Yeah I hung out with a bunch of Germans who were really good English speakers but constantly were self critical of their English skills. They were beating my German skills by a landslide even at their worst moments.
Comment on Why do Americans always presume that everyone speaks English
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I always hope that everyone speaks English and if they seem worried about how it sounds I remind them that their English is way better than my their language which usually breaks the ice.
TrickDacy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Heard someone say it on reddit after someone was being a wise ass about their English which was obviously second or third language
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
That’s pretty funny, but I’m years past accepting the “hurr durr ignorant american knows only one language” thing. Except as a response to someone harassing someone about their English capabilities, as seems to be the case in your example. 😁
The way I figure it, if the people two states away from me in every direction spoke a different language from me, and from each other, I’d probably be multilingual, too. (As would most of us)
PostingInPublic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is this not fairly likely in the US with Mexican Spanish or/and Canadian/Cajun French?
HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 weeks ago
Within the USA, the language enclaves aren’t strong enough. You might find people who can’t speak English, but there are enough people in their communities that can speak English that you can get along.
Of the countries I’ve visited so far, I find that Mexico has the strongest language barrier as Mexico is large enough to maintain an internal standard of Mexican Spanish. Outside of the northern border states, you can drive two states away in Mexico and still have people speak Spanish.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No, because these people are also highly likely to also know English and the vast, vast majority of people in any given location speak English as a default in public. Unless another language is being commonly spoken in public, it isn’t even close to having entire states speak a different language.
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I’m sure there are people who go to Mexico/Canada as often as Europeans seem to be popping into other countries, but most of us very rarely do.
But most of us do have to visit other states often, which works out to a similar radius as hopping countries in Europe in many cases, that’s why I made the comparison I did.
MBM@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
I can restrict my bullying to those living near the Mexican border and the English
sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Most people I’ve talked to who know English as a second language speak and read and understand it better than most American’s I’ve spoken to who know only English.