Hello everyone, I'm from England.

Write something about yourself (who you are and where you come from).
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Leo
Bilingual Newbie
Beiträge: 3
Registriert: 7. Dez 2006 12:18
Muttersprache: English
Wohnort: England

Hello everyone, I'm from England.

Beitrag von Leo »

Hi, just a short run down to introduce myself. I'm called Leo, and lived in Bonn, Germany for five years, and what a lovely country it was. I like food, poetry. magic, politics, religion and going to the pub and conversation. My German is CRAP, I was a typically lazy English man who relied on people to always talk English to me! I have three wonderful kids, two of which are totally bilingual, and a wife who is trilingual. So if you want to e-mail me, let me know.




Papaya
Topic Talker
Beiträge: 69
Registriert: 25. Jun 2006 18:12
Muttersprache: German
Wohnort: Germany - Bavaria

Beitrag von Papaya »

Welcome to our community, Leo!

I`m a student from Germany, and I have some sort of fandom for the english language, the english people and for the country itself.
I would be glad if we could get in touch.
(But I`ll have to warn you: Like most women do, I love to talk. And I talk a lot ;))

Best wishes,
Papaya
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
-Mark Twain

Leo
Bilingual Newbie
Beiträge: 3
Registriert: 7. Dez 2006 12:18
Muttersprache: English
Wohnort: England

Cheers Papaya

Beitrag von Leo »

Thanks for your warm welcome, I have sent you a private message.

Johno_uk
Slow Speller
Beiträge: 19
Registriert: 6. Mär 2006 17:42
Muttersprache: Englisch
Wohnort: Bath, England

Beitrag von Johno_uk »

Hey! Not all of are lazy. I actually think it's a really bad show to live in a country and not speak the language; call me unfair but... I was served by a girl in London in a shop who didn't speak English and complained to the shop manager :redface: I was also talking to a Kenyan girl who lived in Nairobi and couldn't speak Swahili (part of the Indian community, which didn't integrate with the locals). Swahili was a optional subject at their school!! I can't believe the British Forces schools didnt teach German, I met someone who lived in Germany until they were 10 and couldn't speak German!!! :rolleyes:
That's right Liiiinndaaaa, the umpa lumpa

Leo
Bilingual Newbie
Beiträge: 3
Registriert: 7. Dez 2006 12:18
Muttersprache: English
Wohnort: England

Sorry Johno_uk

Beitrag von Leo »

It's true there are exceptions and I'm sorry if I've offended you, however on the whole the majority of English people cannot or will not attempt to speak a foreign language. A couple of years back the German ambassador to Britain said that coaches were bringing German students to England, but sadly, Britain wasn't returning the complement. He also said we were more interested in the history of the war, than the culture of a great country. At present my children are having to study privately for their German A-levels, due to the fact the school hasn't one interested candidate, schools must have at least six students enrolled to receive funding! As for the British army, German lessons are an optional extra and not compulsory, their children do not attend German schools, but have a full English education. Let's be honest the majority of English school children have difficulty to speak, or worse still talk in English.

Yes, I arrived in Germany unable to speak German, I had basic "get by in German" lessons from a Russian lady, who was excellent, the rest I picked up when I went shopping etc. Maybe if I had had a thorough grounding in German at school, I would speak good German. It's funny that my older sister speaks perfect German, French and some Arabic also, and my mother spoke seven European languages, five of which were fluent, the reason being languages were compulsory and well taught.

What do you think?

Papaya
Topic Talker
Beiträge: 69
Registriert: 25. Jun 2006 18:12
Muttersprache: German
Wohnort: Germany - Bavaria

Beitrag von Papaya »

I agree with the opinion that people who are living in a foreign country should be able to talk the local language. But I also think that English has to be seen as an exception. English is the dominating language on our world, and it’s taught in every country, as far as I know. If you speak English, you can communicate with nearly everyone in nearly every country. If one lives in a foreign country as a stranger for some time, he should be able to talk to the people who are living in this country. And since English is taught on every school in Germany, I don’t think that there’s any problem if someone speaks English with the German.
(And I'm saying this as a German ;))
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
-Mark Twain

Johno_uk
Slow Speller
Beiträge: 19
Registriert: 6. Mär 2006 17:42
Muttersprache: Englisch
Wohnort: Bath, England

Beitrag von Johno_uk »

Don't worry I'm not offended.

In fairness I didn't take German A-level and have learnt by other means as at the time I percieved other subjects as more important, in retrospect I WOULD have studied German more; but I am making up for that now... I think its awful that your kids must be taught privately! Foreign language GCSE needs to be re-introduced as compulsary as a minimum in this country, and A-level encouraged. At my college I believe about 30 people studied German to A-level, out of 2000! Of these about one-third were part-German or had lived in Germany, and so wanted an easy subject!

In fairness I was very happy with my state education in England; but there was definite room for improvement in the teaching of English. I only know about many aspects of English from having learnt German and then comparing the languages. Grammar is very poorly taught if at all, but the same is true in Australia, and maybe some other English-speaking countries. In fairness many Germans are also not particulary good at recognising the grammaticl features of their own language too, as I found out when asking for explanations.

On another note, how did you find living in Germany without German. I my experience of 6 months in Hamburg, if for some reason I spoke in English people would keep the conversation to a minimum (often because it made them uncomfortable), whereas when I spoke German I could really get to know people. The exception were members of the younger-generation who like to practice.

As English is an exception to some extent, but learning a foreign langauge has huge benefits, even for speakers of English. So whilst I welcome and support the teaching of English in all countries to better enable global communication, it shouldn't be at the disadvantage of mother-tongue speakers of English who loose out by their governments removing foreign langauges in their curiculums.
That's right Liiiinndaaaa, the umpa lumpa

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