Rossiya
Fridge Magnet Porn
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2006
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Need for Other Languages besides English?
- Thread starter Ansar
- Start date
Thorbal
not enough ram!
- Do most people nowadays speak English in your country?
Most people younger than ~60 will at least understand you.
- Would they talk to you if you asked them something in English?
Most.
- What's better: only knowing how to say that "I don't speak (insert language here)" and talk to them in English or if you know some of that language, attempt to talk your way through?
Depends. Trying to speak the language of the natives gets you bonus points.
- With English growing, is there really a point to learning other languages besides for the additional knowledge and being able to talk with people in their language?
Of course. I think that most people are having a too utilitaristic outlook in that regard. Language does not only serve for "mere" communication like ordering a beer or asking random guys where the train station is. Unless you don´t have at least a basic understanding of a language, you won´t have access to the underlying symbolic/cultural assumptions, denotations and connotations beyond the direct meaning and you won´t be able to really understand their [any culture meant] way of thinking and acting. If you have a more economic/pragmatic perspective, even then it is always viable, because a German entrepeneur, for example, will always prefer to do business with someone who is familiar with the German language and culture, so anyone with German skillz will have an advantage there, even if the assumed German speaks perfect English.
Most people younger than ~60 will at least understand you.
- Would they talk to you if you asked them something in English?
Most.
- What's better: only knowing how to say that "I don't speak (insert language here)" and talk to them in English or if you know some of that language, attempt to talk your way through?
Depends. Trying to speak the language of the natives gets you bonus points.
- With English growing, is there really a point to learning other languages besides for the additional knowledge and being able to talk with people in their language?
Of course. I think that most people are having a too utilitaristic outlook in that regard. Language does not only serve for "mere" communication like ordering a beer or asking random guys where the train station is. Unless you don´t have at least a basic understanding of a language, you won´t have access to the underlying symbolic/cultural assumptions, denotations and connotations beyond the direct meaning and you won´t be able to really understand their [any culture meant] way of thinking and acting. If you have a more economic/pragmatic perspective, even then it is always viable, because a German entrepeneur, for example, will always prefer to do business with someone who is familiar with the German language and culture, so anyone with German skillz will have an advantage there, even if the assumed German speaks perfect English.
Rossiya
Fridge Magnet Porn
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2006
- Messages
- 6,981
No, a lot of people speak Arabic, Gujurati, Panjab and so on.
No, we are not like that in England. NO TALKING TO STRANGERS
All I know of an Indian language (I forget which) is something like "Leni" which means "Do you want?". So I would try to converse to them in English, if I was in a ghetto at that time of course.
You should come to England. The use of English is not growing.
(more questions to come as I think of them)
OK.
You're welcome.
Finland:
- Do most people nowadays speak English in your country?
Most young ones speak English. Older person, likelihood lessens. Not only because older people might not have had to study english in school, but also because they haven't had any practise even if they had learned it in school at their youth. Unsure since when the english has been mandatory, I'd say all below 40 should know english well enough to somewhat understand it (pronounciation could be awful).
Enlish has been (quite) mandatory in our school for long time already. That doesn't ofcourse mean that everyone was awake at the lessons =)
- Would they talk to you if you asked them something in English?
Yes, if able to.
- What's better: only knowing how to say that "I don't speak (insert language here)" and talk to them in English or if you know some of that language, attempt to talk your way through?
Best is to talk in language that both know well enough, so no use to just know some words.
- With English growing, is there really a point to learning other languages besides for the additional knowledge and being able to talk with people in their language?
Yes, definitely.
- Do most people nowadays speak English in your country?
Most young ones speak English. Older person, likelihood lessens. Not only because older people might not have had to study english in school, but also because they haven't had any practise even if they had learned it in school at their youth. Unsure since when the english has been mandatory, I'd say all below 40 should know english well enough to somewhat understand it (pronounciation could be awful).
Enlish has been (quite) mandatory in our school for long time already. That doesn't ofcourse mean that everyone was awake at the lessons =)
- Would they talk to you if you asked them something in English?
Yes, if able to.
- What's better: only knowing how to say that "I don't speak (insert language here)" and talk to them in English or if you know some of that language, attempt to talk your way through?
