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monolingualism in Scandinavia | ||
Tags: Scandinavia | Monolingual | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| automaat Newbie United States Joined 4532 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 9 of 19 30 June 2012 at 4:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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North Americans (and possibly Brits and any other Anglophone) seemingly fall for the
notion that one can blissfully live in a Scandinavian country entirely through the medium of English. I first think that it's disgracefully inconsiderate... I think this nails it. It is quite inconsiderate and I am amazed at how many people I've met who have done exactly that anyway. As you say, the tourist circle and the younger generation tend to be quite decent in English. This isn't just limited to Scandinavia. For instance, I've met a few Americans living long-term in Germany on artist visas who don't seem to be interested in learning the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Irish_Goon Senior Member United States Joined 6416 days ago 117 posts - 170 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 10 of 19 01 July 2012 at 1:59am | IP Logged | ||
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Those damn Anglophones! Again they show what scoundrels they are!
(SARCASM FONT) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6380 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 19 01 July 2012 at 4:13am | IP Logged | ||
I wouldn't be so quick to paint everyone with the same brush. Many people live overseas for work reasons. When you combine a demanding job, with a family, a relatively short stay, and no particular love for languages, it seems to me like it's a rational decision. And like Irish Goon implies it's not only English speakers who do it. Every language group does it where it can. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| neiliog93 Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 4531 days ago 4 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Irish, FrenchB1 Studies: German, Italian, Swedish | Message 12 of 19 01 July 2012 at 5:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I've been to Denmark once and had a lot of exposure to Swedish (my long-term girlfriend
is Swedish). One thing that sickens me about Swedes is that they think English is 'cool' (as another user said) to the detriment of their native tongue. I have about 40 facebook friends from Sweden at this stage (all under the age of 25) and about half of their statuses and comments on pictures are in English. Bear in mind that they are not catering to an international audience here - this is Swedish people communicating with each other through English, needlessly. Even if their comments are in Swedish, there will often be two or three English words thrown in. I've yet to meet a young Swede (i.e 15-25) who hasn't been capable of comfortably holding an advanced conversation in English. In Sweden, many English-language advertisements have now stopped including Swedish subtitles. Many of these products are aimed at younger people - if advertisers are willing to risk people not understanding their message, it shows how proficient people have become at English. One could comfortably get around in Sweden with only English (even those 60+ have a decent standard). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| neiliog93 Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 4531 days ago 4 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Irish, FrenchB1 Studies: German, Italian, Swedish | Message 13 of 19 01 July 2012 at 5:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Having said that, I do agree that it's disgracefully inconsiderate that English
speakers do not make an effort to learn the native language while there. I remember meeting an old man, originally from England, who'd been living in Sweden for twenty years. A really strange thing had occurred with him - while he could understand Swedish perfectly, he was incapable of producing any more then the basics himself, purely because he'd never had to (or tried to). It's actually difficult to go to Sweden to learn the language, even if you want to, because they're all so good at English and are so eager to speak it (personal experience). It's partly English-speakers' bad/arrogant attitude, but I assure you that I'm not one of them and yet I still found it difficult to talk to Swedes in Swedish (due to my poor knowledge they'd often reply in English, even if I asked them not to). I love the country and the people, but they seriously need to cherish their own language a bit more. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5057 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 14 of 19 01 July 2012 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was in Denmark for a week. I met an old woman who did not speak English but spoke
German. And I met a lad whose English was worse than mine. All the other people's English seemed perfect to me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| decamillisjacob Newbie Canada Joined 4733 days ago 38 posts - 63 votes | Message 15 of 19 01 July 2012 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am not presuming that all Anglophones think the way my statement generalized, but it does seem to be enough of a trend that because of English's status in both Scandinavia and Holland that one too many native and fluent non-native English speakers tend to travel or even live in these countries without bothering to learn a word of Danish, Swedish, Dutch, or whatever. I've heard a great many local tales of such from travellers there to otherwise revoke my statement of curiosity.
The question is, why? Edited by decamillisjacob on 01 July 2012 at 7:16pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Irish_Goon Senior Member United States Joined 6416 days ago 117 posts - 170 votes Speaks: English* | Message 16 of 19 01 July 2012 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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You are absolutely right. It has absolutely nothing to do with millions and millions of people acting VOLUNTARILY in conjunction with other economic factors. It is anglophones who dare travel to other places and have the nerve to speak their language. We all know that anglophones invade every country and demand that English be spoken and nothing else!
Who cares if anglophones tow the line of being lambasted because they do not bother to learn a word of another language versus being mocked because they butcher the language when they do try....who cares about their problem!? Why don't we just legislate that people appreciate and speak their own language while simultaneously prohibiting English!? We all know how well legislation works don't we!? 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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