English skills

[secret]

I must say that the German and Frensh people on this forum is MUCH better on english then the ones i have meet on vacation.
In Germany it took me 15 min before i could find someone that undertood the word "supermarket".
In France not even drawing one could get the stupid woman to understand "gasstation". We even tried to point to our "gas-filling-hole" (?). And then we tested other words that she might understand. After a while she got a friend to look at the drawing. After some hard thinking(?), she says something like "la pump?".

Dosn?t give a good impression on the schools of Germany and France. ;D

[BI angry]

Now, beware of insults against other ppl, MAN.

You come here claiming that the word "gas station" (it is american english for fueling station/service station and I first guessed what it meant and afterwards looked for it in a dictionary) is to be understood per se by any one.

What did you lad want to do? Getting some fuel for your car? Go and have a dictionary of english/french or english/german. It is not only helpful but also polite to have at lease some crucial words in the language of the country where you intend to spend holidays in petto.

By the way, I don't want to know how that so called drawing of yours looks like. Must be awesome, man! Modern Art, so to say. No one knows what it is by merely looking at it. *eeekz*

Come, wake up, lad. This attitude of yours is crap.

[secret]

didn?t mean to be rude.
no offence.

[DennisCGc]

I must say that the German and Frensh

Well done, spelled French wrong... ::)

people on this forum is MUCH better on english then the ones i have meet on vacation.

Is= ARE
then=than
meet=met
and besides, it should be "on this forum ARE much better in speaking/typing English than the ones I have MET on vacation."

In Germany it took me 15 min before i could find someone that undertood the word "supermarket".

So, it's not German, learn German (the basics are enough!), don't blame someone else of your lazyness.
PS. undertood... what's that ?

In France not even drawing one could get the stupid woman to understand "gasstation".

Yeah, your English sucks too!
"A woman in France doesn't even understand a drawing" (better)

We even tried to point to our "gas-filling-hole" (?). And then we tested other words that she might understand. After a while she got a friend to look at the drawing. After some hard thinking(?), she says something like "la pump?".

As said, (different language ofcourse) learn French, the basics are enough!

Dosn?t give a good impression on the schools of Germany and France. ;D

Your English doesn't give a good impression either..

I don't tend to be rude anyway.
(I'm not French nor German myself though)..
[edit]Fixed the quote thingy[/edit]

[Candy]

If you take the time to learn the basics, you'll find out that they can speak english damn well, but they bluntly refuse, in the same way that you refuse to speak french or german. Since you're the guest, you are the first to adjust.

You'll see that when you adjust, they'll start talking with you in a common base language, and pretty well even, that you both understand. Only in the case of people actually not speaking english will they not do it (for the obvious reason of not being able to), in all other cases they will.

Adjust your attitude and others will. If you don't adjust, how can you expect others to do so?

[CESS.tk]

I must say that the German and Frensh people on this forum is MUCH better on english then the person that started this topic.

Also, what makes you judge the quality of education of a country by the level of English taught? (Do you have any reason to assume that English should be taught in all schools around the world? If so, then why not teach Chinese, which has more native speakers, as well/instead?)

[Oliver]

Learn the language yourself before you critic others!

[Curufir]

...Do you have any reason to assume that English should be taught in all schools around the world?...

It's an international business thing. English is currently the most widely used language for business. Because of this most business jargon is also English (This English jargon is very often understood by people who are doing business in their own language). This has led to large companies preferring to hire people with some understanding of English, so that they can communicate effectively to people in other companies/countries. People see other people getting ahead because they know English so they decide to learn. This has been going on since the days of the Empire.

Having a globally prevalent language is no particularily bad thing IMHO and within English itself there exists plenty of room for individuality (Eg Jamaican patois Vs BBC World Service ). Nobody is actually in charge of the English language (Although the basic rules are pretty universal) so it soaks up local words like a sponge (With amusing consequences).

The downside to this of course is that there are some languages dying out, or getting corrupted, because English is being used so heavily. I'm not totally happy with that, but it seems to be inevitable at this point.

***

Back to the original point.

I remember (Way back when) being on holiday in Germany and trying to find the way to the local swimming pool (I can't swim, but they had topless sunbathing. Teenage hormones making me dumb ;D). So I tried to ask someone for directions, in atrocious German I might add. Zero response. Tried again after thinking about it some more (Again in German) and remembering the word for swimming pool. The girl answered me in fluent English to save me further suffering.

There's a trap for native English speakers in which we become very lazy and just expect others to understand what we're saying. For some folks communicating to non-English speakers just involves repeating their English LOUDER and sslloowwerr. Being able to make yourself understood (Even if it takes a while) is polite and will get you far more help than making no effort. After all, people don't go on holiday just to see what Starbucks coffee tastes like in France, or how heavy the Big Macs are in Germany.

[Kon-Tiki]

Then again, there're Americans who go on tour through Europe. In a week. They start out in Italy and end up in Scandinavia. In a week. Do you think they've seen anything else worthwhile? Unless it can be seen from the highway, I highly doubt they will, or at least get the real feeling of the country they're passing by.

As for me, as someone who doesn't speak English as first language, I don't mind them asking directions or help in English. It's charming if they try to talk Dutch, but most of the time, I won't be able to understand them due to too big an accent. If they talk to me, yelling and speaking slowly, I'll feel like they treat me as an inferiour. Why would an inferiour help someone out if those that'll be helped out are superiour? Can't they do it themselves better then? I know I just laugh and leave them whenever they do that, as they ruined it from the start.

[mr-t]

I'd have to agree with you completely on this one Raf. What's the point of visiting somewhere if you can't take in all the sights and sounds??

[BI lazy]

sometimes, whilst reading throu' posts - especially those from the native english speakers amongst us - I stumble over some really tasty and magnificient words ... take 'atrocious' f. ex., that's a tongue teaser if I know one. *ggg* don't forget to roll the 'rrrr' deep in the throat and it sounds like some good meal. *rofl*

ONe never stops learning. *gg*

@Kon-Tiki: les Japonais, who often stroll throu' the streets of Vienna, talk English rather fluently, and they don't shy away from using the language in a very distinct and polite way. It's always a pleasure for me to help 'em out.

And I've even spent a week in Sweden - it sufficed to learn a few crucial sentences of swedish language - in Smaland Dialect. *gg*'ve never had problems asking for words.

[bubach]

BI: You know that "Smaland Dialect" is one of the most ugly one?s we got in Sweden, right?

/ Christoffer

[BI lazy]

Oh, yes, I know. They told me, that the folks in Stockholm consider the dialect freshwater. *rofl* I didn't care.

[bubach]

If you speak with them anymore, ask them to learn u "g?teborska" (gothenburg?s dialect).
it?s the coolest..

[Robin_Gravel]

This topic looks interesting for me since English is not my first
language.

the German and Frensh people on this forum is MUCH better on english then the ones i have meet on vacation.

Because this board is English. I don't think everybody understand me if I only speak in french in this board.

Dosn?t give a good impression on the schools of Germany and France.

I don't live in France and Germany so I don't know if the school on those contries don't learn English in public schools unless you learn English in private lessons.


Robin Gravel