russia is quite that bad with the persistent low level corruption, but a lot of places are. - profingersk8er, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3this is their revenge for each time an American tourist goes into other people's country and ask the locals "DO YOU SPEAK ANY ENGLISH?!"
- goth1028, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1By different prices do you mean the conversion from Euro to American? XD Canada does that too.
- ICSU, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1forgot to add: with exceptions indeed, and some have free entry
- ICSU, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2You realize that tourists who speak English are thus English speakers?
- bowlich, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Makes sense, just like how a fishing license has in-state and out-of state prices.
- Jorlwind, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This is why... when I travel out of country, I try to get a immigrated native to come with me.
advantages,
A: Save you money
B: Show you the real side of the culture.
C: Keep you from looking like an ass. -
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