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Which country is the worst at languages? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4622 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 57 of 72 25 April 2012 at 2:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
Although until the 1980s, there were many West Germans who did not learn English at school as they opted for French insted. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Betjeman Groupie Germany Joined 6143 days ago 85 posts - 204 votes Speaks: German* | Message 58 of 72 26 April 2012 at 9:49am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks for pointing that out, beano, although I have to disagree, at least partially. Since 1964 the first foreign language in West Germany has usually been English, which was then introduced in the fifth form (at the age of 10). This applied to all school types. A minority of pupils chose French as their first foreign language, which was - and is - the most popular choice as second foreign language in Germany. At grammar schools, another option was Latin. In the seventh form (age 12) a second foreign language was introduced. Once again, this applied to all school types. Whoever had chosen French as a first foreign language, usually opted for English now. So it is safe to assume that a vast majority of Germans up to the age of 58 (born 1954 or later) had at least two years of English lessons at school, some of them up to nine years. In Hamburg, English became a compulsary subject in the so called "Volksschule" (basic primary and secondary school) as early as 1870. It was Hamburg as well where, in 1998/99, English was introduced in the third form (at the age of 8). This has become a nationwide standard since 2004/05. This is not to say that the average German speaks English exceedingly well (he doesn't), but it shows that foreign language teaching has been an important and acknowledged part of education in (West) Germany for quite some time. Edited by Betjeman on 27 April 2012 at 7:38am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Marikki Tetraglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5495 days ago 130 posts - 210 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Spanish, Swedish Studies: German | Message 59 of 72 26 April 2012 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't have the faintest idea about which country is the worst or best at languages.
But no doubt that whenever someone has directly asked me how many and which languages I speak he/she has been from the U.S. . I would even say that almost every American that I have met has asked about my languages. In my experience people from other countries than the U.S. don't generally find that question particularly interesting. Maybe it is just that the polite and sociable Americans have noticed that the most Europeans love to boast about their language skills? Or maybe I haven't met enough monolingual travellers from other countries? Or are Americans really more aware and intrested about language skills? Anyways, dear Americans, I don't mind, please go on asking about my languages :) Edited by Marikki on 26 April 2012 at 9:43pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| JindleBrey Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4606 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes | Message 60 of 72 26 April 2012 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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England is quite bad at learning languages, and tend to admit to it. My mother always sais how other countries put us to shame, which has motivated me to learn Spanish. lol
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| stout Senior Member Ireland Joined 5371 days ago 108 posts - 140 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 61 of 72 27 April 2012 at 1:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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I would say that all countries in the English-speaking world like Ireland,England and
the USA are the worst when it comes to foreign language learning.The main reason is that English is the international language and most non-English-speakers speak English as their second language. There is not the incentive for English-speakers to learn foreign languages.This is in contrast to most Dutch and Scandinavians and even many Germans who speak excellent English.This is because the Dutch and Scandinavian languages are hardly spoken outside their countries.So the Dutch and Scandinavians need the English language to survive in the international world. Also there are historical and trading links with the English-speaking world and the Dutch and Scandinivian countries. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4622 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 62 of 72 27 April 2012 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Maybe we should take English out of the equation when looking how well a nation can speak foreign languages. For example, many people in large European nations can speak a good level of English but are just as tongue-tied as the British when trying their hand at another language. Do German people natter away in Spanish when in Spain and vice versa?
Exceptions are the small seafaring and trading countries like Netherlands and Sweden who have centuries of tradition of learning other languages. I once heard a Swedish professor being asked if he thought his native tongue was under threat from the global effect of English. He dismissed the idea out of hand, pointing out that Swedish people had been multi-lingual for a lot longer than the last 50 years. It sometimes annoys me that I can go to a German-speaking country and never have to use English, but when I'm in, say Italy or France, I can't function in the local language and will no doubt be tagged as just another one of those Brits who is hopeless at languages. Meanwhile a French person with decent English can travel the globe and never encounter this attitude. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| benzionisrael Triglot Groupie Spain Joined 4665 days ago 79 posts - 142 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, SpanishB2 | Message 63 of 72 27 April 2012 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Japan tends to suck at language learning.
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| onurdolar Diglot Groupie TurkeyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4652 days ago 98 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Turkish*, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 64 of 72 27 April 2012 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think in Turkey ( this is not a statistical data just speaking of every day life
experience ) no more then %5 of populaton can converse in English and that is by far the most spoken foreign language in Turkey. Even then the distribution is not even so in non touristical small towns there is almost noone at all that can speak a foreign language. Other then English there are some who can speak German due to Turkish guest workers in Germany and very little amount of French speakers who studied in French schools in Turkey. Even the languages of neighbouring countries which Turks shared a thousand year of common history is spoken by noone. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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