To think it's understandable that English speaking people often aren't great at learning foreign languages?

[Treblecleff88]

When I was at school, I learned French. Do you know how many times I've been to France? 0. Do you know how many French people I know? 0. So guess how much French I remember? Pretty much nothing.

I used to a spend quite a bit of time in Germany and they are all so good at English. But they communicate with other foreigners using English as a language they have a mutual understanding of. They listen to pop songs sung in English. They are constantly exposed to English as are foreigners across Europe. It's easy to see why the stuff they learn in school seems to stick so much better. It is always being reinforced and they have a real, tangible reason for learning the English language.

I often feel we're given a hard time for our lack of knowledge with foreign languages but realistically, even if we pick one language in Europe and get to the point of being fluent, it's not going to be relevant when conversing with the vast majority of foreigners in this country. English is so widely spoken by comparison to say French, Spanish or German which seem to be the three languages which schools seem to teach in the U.K.

Interested to hear other people's views on this.

I think it's just an excuse for laziness.

I think the annoyance comes from the fact that English is THE language, therefore we assume as english people that there's no need to learn other languages even if we go to that country. If they're here it's understandable, but if you go to Japan or something and whine that people don't understand you, you're being a dickhead.

Saying that, in most parts of Japan younger people at the very least will likely be more fluent in English than many English speakers I know but it was just a random thought based on a language I'm trying to learn. I think we like to see the world as very english-centered when it's not really.

One thing that weirded me out was how when I was watching Eurovision they mentioned that all the songs were playing on the radios in different European countries whereas I only ever heard England's here. No wonder nobody bloody votes for us!

MY dcs have much more exposure to languages by playing DS (as in the console) in French and chatting to the French speaking kids online, and also language learning apps which pair up a Japanese student wanting to learn English with an English student learning Japanese for example.They correct each others work.

It's not understandable. It's lazy and pathetic.

Well, we don't really need to, do we? I mean, thanks to the tentacles of the British Empire, and American global hegemony, English is either a first or a second language for a lot of the world.

The only reasons to learn other tongues are:

1. You're particularly interested in languages
2. You move to a country that doesn't have English as a native language and want to integrate properly

To those saying it's lazy. I spent a long time paying to go to classes to learn Italian through my own choice. That was 20 years ago and I barely remember a word now. I wouldn't say that paying and using your free time to learn a language is lazy. It just hasn't stood the test of time as I'm never exposed to the Italian language.

Maybe the odd Italian word but not enough to reinforce what I learned.

I agree that if someone never goes abroad there is no reason to learn a forreign language. But going to another country and assuming that the local people will be willing to speak English to you as you can't be bothered learning their language - that is both arrogant and rude.

Yes it's lazy. But it is also understandable. Being understandable doesn't make it less lazy, the two things are not mutually exclusive.

its a self fulfilling prophesy. English speakers have just s much language learning capacity as anyone else, if they want to

Whenever I've been to France, I speak french but people always reply in English. It really knocks my confidence and puts me off trying to speak french to people.

sonjadog so if someone travels to various other countries frequently, should they know every language? As the people who are local to France don't learn German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish just incase they go on holiday to those places. They learn English, so that they can communicate with the people of all of those countries. English is the second language of all of those nationalities. That's what makes it difficult if you already speak English, you can't literally learn the languages of every country you might visit.

We aren't (or weren't, unsure about now) taught early enough. I did a languages degree and part of my course involved linguistics; by the time you're 12 and in secondary school it's much more difficult to absorb a new language.

coconut that was my experience in Germany. I tried so hard. Always instigated conversation in german but I got nowhere with it as they instantly turned it to an English conversation. As you say, it does knock your confidence.

I have lived in a few European countries and found that people wanted to speak English to me instead of the local language, to help them improve their English. In my work people move around a lot and everything us in English, so people have a real incentive to want to speak fluent English. I had to really insist on speaking the local language. For non-native English speakers it was easier to get people to let them practice the local language.

A huge problem for brits when learning languages is that grammar is taught very poorly here. If I had been drilled on English grammar before starting in French/German/Spanish, having that point if reference would have sped up the learning process no end.

In the end I married someone who's first language is not English. Best way to learn a language quickly us to date someone who speaks it!

Dunno about laziness. Language is best acquired in early childhood. As proven by my three year old who is totally bilingual and puts my French to shame

Part of the problem is that a. People switch to English when they realise that it's not your maternal language and b. It's really difficult to be completely immersed.
Also, gender of words, the syntax is different etc.

There is no NEED to learn a foreign language, but it's good to know one. (Or more than one!!!0 Basically, if you can speak English, French, and Spanish, you can go virtually anywhere in the world! Many countries speak at least one of those languages.

I have a friend who is Chinese (born and raised there,) who is 29 and moved here 3 years ago. She said the first language they are taught at school in China is English.

I despair when people move to another country, (for good,) and don't make ANY effort to speak the language. That's people moving to the UK, and Brits moving to Spain and Portugal and so on. It's ridiculous, and rude, and entitled.

Hmm, not sure.

I did read English books as soon as I was able to understand an English children's book, but that was after learning English at school, with not much exposure to Englsih pop songs, or to the internet (that came much later).

I wouldn't blame the individual English-speaking person, but the schools could make more of an effort.

While I understand that there is not much of a point in learning German, Spanish and French are still spoken in former colonies, and you could communicate with lots of people over the internet who don't know much English. (I regret not having learnt Spanish or French at school, now)

It's not understandable. It's lazy and pathetic.

What rubbish! I speak 5 languages but when I go to those countries people reply to me in English. It's pretty discouraging and hard to find the motivation when English is so widely spoken.

In order to make it worth that person's while to speak to you in their language you need to have reached a superior fluency that is hard to achieve when they have the advantage of years of schooling combined with a wealth of English-speaking media.

And as the OP says which language would we specialise in?

So, if I as a die-hard language lover feels demotivated then it's not surprising the vast majority can't be arsed.

I enjoy other languages and normally try before a foreign holiday to learn at least key phrases. Replies are normally in English, but it is the assumption by English-speakers that others will speak English that is lazy and arrogant.

No one would accuse a non native English speaker of being lazy for only knowing their own language and enough English to get by in any other country. So what do English speakers have to do? Learn enough of every single other language out there to get by in any country of the world; so not to appear as lazy and pathetic? It's not English speakers fault that English is spoken and learnt pretty much world wide.

What is irritating and lazy is English speakers who just shout louder in English to make themselves understood or who make no efforts to slow down their speech or adapt their vocabulary when they're abroad.

I say all this as a native English speaker who is perfectly fluent in another European language and can get by in another one.

It is a BIT lazy, but you underestimate how much English is used elsewhere. children grow up watching UK/American shows and listening to Music. There is almost a level of immersion there.

I think it's a reason, if not an excuse. But I also think that Brits find languages so hard because they're not expected to even know or understand their own language very well. If knowing spelling and grammar in your own language is apparently too much to ask (which, according to many an MN thread it isn't) how are you meant to learn a foreign language?

I speak French fluently. If I walk into a shop alone I get responses in French. If I walk in talking to my DH I get responses in English. The assumption is made before you speak French if that helps with coconfidence!

It is