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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 41 of 66 05 October 2014 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Yes, I get all that. But if you are married into a Swedish family and living in Sweden, surely it makes sense to learn the language. In fact, it would be hard not to. Swedish people talk to each other in Swedish so you're going to be surrounded by it. Isn't it a little ignorant to expect everyone else to speak a different language when you are living permanently in their community? Edited by beano on 05 October 2014 at 3:38pm 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 42 of 66 05 October 2014 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I think so, yes. I'm just saying what I've seen. Two people, actually three, there was that Canadian guy, too, that I've met have been living in Sweden for many years and yet didn't have that much use for Swedish. One of them actually did learn Swedish, but he just very rarely had a chance to use it. He'd sit in a meeting and some people might be speaking Swedish and he'd understand, but when he talked he'd do so in English and when people talked to him they'd use English, too. I've heard him try Swedish and his Swedish isn't too bad, but he does have a clear accent and it invariably makes people respond to him in English. I remember when I did an exchange with some American students who were studying Swedish. The attitude they were met with in Sweden was not very supportive. Often, when they said they were studying Swedish, the response was along the lines of "Why the hell would you do that?". 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Darklight1216 Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5099 days ago 411 posts - 639 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German | Message 43 of 66 05 October 2014 at 7:11pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's interesting. Do you know whether this is generally expected of all non-native English speakers (perhaps because everyone expects Americans, Aussies, Brits etc to be mono-lingual) or is it particular to the middle east?
It's not that hard for me to imagine. I see it all the time with Spanish speakers in America who have been here for years and can barely struggle through a few English sentences. It sounds as though it would be even easier to do this in Sweden. Edited by Darklight1216 on 05 October 2014 at 7:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4706 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 44 of 66 05 October 2014 at 8:08pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Funnily enough, it all changes when your level is good enough for them not to go "what the hell is he on about". This one time, I was in Nynäshamn trying to buy a ticket on the next ferry to Gotland. Because I hadn't done it online before, I went down to the harbour and found the ticket counter. Ok, so I ask for the ticket in Swedish right? But to buy a ticket you need identification. So I hand over my Dutch ID and the woman just looks at me like "what? You speak Swedish?" She started asking me questions which you could find on my ID just to check if I wasn't messing with her :P. Of course, my Swedish was more than good enough to do all this when I was in Sweden (even though I was there for the first time). But when your Swedish is at a high level and they haven't gotten used to the idea that you're not Swedish and don't speak Swedish, when they have the feeling Swedish is as easy as English, they don't switch. I have never gotten any replies in English ever. Edited by tarvos on 05 October 2014 at 8:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tornus Diglot GroupieRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5142 days ago 82 posts - 113 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Spanish, Swedish, Danish | Message 45 of 66 05 October 2014 at 11:08pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Well, here in Denmark the situation is actually not that similar to Sweden's.
Danes have a good command of English but they're often self-conscious about it and prefer to speak Danish. Old people people usually can't speak English. As a French expat, I feel compelled to learn Danish, because my English isn't great, though I would say I speak it as good as the average Dane. Other expats I know that have been living here for at least a few years all speak Danish. However, this is what I experienced in Jutland and it's probably a lot different in other places like Copenhagen. Anyway, I feel like Europeans can often speak more than one language, I know a lot that speak 3 languages, though it's not the majority. In France, German is a language a lot of people speak, people know it's great for work opportunities. To some extent, around borders you will find more multilingual persons, in France with Dutch and German(maybe also Italian and Spanish but I'm from Northern France and can't therefore account for the situation there) and here in Denmark German as well in the south. 2 persons have 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 46 of 66 06 October 2014 at 8:03am | IP Logged | ||||||||
It basically has to do with how immigranty you look, and the perception that clear accent = bad English. Sweden has a large immigrant population from war-torn countries in the Middle East, and there's a lot of problems with integration, where some of them live in their own Arabic- or Somali-speaking "expat bubbles". It's just a matter of the difference in perception between these people and the Western expats. I was probably exaggerating a bit. You could get along fine in Sweden with a Middle-Eastern look and an accent, but it's generally thought that for an immigrant, the ticket to integration in Swedish society is learning the language. The basis is probably that many immigrants don't speak English either, so they might as well learn Swedish as English. If you already have a good command of English, Swedish isn't seen as a necessity. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Darklight1216 Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5099 days ago 411 posts - 639 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German | Message 47 of 66 06 October 2014 at 10:55am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that. I understand now. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| 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 48 of 66 07 October 2014 at 12:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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But the Swedes themselves speak English with an accent. Why should it bother them if an immigrant does
the same? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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