learn language

learn language and information about uk visa

[rewboss]

If you have a question about the English language, please feel free and ask it here, and we'll do our best to answer.

This isn't the forum to ask about visas, though. I suggest you register an account (it's free), and then you'll have access to the General Members Discussion forum, which would be a better place to ask about visas. In the meantime, I suggest you get in touch with the British Embassy in your country and your country's Embassy in the UK.

[Harry Smith]

I have a question about English Language. Do English people learn foreign languages? I think the answer is "Yes". Do they speak these languages as well as the foreigners speak English? I think the answer is "No". Why?

How many different words do English people use a day?
Do they write dictations as well as the foreigners do? Why?

[rewboss]

It is true that native speakers of English don't have a good reputation for learning foreign languages, but I don't think you can say that all English speakers speak foreign languages worse than foreigners speak English.

For a start, which foreigners are you talking about? In my experience, the Dutch speak excellent English, but I have had extreme difficulty with Italians. Koreans tend to learn a lot of grammar but often don't actually speak English very well.

But these are all generalisations. I have met Dutch people who can't speak English and Italians who can speak English like a native. As for me, I can tell you with absolute confidence that I, as a native English speaker, speak much better German than most of my students speak English.

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by rewboss

It is true that native speakers of English don't have a good reputation for learning foreign languages, but I don't think you can say that all English speakers speak foreign languages worse than foreigners speak English.

For a start, which foreigners are you talking about? In my experience, the Dutch speak excellent English, but I have had extreme difficulty with Italians. Koreans tend to learn a lot of grammar but often don't actually speak English very well.

But these are all generalisations. I have met Dutch people who can't speak English and Italians who can speak English like a native. As for me, I can tell you with absolute confidence that I, as a native English speaker, speak much better German than most of my students speak English.

When I say a foreign language I don't mean people from Holland, Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. I think English isn't a foreign language for them. We can't compare them with Russians and Asians. It so happens that I go to Denmark to visit my daughter every year in summer and I never have difficulty in speaking to them. Sometimes it seems to me Dannish people speak English better than their own tongue.
What I really want to say is "you can't learn a foreign language withouit visiting that country and living there for a short period. Here in Moscow I meet people from the USA and they have real difficulties in speaking Russian even thoughthey live here long.

[Tdol]

Have they made much effort to learn it? Many expats get away without learning much more of a language than restaurants and taxis as they don't use it much at work.

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by Harry Smith

When I say a foreign language I don't mean people from Holland, Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. I think English isn't a foreign language for them.

Well, that's a strange definition of "foreign". It is a foreign language to them.

Sometimes it seems to me Dannish people speak English better than their own tongue.

It may well be that Danes tend to speak English extremely well, but definitely not better than their own tongue. But there are a few outstanding examples: Sandi Toksvig is a well-known comedienne and radio presenter in Britain, and she speaks near perfect English, although she is Danish by birth. However, she spent much of her childhood abroad (her father was a foreign correspondant for a Danish radio channel) and she studied at Cambridge.

Here in Moscow I meet people from the USA and they have real difficulties in speaking Russian even thoughthey live here long.

I have also met foreigners from all sorts of different countries who have lived for years in either Britain or Germany and can barely communicate in English or German.

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by Tdol

Have they made much effort to learn it? Many expats get away without learning much more of a language than restaurants and taxis as they don't use it much at work.

Maybe, yes. Why I think so? I have a friend fron the States. He came to Armenia as a Peace Corp. Volanteer in 1993. He didn't speak Armenian then. After his mission he married and stayed there. Now after 13 years of stay he doesn't speak Armenian. I don't know why. Maybe the level of English in Armenia is higher and most people can speak English.

[rewboss]

There are lots of reasons people don't learn the local language. Not everybody is very good at learning a language. Some refuse to point blank. But that doesn't mean that people in that country speak English -- there are various strategies one can use.

I have an uncle who lives in France, where the people are notoriously reluctant to speak English. My uncle doesn't speak a work of French, but he gets by through sheer force of personality.

But I think it's dangerous to take anecdotal evidence like this and use it to make generalisations.

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by rewboss

There are lots of reasons people don't learn the local language. Not everybody is very good at learning a language. Some refuse to point blank. But that doesn't mean that people in that country speak English -- there are various strategies one can use.

I have an uncle who lives in France, where the people are notoriously reluctant to speak English. My uncle doesn't speak a work of French, but he gets by through sheer force of personality.

But I think it's dangerous to take anecdotal evidence like this and use it to make generalisations.

"Not everybody is very good at learning a language" Such people,who think they are not good at learning a language, are mistaken. Once somebody heard he can't learn a language will never learn it. As for me everybody can learn a language. It doesn't matter how well they speak. I know lots of native speakers who make mistakes in their speech. ( I don't mean English).If you are interested I can tell you a "Little' story. A friend of mine asked me to teach him English as their family was going to move to the States. At the same time he added he has tried many times without any result. He explained that he had attended only four grades of secondary school and left it. He couldn't read or write in his native tongue. I promised to teach him though wasn't sure of good result. We had been studying English for three months: every day for 90 days. I even wrote a special textbook especially for him. There were 40 lessons. Finally the last day I invited all my students to my place and he had to speak to them. You can't imagine how happy he was when he could understand the others and could speak to them. His English wasn't fluent but when he family moved to the States he found a job. Now he has been living there for 20 years. When we meet I ask him to teach me American English .