Caught speeding!! ,

[C36fan]

We might have to test the jacuzzi with them - you can drive and I'll let you know if there's enough space at the back Or maybe flick a coin to see who drives?

you wouldn't like my driving ! No need to flip the coin !!

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

you wouldn't like my driving ! No need to flip the coin !!

Ah, well then we can just park the car up and forget about driving for a while.

Anyway, the beers are on order now...do you think we'll be ok with an angle grinder after 10 or so of these?

 

[C36fan]

I'll do my best!! Get the 999 ready just in case !

 

[C36fan]

I'll do my best!! Get the 999 ready just in case !

I hope the are only a quarter of pint

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

OK then! Did you see the alcohol content on the label?

 

[C36fan]

OK then! Did you see the alcohol content on the label?

what kind of beer is that I thought tuborg was bad enough!

 

[C36fan]

See I'm not that upset with the French i haven't said a bad word about that beer!!

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

what kind of beer is that I thought tuborg was bad enough!

It's actually a Belgian trappist monk beer, and I can thoroughly recommend them...dark, malty and surprisingly smooth for such a high alcohol content beer

I'm coming past Kent soon, if you want I'll drop a couple off to you

 

[C36fan]

It's actually a Belgian trappist monk beer, and I can thoroughly recommend them...dark, malty and surprisingly smooth for such a high alcohol content beer I'm coming past Kent soon, if you want I'll drop a couple off to you

very kind of you ! Many thanks!

 

[219]

English is the international language and we did once rule half the World, so a little leeway is expected.

What surprises me is that given all the language adjustments made over Centuries, we don't all speak only one or two languages now.

The French also regard theirs as THE international language , and they too had a large empire in days gone by .

Then again , more people speak Chinese than do English , so there could be an argument for that one . Within Europe , Germany is the dominant economy , and theirs is the main language of at least three countries within the continent ( something that cannot be said of any other European language .

These days , the UK along with the Americans are all but bankrupt and can hardly be said to rule their own territories , never mind anywhere else .

Perhaps we should all speak Japanese or one of the Asian languages .

There are many important languages and it IS arrogant to place one above all others .

 

[219]

No you getting it all wrong tourist places like South France , algarve in Portugal or any places like that they should have at least available English option because English is a universal language . Just think if you went to Turkey and they didn't speak any English at all !!! I'm not English and I only lived in uk the last 6 years and I could speak ,write and read English because a I learnt it in school 20 years ago so I think in modern days English is the main language !! That post was to reply to pontoneer

Well , I learned French in school , a bit more than 20 years ago , and used to be quite fluent but am now very rusty . I also lived in Germany for a while and made an effort to learn their language , besides that , I took Latin at school and this was of help when visiting Italy . I did at one point try to start learning Russian , but gave up after a while ; I also find Dutch a very hard language .

What really annoys me , when visiting other countries in the past , is that I always make an effort to learn , and use , the local languages , but hotel receptionists , waiters etc often start answering in English .

 

[219]

I speak 4 languages, 3 fluently (English, German and Yorkshire) and one I understand fairly well (Geordie) although can be a little difficult at times

We, as a nation, tend to expect other countries to speak English as well as understand our rants but to be honest, so they should as it is the International language and each of our foreign neighbours learn basic English in school

This then makes us a little lazy, ignorant etc in learning another language

I landed on a building site in (Old) East Germany in 1990 so had to learn German very quickly as the locals only spoke German and Russian

Ich bin ein Berliner :bannana:

I was kind of the same when I spent some time in Germany around the same period , I never did German at school , but having a German girlfriend for a year helped immensely

One incident your JFK quote reminds me of was when I stopped at a pedestrian crossing in Osnabruck and this old German woman , on seeing the UK plates on my car , spat on the bonnet muttering 'Englisher schwein' or somesuch insult : I immediately popped the sunroof , jumped up out of it and shouted back ' Ich bin keine Englander , bin Ich Schottlander' , to which her attitude changed immediately , she wiped the spit off the bonnet with her sleeve amidst profuse apologies

I don't consider myself fluent in German , certainly not reading and writing it , but can certainly manage in shops , bars , restaurants etc - it just takes a little effort , and it is only common courtesy when you go somewhere to make that effort .

 

[219]

So, here comes a hornets nest, but a question; do you mean it's just the English from the UK population who expect everyone else to learn their language, or is it the English speaking population of the UK?

I can't say I've ever noticed any marked difference when abroad between any of us, Scots, Welsh, Irish or English?

Personally I agree with the sentiment expressed that we should make some effort to speak even a few of the basic words of language of a country visited and agree that a good attitude always helps!

The cliche is certainly 'the English' , but I would agree probably more 'the English speaking population of the UK' , with the exception of the minority who take the trouble to learn , and use , one or more foreign language .

 

[Charles Morgan]

English is the principal international language of business and increasingly a worldwide lingua franca. Certainly I take the trouble in countries where I know some of the language to at least attempt to use them, but I have never experience rudeness from anyone sane in Europe*, except from Parisian taxi drivers, and they are a class apart.

A good example was today, I arrived at Calais ferry port early for my departure, I didn't have the booking reference as it was left on my kitchen table, but a smily bonjour to the pretty young French lady at the booth, who asked me what make my car was, and on hearing that it was a Citroen, bumped me on to the earlier ferry that was already boarding. Charm in shovel-loads always helps with the French.

* I did have an odd experience in Karstadt in Nuremburg with a South African friend who lives there, when we were in the food hall. As we checked things for ripeness talking in English a very old German lady rebuked us most indigently and summoned the assistant, whom she berated for allowing us to get our filthy foreign hands on the fruit. The assistant took no nonsense and made it quite clear this was normal behaviour and the lady was being ill-mannered. She looked old enough to have been around for the bombing, so perhaps that might have been it, or just demented, the irony being my friend (whose wives, he's had a few, are all German, his mother is German, and his father was in Bomber Command re-arranging a number of German cities).