Would the people of Macedonia prefer using Serbian or English when talking to a 3rd country foreigner?
So I am pointing out that I have no affiliation with any of the countries in the region, I am from Budapest, Hungary, but since I have done an exchange year at the University of Novi Sad and because I am a fan of learning languages in general, I have managed to pick up and learn a decent conversational level of Serbian.
I am travelling to Skopje and Ohrid this summer and wanted to ask if the people of Macedonia would rather use English or Serbian when speaking to a tourist like myself? Is there a chance that the older generation for example would understand Serbian because of the Yugoslav days but would not speak English? Do you guys have anything against the Serbians and the language in general which would get me some weird looks if I start speaking it?
I managed to pick up some Macedonian phrases because of some songs I listen to but would not be able to hold a full conversation, but I would think (?) that the Serbian language might be closer to the people than English. Thank you and correct me if I’m wrong!