benjamin1945 16,151 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 PuttingI my thoughts on immigration aside,i do admire the foreigners that come here and learn English,i went to a sec.mod.school and didnt learn any foreign languages.,and over the years have tried to learn one or two without much success,but i found as long as you have a stab the host people give you respect for trying. Use of key words will mostly get you by,we should"nt be smug when foreigners make the effort,it cant be easy for em.i would love to be bi-lingual and most 2nd generation Asians are. Being on holiday in a different land is way differerent to living working there,then you must learn the language. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 A good friend of my wife was born in Kenya & cane to England in 1974 with her parents. English is her third language & speaks it better than a lot of English people her accent is certainly Lesta. My stepsons boy friend is Danish & his English is as good as if not better than mine he also speaks German. ME only English with a bit of an accent(Nottingham?) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 I learned French at school, and got a French penfriend when I was 12, we still write/email each other and I visited her a couple of times in my teens and then again in my early 20's, all of which has helped preserve the smattering of French which I still retain. I find it improves with practice though, particularly if we have French campers arriving on site. In the 80's I spent 14 months in Holland and had some language lessons, the problem I had over there was as soon as I tried to speak to the locals when shopping or in a restaurant, they would laugh and then speak to me in near perfect English. I still remember a little of the language, but if we get Dutch campers on site they can usually get by with their English, though I will often throw in an "alstublieft" ( "please" and also "here you are" as you give them something), a "dank u wel" (thank you) or a "dag" (goodbye) which some appreciate. I think one of the main reasons we are so lazy is that where ever you travel around the world, nowadays, you will always find someone who speaks English. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,683 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 My eldest son is married to a Dutch girl and they have a 3 year old daughter . Mum has always spoken in Dutch to her at home and Dad always English. They are in the process of moving to Holland at the moment and it is amazing that the little one can now speak both languages fluently and can easily switch from one to the other depending on who she is speaking to . 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 It's a pity some of the people in this country won't learn to speak English correctly. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 And that applies to some English people 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 Wat'yonabaaht! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJBrenton 738 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 One of the oddest things to hear is people conversing in Switzerland. I sat in a bar in Zurich once and overheard a group of 3 friends switching between German, French and English almost mid-sentence. It was as if they were all one language and I still have no idea why one would say something in German, the reply coming in French then the first person saying something else in English. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 Anyroad, since my move, I have been looking for a decent barber that wont charge me an arm and a leg for a trim. Walking round our local town I saw various prices £8.10 upwards then I came across a small shop in an arcade. with the sign "Haircuts all day, £4.99" I sat down and watched him cut the man in the chairs hair, and was impressed with his precision and detailed use of the scissors. He made a similar job of mine, and I would say he is the best barber I have ever had. He spoke perfect English with an accent which I thought was polish, but speaking to him he is Romanian in England for only 4 years. When I paid, seein the fiver in my hand, he had a penny ready to give me change. I waved that away giving him £7. Whats Romanian for Thank You? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJBrenton 738 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 Anyroad, since my move, I have been looking for a decent barber that wont charge me an arm and a leg for a trim. Walking round our local town I saw various prices £8.10 upwards then I came across a small shop in an arcade. with the sign "Haircuts all day, £4.99" I sat down and watched him cut the man in the chairs hair, and was impressed with his precision and detailed use of the scissors. He made a similar job of mine, and I would say he is the best barber I have ever had. He spoke perfect English with an accent which I thought was polish, but speaking to him he is Romanian in England for only 4 years. When I paid, seein the fiver in my hand, he had a penny ready to give me change. I waved that away giving him £7. Whats Romanian for Thank You? Funnily enough, the best barber I've come across for me is Iranian. In fact, his father was a hostage at the Iranian Embassy during the siege and subsequent SAS operation. