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Europe has become America lite in a lot of ways over the past 10-15 years. It is pretty unfortunate. I travel in Asia and Latin America now because Europe has become too generic and similar to home.
so knowing another language means you lose your culture ? That explains the Brexit
English as second language has been a German curriculum since the 70s. People decide not to speak it or understand it - their decision. I sometimes decide not to speak/understand other languages.
Lots of, if not most Germans speak at least some basic English but many are reluctant to, as if they are sort of embarrassed that their English is not better. Often when you finally get them to open up and try it's really not that bad. Of course some don't really speak it at all.
A lot of this is because (some) Americans seem to confuse 'globalism' with 'Americanism'.
Well one thing I'll add that won't be too popular with some people is that it does take away from a bit of the "magic" of being in a place in continental Europe or elsewhere when it's overrun with tourists, speaking (maybe not exclusively but primarily) English* usually.
I've been to a few places (Salzburg one time really sticks out in my mind) where if you closed your eyes it was like being at the Illinois State Fair or something.
First world problems, I know.
*It could be other languages too, but most of the time it's English.
Really? I find the differences are much much less than between spoken and written French (which I know you and I both share as a first language.)
well, I think both languages share this problem. I mean, the sequence "ea" can be pronounced like "e" or like "ee". I learnt about a year ago how to pronounce "recipe" which I always assumed was pronounced like "reece-hi-p"
"A" can be pronounced like in French or like "eh" almost. the letter "I" has two different pronounciations as well. Some make zero sense. Also think about the great variation of accents already within the UK.
French and English both have a relatively high percentage of dyslexic people, whereas it is much lower for languages where written and spoken Language are (mostly) the same like Italian or German.
Another major difficulty for French speakers is where to put the stress, which does not exist in french (and is a problem when learning most other languages)
I still remember the time in Toronto when I went to a store and asked to try out some pants and the clerk said there were no pens for sale. I had been living there for about 6 months at that point, never using French. I have never had such problems with German.
English as second language has been a German curriculum since the 70s. People decide not to speak it or understand it - their decision. I sometimes decide not to speak/understand other languages.
Even earlier, according to Wikipedia English was introduced as a compulsory foreign language for all German pupils in 1955.
Well one thing I'll add that won't be too popular with some people is that it does take away from a bit of the "magic" of being in a place in continental Europe or elsewhere when it's overrun with tourists, speaking (maybe not exclusively but primarily) English* usually.
I've been to a few places (Salzburg one time really sticks out in my mind) where if you closed your eyes it was like being at the Illinois State Fair or something.
First world problems, I know.
*It could be other languages too, but most of the time it's English.
Suggest you go to New Caledonia where much less English is spoken than in Europe. I found it a curious experience. Of courses for the two thirds of the population who are not of European heritage, French is their second language and English only their third language. Gorgeous place!
I think the main problem with English is the large difference between written english and spoken english. Spoken english varies a lot. You may be good at reading english, that does not mean you will understand everything a native speaker will tell you. I personally have trouble understanding some Italian people speaking in English and usually Italians have trouble understanding French people speaking english because the accents are different. I am cool with general American / Canadian (the easiest for me) / Southern british but send me to the midlands of England and I'm sure everyone up there will think I can not understand English at all.
This is true of any "foreign" language though, I understand certain things in other languages written down but would have no idea hearing someone speaking it. Not just because of their accent but the speed at which they talk & how certain words are pronounced by different people.
This is true of any "foreign" language though, I understand certain things in other languages written down but would have no idea hearing someone speaking it. Not just because of their accent but the speed at which they talk & how certain words are pronounced by different people.
Sure, but certain languages make it easier because the way things are pronounced based on how they are written is the same most if not all of the time. Italian is like that, German too. French and English, not so much.
But yeah, accents can be tricky, especially in Italy where there are vast differences from one region to the other. But standard Italian follows the rules pretty much.
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