I bewonder America

[Leonel]

I bewonder America all the time too...

Oh! You mean in the admiring way.

 

[Leoreth]

I don't think it would be smart to let English be the only EU language. Will only make sure that even more people are pissed off by or uninterested in the EU. National governments, parliaments and their regional and local counterparts (yes, EU decisions concern them all) need to understand what comes out of Brussels as well. Besides, not even federal states in which people that speak the same language are regionally concentrated (Belgium, Switzerland, etc.) work that way. Why would the EU, a far less integrated entity?

I don't know, but it's only the following countries that use the three working languages: Ireland, UK, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany and Austria. Means 20 other countries who get the EU proceedings in a foreign language anyway. Why that arbitrary difference?

So, how is that "we must join together in the EU to face off the world's other big states" thing going?

Oh, right, we do it so that we may better copy the other big states and be subservient to their culture, I see...

If speaking English means serving the American culture then I'd better stop speaking here right now.

And if you define your culture through the language your administration uses, it's likely you don't have much of it in the first place.

 

[Antilogic]

The difference is a) Mandarin is much harder and b) (almost) every (?) western country teaches English in school. If a German or Dane can speak Chinese it'S pretty impressive, if he can't speak English he comes across as an uneducated fool.
I know a bit of Mandarin myself and I think it's not bad.

Link to video.

According to Slate, you've been hoodwinked.

 

[Angst]

Just pointing out, though, that Danes are generally much better at English than him. The young generation is generally fluent. As soon as you get into the fourties, people begin having problems.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I dont understand why this is even news. I watched part of the video in the first one and I did not have trouble understanding and I have issues understanding speech!

 

[Bugfatty300]

His English is more annoying and irritating than incomprehensible.

Spit it out already!

More linguistic hilarity:


Link to video.

Technical problem with the translations so the interviewer (who claimed to be fluent in English) has to wing it.