|
 |
German Minister refuses to speak English | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5758 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 113 of 128 16 December 2010 at 1:59am | IP Logged | |||||
|
OK, I read the question, and haven't read any of the subsequent replies, but heres my
two buts worth. I know nothing about this man, or German politics. My immediate reaction, mainly due to the 'arrogance' of the interrogator was that he should reply in German. But he should of answered in English. I find it hard to believe he doesn't speak English as he understood the question well enough to answer in such eloquent German. The job of the foreign minister in the U.K is third only to the prime minister and the chancellor of the exchequer. I understand it to carry similar gravity in the U.S. He is therefore a politician, and an influential one at that. It seems to me to be a loaded question. If he doesn't answer in English, which is, let's face it, the international language of trade and 'democracy', then he seems insular, and arrogant. If he does answer in English, then many Germans would see it as compromising the German language, in Germany. The comment '...aber...es ist Deutschland hier', says it all. This foreign minister, this diplomat of diplomats, will speak only German in Germany. A very strange perspective. As much as I despise Tony Blair, I will always rememember seeing a speech he gave in French, to the French, in France. That is diplomacy, and statesmanship. Basically Herr Westerwelle needs to CHILL OUT!! 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| akkadboy Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5409 days ago 264 posts - 497 votes Speaks: French*, English, Yiddish Studies: Latin, Ancient Egyptian, Welsh | Message 114 of 128 18 December 2010 at 9:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
That is a big the difference between Blair's speech and the press conference of Westervelle. Blair was not in his country, Westervelle was. Had he been in England, I am pretty sure he would have answered in English. Edited by akkadboy on 18 December 2010 at 9:48pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| leafhound Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5090 days ago 6 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Thai, Spanish | Message 115 of 128 19 December 2010 at 1:47am | IP Logged | |||||
This 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Frieza Triglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5354 days ago 102 posts - 137 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German | Message 116 of 128 20 December 2010 at 8:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Kudos to him! I kind of wished our politicians would stand up to our language like this German Minister has stood up to his.
I do not know whether any of you are aware of the EU plan to start having as official languages only those which are monther tongues to more than 30 million people, which in practice means cutting down from the current 22 official languages to only 6 of them (English, French, German, Italian, Polish and German). And I don't see our politicians doing anything at all to prevent this from being implemented, not even making an attempt to draw attention to the fact that Portuguese is the mother tongue to just about 11 million in Europe yes but also to over 200 million worldwide. So to Mr. Westervelle, I say: Good. Keep it up! 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5335 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 117 of 128 22 December 2010 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I recently listened on the radio to a press conference held in Sweden. Now as a Norwegian I am bound by blood and honour to make fun of the Swedes on every occasion :-), but I must admit that this one was done brilliantly.
- First a woman gave an introduction in Swedish and in English explaining what would happen, and introduced the different parties. She also said that the interventions of persons x and y would be translated into English by person z. - Then another lady said what she needed to say - in Swedish and English - and the two gentlemen said what they needed to say, and were translated. Absolutely brilliant in every way. Their accents were not perfect, byt they were very good, and was a model for how this could be done. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5087 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 118 of 128 23 December 2010 at 8:59am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I kind of have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, nobody should expect someone to speak a language besides the language of the country they are in. On the other, as a politician he should be working to reach out to the rest of the world.
I think I would agree with his response if it were slightly more friendly. I think answering (in English) that he would prefer any discussion in English take place over tea at a later time, and then explaining what had happened in German to the rest of the audience would have been much more diplomatic. He isn't slighting the BBC reporter, but he is also asserting that in Germany it is proper for him to speak German. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| gravytrain Newbie Germany Joined 5065 days ago 4 posts - 5 votes Speaks: EnglishC2 | Message 119 of 128 13 January 2011 at 1:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
The journalist asked, he was turned down, and he had an interpreter there for a reason but still pushed the question in English.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5251 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 120 of 128 11 March 2011 at 10:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
And we English speakers get flak for only speaking English in America... 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
