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Getting upset with the lack of English-speaking people in England.

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Reply 20
I agree with most of that you've said OP.
If I was going to live in another country I would embrace its culture and make an effort to integrate with its people. What I wouldn't do is attempt to carry on living exactly the same lifestyle as I was in Britain and expect no-one to say anything for fear of offending me.
I just spent a week in england, in and around london and brighton. Never met one person that didn't speak english. Even the french tourists spoke english. That mountain op is talking about really does seem like a molehill. :dontknow:
Reply 22
i have noticed this, going around london i hear more foreign tongues than english ... makes it very hard to eves drop on the tube when i have nothing better to do :rolleyes:
Original post by DavidTheYoung
England doesn't exist. England is a piece of rock in the North sea. It's a very nice rock to be fair, I like the rock, but it is just a rock. Share the rock, let other people onto the rock and then maybe we'll get over this whole "He's a different colour, he worships a different make believe friend from me, he speaks a different language to me".

I hope when you go on holiday you get angry at people who wear England football shirts and speak in English to the locals. But somehow I doubt it.


difference between going on holiday and moving ountry dont you think... :rolleyes:
Reply 24
Original post by Foo.mp3
So what's the preferred prescription?- Quiet distain followed by a hearty course of inertia?.. How quintessentially English :h: Unfortunately such post-war gentility is what's landed us in this mess..

Not everyone is content to live a half-life barricaded in their homes in a half-society, feeling like a foreigner in their own (increasingly segregated) towns and cities.. I'd rather be lumped with the BNP than sit idly by and raise no concerns about the erosion of our social fabric/pressure on services. Multiculturalism and 'immigration policy' are a colossal fail. Even immigrants seem to realise this :s-smilie:

The point of this post, and the wider societal picture, is that in sharing the rock unthinkingly we erode the value in residing thereon, at an ever increasing pace :rolleyes:


It might be rather unfashionable to say so, but you speak very eloquently. I do enjoy reading a considered and well written post. Whether or not I agree with your point, in fact.

Regardless of my opinion on this subject, I do abhor the gradual erosion of the English language, both in writing and speech. Generally by the native population, in my experience. That, and visiting the off-license in one's pyjamas, are the primary indicators, to my mind, of a country that's slowly losing the plot.

I digress.
Reply 25
I wonder why there aren't similar complaints in Amsterdam from Dutch people shouting at foreigners to learn Dutch.

They don't seem to mind Italians shouting at each other either.
Reply 26
Original post by mel_1991
I think people should make an effort to learn English if they live here. I mean I don't give a damn where anyone is from, as long as you are a decent human being, I'll respect you but to go somewhere and expect them to know your language is rude and unreasonable. If wanted to move to, for example, Spain, I would make the effort to learn Spanish.


(I'll probably be negged into next month).


I arrived in the Netherlands knowing only two sentences of Dutch - and they didn't seem to care at all!
Original post by Foghorn Leghorn
I just spent a week in england, in and around london and brighton. Never met one person that didn't speak english. Even the french tourists spoke english. That mountain op is talking about really does seem like a molehill. :dontknow:


It's a myth thrown around by secretly racist Brits because they want their foreigners quiet and agreeable.

Go into any Asian owned shop and although their mother tongue might not be English, I guarantee they speak and understand English. How could you run a successful business serving English customers and not speak English? It doesn't make any sense.

I take it all of you people moaning about this mythical problem take it upon yourselves to learn the language of the country you go on holiday to before you leave? I didn't think so either.
Original post by Alors_On_Danse
I'm going on a march cos I want Britain to be 'bout British.


You've got interracial law,
The Muslamic infidel
They're trying to get their law
Over our country

And it's happening it is happening
It's happening in other countries
It's happening in every countries like
Like you've got you've got

You've got Muslamic ray guns
You've got Muslamic ray guns
You've got Muslamic ray guns
Ray guns ray guns!

Tuneage :awesome:
Reply 29
Funny you start this thread, cause the same issue was raised on the news today, but rather with the lack of English language education in UK schools. So tell me, what is the English culture is it that people should follow here besides learning English?
Oh god when will this endless whiney racist i'm so patriotic crap stop. OP: if you're gf is giving you grief deal with her but really culture getting washed out? Really?

