Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Sorry, but I think that expecting someone else to learn YOUR language is one of the major failings of those of us fortunate enough to speak English as our native language. English speakers are notoriously bad at learning other languages, and that's a very bad thing, IMHO.
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That wasn't what I was saying. I'm talking about the decisions a country makes about what language it teaches children. It's better for the UK to teach Latin, Spanish and Chinese rather than French and Italian. I'm not one of those types seen in a bar on the continent saying "A PINT OF LAAARRRGER PEDRO!"
Likewise it's better for France to be less opposed to English than it is.
Languages are the barriers that prevent us communicating with each other, once the entire world can understand each other don't you think it'll be a better place to live in, for both business and culture?
I'm not suggesting that we deliberately cause the death of some languages, but aggresively enforcing them at the cost of communicating with each other is short sighted.
I also agree with Geoff about people who speak without moving their lips. I'm a slight bit hard of hearing, and I find if I can't see someone's lips move I find it difficult to 'hear' them in a noisy office.
And as for the demise of grammar it astounds me when I receive emails at work which are barely intelligible. I work in a global company, with English as the standard language and I can find it easier to understand people who have English as a second language when it comes to the written form.