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I’m not sure if this has ever been brought up on this forum, but it’s something I’ve always wondered. If it has been, sorry.
Americans are infamous for their resistance to learning foreign languages- especially in comparison to Europeans. When I visited Madrid I was extremely impressed by the number of Spaniards who spoke a more than adequate amount of English. I speak Spanish, but there were times I felt as if I could easily get around without it at all.
Are Brits as well educated on foreign languages as other Europeans are on English? Is it a wholly European thing to be proficient in a language that is not your own? Or are native-English speakers just pathetically lazy about learning other languages?
Last edited by JPits312; 01-15-2012 at 02:00 PM..
Reason: Formatting
In my experience Brits are like American in that regard. Then again, I think the claims of the monolingualism of English speakers is a little bit hyperbolic. I work in an environment with a lot of monolingual Spanish speakers (mostly Mexican and Cuban) and the Americans speak more Spanish than the Spanish speakers are able in English.
I don't think Americans have a "resistance" to learning foreign languages, there is just less need. Europe is packed with dozens of small countries that share histories, cultures, etc - naturally, there is more need to be multilingual and with English becoming a universal language, it's necessary for many Europeans to know English, particularly if they work in the tourist industry. The US is geographically very far removed from European influences and it's a very large nation, not a small one clustered with many others - it's not really fair to compare the linguistic cultures.
But to answer the question of how common it is for Brits to be multilingual, in my experience, most are not. Like Americans, they are required to learn a language at school - most choose French whereas most Americans choose Spanish - but most also don't remember a whole lot from it in adulthood. Britain is closer to Europe but they are a detached island and so have less European influences too.
Yes, knowledge of foreign language is around the same level as in the US. The only people who learn a foreign language are people who have an interest in it. As almost every country in Europe has its own language, if you do choose to learn one, it'll only come useful in that one country (and smaller bordering countries maybe) so you'd have to have a specific interest in that country if you want to learn it. Learning Spanish will only help you in Spain, for example. Outside of that country, English will be much more useful. Everyone pretty much accepts English as the lingua franca, so won't feel the need to learn another language.
It's probably the same in other English-speaking countries like Australia, or they might even have less foreign language skills as they're more isolated (especially from European languages). I don't know though, feel free to prove me wrong on that one.
English is the most widely spoken language in Europe.. so it's no wonder we don't want to learn foreign languages when we have no reason to, unless we have great interest in that country.. for example, I'm trying to learn Swedish, which is relatively easy, because I have a great interest in Sweden.
And yes, apparently it's the same in Australia, people don't really learn foreign languages.
French is quite popular in the UK though as its taught in school a lot.
Australians are the same as the British and Americans regarding foreign languages. Not so many know how to speak it. Its because English is such an universal language.
You can teach and learn foreign languages all you like, but to really know a foreign language you have to speak it regularly, which is kind of hard in a world where a lot of people speak english.
Another big problems we have in Austrlalia is we dont share a border with anyone or have a big dominant second language like the USA has with its spanish speakers. Over 20% of aussies speak a language other than english at home, but the second most spoken language (mandarin) is only spoken by 2.5% of the population.
Last edited by danielsa1775; 01-15-2012 at 09:10 PM..
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PA2UK
I don't think Americans have a "resistance" to learning foreign languages, there is just less need. Europe is packed with dozens of small countries that share histories, cultures, etc - naturally, there is more need to be multilingual and with English becoming a universal language, it's necessary for many Europeans to know English, particularly if they work in the tourist industry. The US is geographically very far removed from European influences and it's a very large nation, not a small one clustered with many others - it's not really fair to compare the linguistic cultures.
But to answer the question of how common it is for Brits to be multilingual, in my experience, most are not. Like Americans, they are required to learn a language at school - most choose French whereas most Americans choose Spanish - but most also don't remember a whole lot from it in adulthood. Britain is closer to Europe but they are a detached island and so have less European influences too.
You took the words out of my mouth. Americans, British and Australians usually don't have/feel the need to learn a foreign language. Even when travelling I noticed many Australians don't learn a word of the language. The locals try to learn English to cater for the tourists, their cash-cow, not the other way around. I still like to learn some local phrases because it makes me feel like I'm immersing myself in the local culture a bit more.
It's been compulsory for school children to take at least two years of a second language in school for years now. I think now it's more, including compulsory LOTE (language other than English) in primary school. I'm probably like many kids though. I learned Japanese for two years in year 7 and 8 but honestly, I remember a handful of words and phrases. I do wish I'd applied myself to learning it more since I find Japan interesting. Most people will just forget what they learned unless they have reason to use it. In the past most people didn't even learn a language. Fewer people even left the country so why would they, out of pure academic interest, as a hobby?
I should mention, however, that Australia is a nation of immigrants and many people do speak another language because their parents do or that was their mother tongue. My parents were from Singapore and Malaysia, both English speaking countries, so we always just spoke English.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by Plutonium
Yes, knowledge of foreign language is around the same level as in the US. The only people who learn a foreign language are people who have an interest in it. As almost every country in Europe has its own language, if you do choose to learn one, it'll only come useful in that one country (and smaller bordering countries maybe) so you'd have to have a specific interest in that country if you want to learn it. Learning Spanish will only help you in Spain, for example. Outside of that country, English will be much more useful. Everyone pretty much accepts English as the lingua franca, so won't feel the need to learn another language.
It's probably the same in other English-speaking countries like Australia, or they might even have less foreign language skills as they're more isolated (especially from European languages). I don't know though, feel free to prove me wrong on that one.
In my opinion Spanish is the second most useful language to learn after English. Not just Spain, but all of South and Central America including Mexico and some islands. Spain is only a small contingent of Spanish speakers. I've been told the Spanish spoken in South America is 'purer' than that in Spain, just like how American is supposed to be closer to Elizabethian than the modern English accents but that sounds like purism to me.
The interest/importance of learning French is probably waning outside Europe. It's still useful for Brits, but I fail to see how it's useful to most Australians who do not visit France regularly or at all. There doesn't seem to be as much preference for it, simply because of tradition and because it's European. In coming years more people will be learning Indonesian and Mandarin, which are commonly taught in high schools.
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