Why are the British so appalingly bad at foreign languages?

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Unless it is due to the sector I am in there are more French and German speakers overall than English.

Have you done business in Eastern Europe? as regardless of the history it is a kind of 'Lingua Franca', not quite but nearly.

No, I have not done business with Eastern Europe. But the Czechs and the Poles both have historical grudges against the Germans (indeed, in Czech, mute and German are the same word).

It is probably due to the sector you're in, although the vast majority of European sectors have either English or German as the language of them.

Reply 161

Locke54

We're not, we simply don't place the emphasis on learning languages because of English' position as the lingua franca - even in Europe, remember that German isn't an official language of the EU (probably for historical reasons) and the French were rather annoyed when the Eastern enlargement meant English surpassed French as the main language used in the EU. Furthermore people living in non English speaking nations are bombarded with English language media all the time from the moment they start to understand such things. This makes it substantially easier for them to learn the language.

It's also a socio-economic thing, those people from rich backgrounds who go to very good schools tend to have much better language skills. Random prominent examples would be that Tony Blair is fluent in French and Nick Clegg is fluent in Spanish, French, German and Dutch.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 162

SoberFox

It's easier for non-English speakers to learn English because they see it everywhere. The internet, movies, tv shows, video games, etc.

That's about it, imo. I don't think it has much to do with being lazy or too proud to learn about other cultures (that's on average - there definitely are people who are either too lazy or too conceited to learn another language).

Reply 163

LJohno13

Original post by super_dooper

When it comes to foreign languages, the British are an absolute embarrassment. Not many British people can speak another language fluently.

Most people from Europe, Asia, etc can speak 2, 3, 4 or more languages fluently. We Brits are lazy bastards and appallingly bad at foreign languages. You hardly ever meet a British person who can speak anything other than English fluently (and to be honest, a lot of Brits can't even speak English fluently these days....)

So why is this? Britain is a very multi-cultural place these days, so I'd have thought it would be a no-brainer to be able to speak a few languages.

Also, why is it when Brits go abroad, they expect everyone there to speak English? You wouldn't like it if foreigners came here and expected you to speak their language....so why should people abroad be expected to speak English? It's also funny how when Brits move abroad, they STILL don't learn the language of the country they've moved to, despite having lived there for years!

Don't say 'everyone speaks English'. No they don't. English isn't as 'universal' as you make it out to be.

It's mainly down to schools teaching foreign languages in such a way that is boring for people, but it's also the British bad attitude that 'everyone speaks English' when they don't.

I think everyone should make the effort to speak at least one foreign language fluently. Me? I've learned a number of foreign languages....so why don't you? It's fun, good for your brain, and opens up more doors in life for you.

I'm sorry but certainly seems a little ignorant. I studied French law in France and worked for a Red Cross hospital in Japan. I learned both languages and I am now able to converse in both, so before anybody criticises I've been out there, seen it and done it. The above is tabloid quality spiel at best, seriously. English is without doubt the Lingua Franca. It is not that every other country wants to learn English, it's that they must in order to compete across the globe.

Think about it this way, somebody from abroad comes to Britain and speaks English. Wow, see how enthusiastic they are about learning our language people think. A person of a different nationality does the same. Somehow those same people reach the conclusion that all the world really, really wants to speak English. Not true. Logical fallacy. A few people, usually the very well educated from many, many nations abroad learn to speak English and we encounter them. It is incorrect to conclude by comparison that the British are lazy.

Somebody has already posted the fact that Britain had a huge empire which, amongst other things, left the legacy of the English language. Along with that is the exposure that other countries get to English on an almost daily basis: adverts, exported TV services, British/ American products etc etc. That simply doesn't happen in Britain, there is no demand for it. There is a demand for English.

To avoid being labelled ignorant and lazy the British would be required to converse in almost every other language around the world. It's ok going to France and speaking French, but the Spanish, the Germans, wouldn't they still consider you to be ignorant for not learning their language? The rest of the world learns English and unlocks the key to speaking to all other nationalities who want to do the same. There are plenty of British people who speak a foreign language, believe me. A good proportion of my friends speak a foreign language and I have met many others that do too.

Reply 164

navarre

Original post by ajp100688

Actually in Poland the choice at high school is usually between German and English, most people choose English because it's more useful but German still has a substantial learning population; Russian too but that has dropped massively in popularity since the fall of the Eastern bloc. There's actually a lot of Poles who work in Germany so it's quite useful for them in the same way that English is for the massive population of Polish ex pats here. German is seen as distinctly less cool than English though, mainly because the first generation to grow up after the fall of the wall idolised Anglo culture. (source: Polish friends)

I stand corrected. I heard the other day that eastern Europeans would never speak German as the European lingua franca due to Germany's treatment of the countries in WW2, and the hostility between them.

Not surprised that English is more popular than German, though I love German, it's cool.