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 I walked past the same barber shop yesterday, and noticed that the next door shop is another Mens Hairdressers! This on has a young woman cutting hair charging £5, might give it a try but wil probably go back to 'Romanian' Mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,151 Posted March 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 When IDI AMIN Kicked out the Asians from Uganda many were sent to the ex RAF camp at Hemswell Lincs i was involved with many of them who went on to buy shops all over the country,I learned alot of there words and it stood me in good stead in later business dealings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 BIL speaks Arabic, French & English fluently, did help being born in French Algiers though ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 Re #12 Benj. Open, All and Hours 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 I had a G/F in Australia that came from German parents, she would ring home and start talking to her Mother to let her know she was staying overnight with me, she'd start in Oz English and slipped into fluant German after a couple of words and never realized it until I brought it up with her. A fitter in my district at a colliery over in Oz was Polish by birth, married to a German lady and migrated to Oz in the 50's. He spoke English with a flawless accent. I asked him one day where he'd learned English, he said at the Steelworks after he'd arrived with his family, he told me too, you have to think in the language of your "guest" country or you'd be translating all the time in your mind...He told me he spoke, thought and dreamed in English A contractor who worked down Boulby when I was there was a Turk, great bloke too and no accent either...I asked him where he'd learned such good English, he said night school..He then told me a funny story, his Sister lived in London, so he decided to migrate to the UK, he didn't know a single word of English but managed to get by with difficulty. One evening, his Sister turned up at his flat to see if he was looking after himself, checked his cupboards in the kitchen to see what he was eating and came back into his living room with a can of meat....I see you have a dog......A dog??? No why??? Well this is a can of dog meat....That's when he said I'm going to nightschool to take English lessons.... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 I learnt my French from Joe Currah at Trent Bridge Senior Boys School. I was looking forward to reading your posts and sharing your (oops, it's a habit, sorry ) going on holiday through France and on to Palma with my parents when I was 14 years of age. I was looking forward to showing off with the lingo but whenever I spoke French nobody understood me. Thanks, Joe..lol. I worked all over Europe and Scandinavia and found that, as in the UK, you had the problem with the dialect, or slang. I would say that it's the main problem when you're learning a language and trying to communicate with people. Over a period of time you do overcome this problem though. Holland, like a lot of other countries, teach English to their children from an early age. In the UK, in my opinion, they leave it too late before children are taught languages. darkazana (#3) was correct when she stated that, wherever you travel, you will always find someone who speaks English. Most Brits will only go abroad for a couple or so weeks a year and the places they usually go to will speak English to them. Because of this they have no interest in learning another language. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor S 2,003 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 'Walking round our local town I saw various prices £8.10 upwards then I came across a small shop in an arcade with the sign "Haircuts all day, £4.99"When I paid, seeing the fiver in my hand, he had a penny ready to give me change.I waved that away giving him £7.' Hey there, mick2me.....you robbed a bank or something? A 2 quid tip for a 5 quid job............ 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 I was impressed with the service. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NewBasfordlad 3,599 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 When I first went to Germany with the army 1971 The advice I was given was 'if you have a language problem find a school kid'. I did and it worked the lad spoke English better than I. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 My missus does mine for nowt, took me a while, but I now have her just zipping it scalp short, more comfortable..She used to do a fair job when she did the conventional hair cut..Been 30 years since I went to a barber. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 Mrs Catfan cuts my hair with a clipper bought from Argos for £8 ! First haircut paid for it self. Not got much hair so she couldn't really knacker ote up ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 24, 2014 Report Share Posted March 24, 2014 This threads been highjacked, benjamin1945 to haircuts, haha. My wife cut mine at lunchtime and she's been doing it ever since I first met her. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJBrenton 738 Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 When I was 14 we had a native Spanish speaker from Gib join the school. Two years later he failed his Spanish O level. His spelling and grammar were atrocious! I guess a large part of our population would fail foreign English exams as most don't speak English proper like what I do. As far as thinking in a different language, after a few days in countries where I speak the language I do start to think in that language. I remember my wife looking at me oddly when I called my 2 year old son in French whilst on the Bois de Vincennes many years ago. i had no idea I was doing it. At certain points I've found myself mentally translating from Spanish or French so that I can speak to my wife in English when abroad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,151 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 #23 Thanks DJ for getting the thread back Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 That's good, and I bet you find yourself looking up unknown words to get a wider vocabulary . Good for your son too. Spelling, grammar and punctuation, that's something I've got a bee in my bonnet about. When I first had a mobile, it took me ages to send a simple text as I was always trying to find full stops and commas etc. I'm afraid I now use just the basics. See how technology has desecrated our once beautiful language. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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