Best is to talk in language that both know well enough, so no use to just know some words.
- With English growing, is there really a point to learning other languages besides for the additional knowledge and being able to talk with people in their language?
Yes, definitely.
Cato the Elder
King
Replacing Dutch probably isn't going to happen, the Dutch are far too nationalistic for that. Same thing goes for Scandinavia, though from what I've heard the Dutch are still more into their own country than the Vikings are. But yeah, I do see English becoming a second language in one of these countries sometime, just as in my country, it's slowly supplanting French as the lingua franca in Brussels and is gaining more prominence in other big Belgian cities. (well so far as a Belgian city can be big)
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Hey I tried to learn a language while I was at school, but now I have lost most it. I still remember some French but not enough to have a small chat. But I am thinking of trying to learn it again. Unfortunately it does seem that their is very little need in Australia to learn another Language. That is why I am a bit jealous of Europeans, since they generally have to learn a few languages since they will need it.
Hope you will answer this, but why did you choose to study in Spain?
Yeah, the problems are lack of funding, lack of trained teachers and that languages are never obligatory and often not even offered in public schools in Australia (we had one teacher teaching Indonesian and another teaching German but when she left there were no language classes the next year). Then a lot of students fear that language classes will drag down their average and weighting in end-of-school exams.
In every measure we're at the foot of the language education table in the OECD. Remember that New Zealand has Maori, Ireland has Irish, the USA has Spanish, Canada has French and all the non English speaking countries have English to learn. We have nothing comparable, and I guess the UK just has a long tradition of teaching French or German in schools.
I am in Spain as part of my degree, a Bachelor of International Studies (BInst) with a focus on "European studies". Basically it's an Arts degree - politics, history and a language, and I chose Spanish. I came here specifically because the exchange year is a compulsory part of the degree and I chose Spain over Mexico or Chile because I figured it'd fit the "european studies" thing better.
In every measure we're at the foot of the language education table in the OECD. Remember that New Zealand has Maori, Ireland has Irish, the USA has Spanish, Canada has French and all the non English speaking countries have English to learn. We have nothing comparable, and I guess the UK just has a long tradition of teaching French or German in schools.
I am in Spain as part of my degree, a Bachelor of International Studies (BInst) with a focus on "European studies". Basically it's an Arts degree - politics, history and a language, and I chose Spanish. I came here specifically because the exchange year is a compulsory part of the degree and I chose Spain over Mexico or Chile because I figured it'd fit the "european studies" thing better.
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
There is very important Danish literature from the late 19th century, so Danish will remain a university language, but English will replace it in primary schools eventually.
Not in a hundred years of course, but more time given, and it's done.
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Are you finding speaking Spanish easier since you are living amongst those who speak daily?
Of course, but I still tend to socialise with foreigners more. I speak Spanish with my German and Italian flatmates, but my girlfriend is English and most of my friends are foreign students as well, where the language tends to vary by group composition - I think "Erasmus Spanish" must practically be considered its own dialect.
I can cope with day-to-day life but I still find informal native Spanish dificult to follow, I pretty much have to ask people to slow down or repeat themselves... honestly I find academic Spanish easier than small-talk at this point, as a result of my most consistant exposure and usage being at lectures and classes.
I can cope with day-to-day life but I still find informal native Spanish dificult to follow, I pretty much have to ask people to slow down or repeat themselves... honestly I find academic Spanish easier than small-talk at this point, as a result of my most consistant exposure and usage being at lectures and classes.
English words are spreading like wildfire here, and I could certainly see a point in the not too distant future where a majority of our vocabulary is English. I don't think Dutch grammar will die as easily though. I think "Dutch" could then be like a dialect of English. Perhaps like in Singapore, where I believe, people speak an English based language, that's still quite different from the Queen's English.
Ansar
Détente avec l'été
AFAIK, in Singapore, they just speak Chinglish (Mandarin Chinese/English).
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
Well, it's called Singlish most of the time. 
gangleri2001
Garbage day!!!
Don't learn Latin! Learn Coptic!!
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
^ IMHO, yes. And I love doing it.
And I love doing it.
