ira

>Do Putin. Merkel and President of China speak english? <

Of course they do. Just as well as deGaulle did.

They just won't, for diplomatic reasons.
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Hi tg,

>Only if you wish to communicate with a service worker from south of the US/Mexican border.

>..... Spanish is more important than French because it is a language of the future .........<

In which case, wouldn't it be better to learn Chinese?
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hanl points out,
>People learn languages and maintain fluency in them, for the most part, because they need to.<

walkinaround

dr german: please hire me SAP...i speak only german (oh and some italian as i holiday there every year). i assume that's ok as SAP is a proper german company, right?

SAP: we are a global company and we speak a lot of english. the last thing we want to be perceived as is a 'german company'. we are global...don't you get it?

dr german: ohhhh...hmmmm...ummm....ok....no problem...i'll just work on your projects and customers in germany and i can give italy a try too.

SAP: our german and italian customers are largely multi-nationals and we link their globalised enterprises together...so they speak english too on these kinds of projects. and we don't want people who can't work on international projects as that's most of our business.

dr german: ohhh...

SAP: and our r&d centres are located all over the world (india, china, usa, bulgaria, etc)...we communicate in english on r&d projects. how do you expect to talk to our global r&d teams???

dr german: hmmmm, this isn't going so well....isn't there ANYTHING i can do here?

SAP: well...(and hands dr german a broom).

logos999

LOL, really no idea how business is done over here
They are a bunch of specialists, only few need English.
It's called "Arbeitsteilung".

danon

'Spanish is more important than French because it is a language of the future and French is a language of the past. "

It is also easier to learn, pronounce, read and write than French .

sap

"Spanish is more important than French because it is a language of the future and French is a language of the past. "

Plus, Spanish speakers are certainly procreating at a much faster rate than the French.

Pvoyageuse

"Plus, Spanish speakers are certainly procreating at a much faster rate than the French."


which have the highest birth rate in Europe.

travelgourmet

<i>LOL, really no idea how business is done over here</i>

To hear you tell it, business isn't done in Germany at all.

That would help explain why Germany has had such anemic growth for the past 20 years, though. In that period, the Netherlands has leapfrogged Germany's GDP per capita and now holds an impressive lead. Heck, even Belgium managed to leapfrog Germany and the UK has significantly cut the distance between the two countries.

Germany: The Detroit of Europe...

gti_travel

Does anybody think that if you are fluent in a foreign language you can find a better job than distributing directions or brochures inside a government boot or tourist office where ever in the world?

EuropeByRail

This must be a joke question. When we ventured across the pond to the US, we even came across one or two folk at tourist offices in New Mexico and Arizona who could not communicate with us in French. Fortunately, our English skills were good enough to muddle through. But we are still looking forward to the day when every Amtrak train has the menu in Russian, Dutch and Catalan.

tucsontraveler

I wasn't going to reply. All of the replies pretty much cover the subject from both perspectives. However,
no one said anything about how you approached the staff. Were you arrogant or were you polite? I have traveled extensively in both Italy and France. In both countries, the larger cities I have had little or no problems with the language question. I have attempted and learned most of the common phrases and questions to communicate with the French and Italians. A lot of the time I have seen how foreigners to their countries have acted(yes, you are foreigners and tourists). I must say by in large, rude and arrogant are the two things that do not endear you to them. Both in the Italian and French countrysides many of the people do not speak great English, and some do not speak it at all. With a smile and some knowledge of their language; with hand gestures and laughing, you can get by. You are in their country, at least make an effort to learn some of their language.

Even in Paris, we have had no trouble, language wise and our last trip there involved renting an apartment for a month. I don't speak great French and my husband speaks none and we had a blast. AND we are American. We have learned to be polite and even the Parisians have been polite. We think it is because we tried to speak their language, said good morning and good bye AND did not think we knew everything!!!

nochblad

An opportune book review in this week's The Economist - http://www.economist.com/node/16213950 - Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language.