And the job thing I'm not getting into, blind ignorance.
Original post by DavidTheYoung
England doesn't exist. England is a piece of rock in the North sea. It's a very nice rock to be fair, I like the rock, but it is just a rock. Share the rock, let other people onto the rock and then maybe we'll get over this whole "He's a different colour, he worships a different make believe friend from me, he speaks a different language to me".

I hope when you go on holiday you get angry at people who wear England football shirts and speak in English to the locals. But somehow I doubt it.


The issue is that he goes to a shop in England and the people who work there can't understand him. This isn't about people who are different, this is about the most foreign a foreigner can get while living in England.

To your section section, particularly about speaking English: English is a major international language. Most countries with good economies teach it as a second language. There is more incentive to learn English there than Arabic or an Indian language here. Also I don't think tourists need to learn a language just to come on a two week holiday here.
You know what I really hate is the British (English isn't really appropriate) culture. I hate the way a majority of British people see people of different cultures taking away their right and identity to be British. Because it doesn't really.

Racist views like 'they' are taking our jobs, 'they' should speak out language and 'they' should go back where they belong is awful, ignorant and unfounded.

And the worst thing is most of 'they' are British. Most of the time these people were actually born in Britian and were raised being able to speak another language, which I applaud. 'They' have their own culture and customs which should be celebrated. Not their fault Britain's culture is... er what is it? And how is it being taken away exactly?
Reply 33
Not speaking English =/= Can't speak English.


I'm fairly confident that the vast, vast majority of immigrants speak English well, but speak their native language to family/friends over here. Much like almost anyone would do in any country.
Original post by Mufasaa

Much like almost anyone would do in any country.


This appears to escape some people's thoughts entirely...
Original post by Anonymous
I find this really offensive. How dare you say that England doesn't have a culture! We have full English breakfasts, elevenses, tea and digestive biscuits, afternoon tea, Sunday roast dinners with all the trimmings. We have country fairs with food competitions, fish and chips on the beach followed by a Mr Whippy. Watching Made in Chelsea, The Only Way of Essex, Desperate Scousewives. All from different parts on England and all with different cultures.


All good examples.
Original post by misswilliams
You know what I really hate is the British (English isn't really appropriate) culture. I hate the way a majority of British people see people of different cultures taking away their right and identity to be British. Because it doesn't really.

Racist views like 'they' are taking our jobs, 'they' should speak out language and 'they' should go back where they belong is awful, ignorant and unfounded.

And the worst thing is most of 'they' are British. Most of the time these people were actually born in Britian and were raised being able to speak another language, which I applaud. 'They' have their own culture and customs which should be celebrated. Not their fault Britain's culture is... er what is it? And how is it being taken away exactly?


Exactly.

Stuff like this is why I identify more with my Nigerian side, I know people don't consider me one of "them". If you look through the thread it's evident.
Original post by Addzter
All good examples.


Desperate Scousewives, TOWIE, Made in Chelsea good examples? Jesus wept.

Try Only Fools and Horses or I'm Alan Partridge, British programming at it's best. I would be utterly ashamed to show Desperate Scousewives or TOWIE to someone from another country and proudly say "this is where I live".
Original post by Riderz
Where the hell are the streets littered in teenagers covered in their own vomit? You might see one or 2 on a friday night in the city centres, but its hardly a common sight. You know what, go to the states, Oz, or most other western cultures and you'll see binge drinking. Its hardly a British problem.

There are plenty of English people who claim benefits, what I was saying was that due to EU rules we cannot turn people away who come here SOLELY to claim benefits. English people are here because they were born here, they haven't chosen a country to live in because of its good heathcare or benefit system without wishing to contribute.


The UK has a massive problem with alcohol, if you cannot see this there is no more to discuss.
Original post by misswilliams
(English isn't really appropriate)


Isn't it?

Demographics of White British:

England: 82%
Scotland: 98%
Wales: 96%

The issue barely exists outside of England. Not only that, but immigrants actually integrate, whereas England has a community for every country on Earth to ensure no integration.