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How many languages do Europeans speak | ||
Tags: Europe | Number of Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4621 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 33 of 66 05 October 2014 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||
But if you were married to a Swede and living in Sweden you would surely be able to speak Swedish after a couple of years? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4098 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 34 of 66 05 October 2014 at 9:26am | IP Logged | ||
Why? Many people default to English as a home language, whether because one of the partners speak English natively or because they don't share any other language. They continue speaking the home language they have always spoken. The expat partners take English-medium university courses, work English-medium jobs, and, yes, they take some "Swedish For Immigrants" classes, as required, but never get as far as speaking. It certainly doesn't apply to everyone, of course, not even all of those who had English as a home language in the beginning. But you can't assume that someone will speak Swedish just because they have been living with your Swedish friend in Sweden for a couple of years, taken Swedish classes and finished an education in Sweden... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 35 of 66 05 October 2014 at 11:36am | IP Logged | ||
Not unless you wanted to. If you have a high level of English, nobody will expect you to learn Swedish (but if you're from the Mddle East and speak English with an accent, everybody will expect you to). I knew a Welsh guy who lived in Sweden for a few years, had lots of Swedish friends and a Swedish girlfriend. No expat bubble. Still didn't learn more than a few words of Swedish. An Australian at my last job had lived in Sweden for ages, Swedish wife and all, worked at a Swedish company with lots of Swedes. I always assumed he didn't speak Swedish, but his Swedish was actually pretty good. It's just that everyone preferred speaking English with him, so I never had a chance to hear his Swedish. It's perfectly possible to live your life in Sweden entirely in English without an expat bubble and without people wondering why you're not speaking the language. But Sweden is an exception here, of course. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 36 of 66 05 October 2014 at 11:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Also, the whole "usefulness" factor is pretty interesting. In Sweden, at least in my experience, the most useful foreign languages seem to be Mandarin, Cantonese and Arabic, at least when it comes to opportunities to use them. I've had so many chances to use my Mandarin and Cantonese in Sweden, but only spoken Spanish to one guy (from Peru) and never had an opportunity to use my French. I'm wondering how often people in continental Europe encounter other European languages. Do French people who speak German ever have a chance to use it in France? I've never met a French or German in Sweden, though I did meet a French tourist here in Oslo. I also hardly ever met a Norwegian in Sweden, though I meet Swedes in Oslo all the freakin' time.
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| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4621 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 37 of 66 05 October 2014 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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But to be in a situation where you are surrounded by a language in social, domestic and professional
situations and you actively avoid learning it? It must be almost as hard to filter it out than what it is to just learn the language. I don't think my wife's friends and family in Germany would have warmed to me much if I'd insisted they only speak to me in English. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4098 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 38 of 66 05 October 2014 at 12:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Germans aren't Swedes, and it doesn't take that much energy to get used to "background noise". :p
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| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 39 of 66 05 October 2014 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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The thing is, unless your Swedish is quite advanced, the easiest way to communicate would be using English. In Germany you'll find people who aren't comfortable in English, but in Sweden most people overestimate rather than underestimate their ability. And everyone speaks English. Heck, my grandmother who passed away a year ago spoke English, and she was 98 years old! Even I, as a Swede, when living in Sweden, used English about as much as Swedish in my daily life. The Internet is in English, software is in English, all meetings at work are in English, all documentation is in English, and of course TV and movies are in English. I used Swedish to talk to people around me, but other than that, most stuff was in English (except when I actively avoided it in order to practice my other languages). English isn't really a foreign language in Sweden, thus it's not strange that you can get around with it. It's almost like using Mandarin in Guangzhou.
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 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6908 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 40 of 66 05 October 2014 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | ||
OK, I live in Visby, and work at the library next to the university - quite close to the tourist information centre and the harbour. Tourists/students/families from other countries - they all end up at my work. I meet German families nearly every day, but no French ones (that I know of). The Norwegians (and Danes) aren't many, but they exist, and they visit the library. Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 05 October 2014 at 11:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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