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I'm English and I don't speak German or French, but when I hear German or Dutch it sounds much more familiar and easier to understand than French, French seems like another universe to my eyes and ears.
German and Dutch sounds and is written in a more similar way to English
Dutch sounds similar to English,but German as it is spoken now, sound very different than English,maybe the old german language.
There are more french words in English than German,in practice french is much closer to English than German.
The king of England used to speak french,no english monarch ever spoke german in his court.
I like that some foreign words are used in a given language. It makes the language richer and more interesting for the listener. But I don't like that nowadays its only English the interfering language...
I am fluent in more than 5 languages and I find it boring to speak one language "pure" all the time. I was raised in a multi- lingual and multicultural set up and myself do incorporate some English or French words in my sentences here in Germany and most of the Germans stare at me. It annoys me when Germans stare at me when I say "Whatever"...
I have some friends in Lebanon, there, they speak Lebanese Arabic, French and English at the same time, in one sentence sometimes, which is an interesting fact for me. I wonder what Germans (or other Volks) would do there.
What however I don't like is the fact that English is being solely invading other languages. Why aren't French and German words interfering with the English vocabulary for instance. That's because Americans are not "Sprachbegabt" (German word for people who are not really into languages). Maybe because English is so international that Americans are not enough motivated to learn new languages and are expecting other nations to speak it fluently...
Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if this is happening at all in Europe. I was just reading on the internet that Brazilian Portuguese has even incorporated a lot of English words into everyday use, particularly for nouns and store bought items.
If a language as different from English as Portuguese is doing this it made me wonder if this phenomenon was happening in other Germanic language speaking countries. I have been to both Holland and Germany and everyone I met was fluent in English, so this leaves an even bigger opportunity for English to invade the local vocabulary.
English is the most successful of all Germanic languages. In most Germanic-speaking countries of Northern Europe, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc.... Plenty of people speak English as their second or third language. It is also easier for Germanic speakers to learn English especially the Scandinavians. The syntax of the English language is much more similar to that of Scandinavian languages.
I'm English and I don't speak German or French, but when I hear German or Dutch it sounds much more familiar and easier to understand than French, French seems like another universe to my eyes and ears.
German and Dutch sounds and is written in a more similar way to English
I feel like some people are overrating the mutual intelligibility of languages in the same family. I swear when Dutch people start speaking Dutch I understand absolutely nothing, I mean yeah I'm not a native English speaker, but they just sound and look completely different. Sure there are quite a few words that are basically the same, but the mutual intelligibility is very very weak.
It's probably better for German and Dutch, but according to the German friends I have, the scripts are kind of similar but they don't understand spoken Dutch either.
What however I don't like is the fact that English is being solely invading other languages. Why aren't French and German words interfering with the English vocabulary for instance. That's because Americans are not "Sprachbegabt" (German word for people who are not really into languages). Maybe because English is so international that Americans are not enough motivated to learn new languages and are expecting other nations to speak it fluently...
I don't think English words are being adopted ("invading" is putting it a bit harshly, don't you think?) into languages like French and German because French and German speakers are so motivated to learn English in school. No, these speakers are hearing many English words in the media, in songs, TV shows, movies, advertisements, technology, and so forth. Obviously English media is highly popular and widespread.
Unfortunately French and German songs, TV shows, movies, advertisements, technology and the like are not very popular and widespread in English-speaking countries. We just don't have the chance to hear very many French and German words in our normal daily lives.
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