Why are americans so persistent about English language and hate other languages?
A dumb person can learn english, it doesn’t imply intelligence. Secondly, english was invented by britishers.
36-40
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FreddieUK · 70-79, M
Some friends of mine were traveling in S America and came across a group of Americans who were convinced that people were speaking in Spanish and pretending not to understand them out of spite. They could not believe that the whole world does not have English as its main language and all these other languages are just for quaint show.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@FreddieUK That can happen if the locals think they are being patronised by the visitors.
I am not ever so well-travelled, but do know the locals appreciate at least some, sincere effort at their language. Sometimes they will use you to practice their English, mutually. I recall shopping for food in a small town in SW France. My girlfriend and I noticed the young man behind the counter talking to a lady we guessed to be a regular, in that region's dialect. Then French to someone else. Then he and we swapped school-level English and French with each other!
I don't know what that dialect is, but think it's related to Basque. A group of locals sitting near us in a cafe were all happily chattering away in it, and not only their language but also accent was very different from "standard French".
A friend, Keith, once recounted a rather amusing take on that from the other side.
He entered a North Welsh pub with a couple, all three of them English. The trio realised the locals had turned from speaking in English to Welsh when they heard the visitors' voices. Keith said they bought a round of drinks and sat quietly talking, quite near the bar. They did not stay long, with such an unfriendly reception, and left after the one drink.
On the way out the man of the couple turned, and loudly wished everyone "Goodbye!"... in Welsh.
Two particular bar-leaners suddenly turned very red and embarrassed. Keith asked his pal what that was about.
"Oh, they wouldn't have known I can speak Welsh, and those two were making very lecherous comments about [girl-friend]!"
I am not ever so well-travelled, but do know the locals appreciate at least some, sincere effort at their language. Sometimes they will use you to practice their English, mutually. I recall shopping for food in a small town in SW France. My girlfriend and I noticed the young man behind the counter talking to a lady we guessed to be a regular, in that region's dialect. Then French to someone else. Then he and we swapped school-level English and French with each other!
I don't know what that dialect is, but think it's related to Basque. A group of locals sitting near us in a cafe were all happily chattering away in it, and not only their language but also accent was very different from "standard French".
A friend, Keith, once recounted a rather amusing take on that from the other side.
He entered a North Welsh pub with a couple, all three of them English. The trio realised the locals had turned from speaking in English to Welsh when they heard the visitors' voices. Keith said they bought a round of drinks and sat quietly talking, quite near the bar. They did not stay long, with such an unfriendly reception, and left after the one drink.
On the way out the man of the couple turned, and loudly wished everyone "Goodbye!"... in Welsh.
Two particular bar-leaners suddenly turned very red and embarrassed. Keith asked his pal what that was about.
"Oh, they wouldn't have known I can speak Welsh, and those two were making very lecherous comments about [girl-friend]!"
FreddieUK · 70-79, M
@ArishMell Coincidentally, one of the traveling friends I just mentioned is a cradle Welsh speaker married to a monoglot English speaker and she had a similar in a North Wales pub. She departed with her husband after their meal having given two barrels in Welsh at the men (it was North Waled 20 years ago) for their rude comments about them. Language chauvinism isn't confined to one country.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@ArishMell @FreddieUK I hitch hiked with a girl through Wales Easter 1978 and had exactly the same experience (except that we were unable to retort in Welsh!), opened a cafe door and heard English spoken but as soon as they saw we weren't local everyone switched to Welsh. That was somewhere in Snowdonia. As we got further and further south the amount of Welsh we heard decreased until it disappeared altogether in the south.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@ninalanyon It may be different now, as I think Welsh schools started teaching it since then. All the road signs are bilingual too; but I've never found how you accommodate hundreds of modern technical words in an ancient language that had not been kept up all the time.
There was a tale circulating that a microwave oven is a "poppetee-ping" or something like that, but it's not true. I did know but have forgotten what the Welsh for it really is. I don't think it's more than a Welshified version of the English.
My line manager was from South Wales though I don't know when he moved to England. Possibly when he went to college (I don't think he went to university, as he gained an HND not a Degree.) I did not detect any Welsh accent though, and I think I knew more Welsh words than he did!
My brother lives in Southern Scotland where he met and married a local lass. One day out with them I commented on the dual language on an ambulance near Glasgow.
My sister-in-law replied, "I don't know why they bother. Gaelic has never been spoken much down here in the South of Scotland."
There was a tale circulating that a microwave oven is a "poppetee-ping" or something like that, but it's not true. I did know but have forgotten what the Welsh for it really is. I don't think it's more than a Welshified version of the English.
My line manager was from South Wales though I don't know when he moved to England. Possibly when he went to college (I don't think he went to university, as he gained an HND not a Degree.) I did not detect any Welsh accent though, and I think I knew more Welsh words than he did!
My brother lives in Southern Scotland where he met and married a local lass. One day out with them I commented on the dual language on an ambulance near Glasgow.
My sister-in-law replied, "I don't know why they bother. Gaelic has never been spoken much down here in the South of Scotland."