“Er .. that would be because English is the lingua franca of the western world.

If for example) Polish was the lingua franca of the western world, I guess we'd all be fluent in Polish. But it's not. As much as it grates on anglophobes like you, English is.

Cope.”

“Jo, the average European speaks fluent English and usually at least one other foreign language.

If you've ever been to France, you will know that the French refuse to speak English, so we have to speak French in their country and rightly so. Every time, I've been to France, I've made every effort to speak their language in their country, it would be highly patronising of me to expect the rest of the World to revolve around me.

You lived abroad but don't speak any foreign languages, as for calling me an 'Anglophobe', I'm not the one who emigrated and came scurrying back to a subsidised/rented house in Blightly when the going got tough.”

“'If you've ever been to France, you will know that the French refuse to speak English, so we have to speak French in their country and rightly so'.

I've been to France a few times, and had many French colleagues before I retired. I've never known anybody 'refuse' to speak English.

As Valvissy says, English is the international language. For most international businesses English will be the first language. Why? You want to do business with the USA, you'd better speak English. We don't NEED to learn a foreign language to get by, whereas the French, Germans, etc, do.

David, stop trying to start arguments with Valvissy - it's absolutely pathetic.”

“I have to agree with Valvissy. The examples given-German ,Scandinavian Dutch are perhaps poor ones-since these languages are only spoken in 1 country. For those nationalities to make themselves understood in other countries they need to speak another language. Where else is Dutch spoken but in Holland? That is not to say that I think British people are not lazy-I think they are when it come to other languages but there is not always the need. I too speak French-not fluent- but I have never found that the French refuse to speak English just that they prefer to speak French of course . When on holiday in say Spain or Portugal (which would have been better examples as those are languages spoken over a much wider area) people who work in holiday areas tend to speak languages they need to make money. If you go to very rural areas in those countries I bet they don't speak any other language but their own or even patois. We have a holiday home in France and in our village some of the older inhabitants didn't speak French until they went to school at 5-indeed some of our neighbours have never been to Angloueme (40 mins. away by car) or Limoges (an hour away by car) and they still talk to each other in Patois.”

“David, even if I said I wasn't would you believe me? How you can call anybody pathetic is beyond me!! Day after day slating your own country just to get a rise out of a regular contributor to this site??

Do you really believe that the reason that we don't take up a second language is because we are arrogant or lazy? Or is it because we simply don't need to? Spain and Italy both have a lower % of people who can speak a second language. 68% of EU citizens feel that English is the most useful language to learn. It is just the de facto language. I don't see why you have such a problem with it.”

“In my job I deal with French, Germans, Polish, Belgians, Dutch etc everyday. They all speak very good English.

I think as we are an Island there is less off a need to speak other languages. Where most German's will have a good grasp of Dutch and French and visa versa because they share borders and there is more of a need for it.

Also with the biggest and most successful Pop music and Film being in English non English people are more exposed to our Language it makes it easier for them to pick up.”

“Plumduff, variants of Dutch are spoken in Belgium, The Netherlands Antilles and Surinam.

The Oracle, my partner is Polish and asks me arcane questions about English grammar which frequently baffle me, all of her Polish friends can conduct a conversation in English, it is actually quite embarrassing to go abroad at times.

Jo's alias claims that I slate my country, seeing as I've worked since leaving school, didn't take the dollar boy option by emigrating and only have issues with benefit scroungers, xenophobes and other assorted trash, I find her comment a wee bit wide of the mark.”

“David - May I suggest you stop with the insinuation that Valvissy and I are the same person? We most certainly are not, and surely with your IP logging ability you would be able to tell that?

Better than that, how about we arrange to meet up and I'll show you face to face? We could have a man to man discussion about web etiquette and all the BS you spiel out onto these pages.”

“Many foreign education systems start teaching English and other languages as soon as children start school around 4 or 5 years old. Most British children don't start studying a foreign language until they are 12! That's far too late. Before a child is seven their minds absorb everything and that is why almost all foreign children speak a second and third language by the time they are 16. Twelve years old is just too late to start to learn.

I was surprised in Tunisia recently when young children of 8 or 9 approached me and spoke in French, then German, then English - and then they chatted fluently when they discovered I was British. When I asked around I discovered that, although most of the children were barefoot and had little money, Tunisian kids learn Arabic and French from birth from their parents. As soon as they start school at 5 they learn a third language - usually English - then they learn another at age 12 - usually German and/or Italian. By the time they are teenagers they can speak four or five languages! European children are the same. In many areas of France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg etc almost everyone can speak French, German and English.

There's no excuse in this country for people not to speak another language. The education system is very much at fault. Many British people also seem to have an inherently arrogant idea that "I don't speak their language so they have to speak mine" It's especially so when people go on holiday and many times I've heard people complain "they don't speak English" or "I don't speak their language so they should speak English". I learned to speak French by travelling there many times and I made an effort to use the basics I'd picked up at school. People respected the fact I was making an effort and they often helped me with words, phrases and pronunciation. I've never found French people to be rude - it seems the only people who say that are those who go to France and then expect the French to speak English!

I've spent much of my life travelling and I find that within a couple of weeks I can comfortably order from menus in the local language as well as ask directions and ask for items in shops. I can also understand quite a few questions from locals and answer them as well as understand a lot from the local TV. I've found that to be the case in Arab nations and Eastern Europe as well as in Italian, Greek, Spanish and German.

The average person is quite capable of learning and speaking another language. The problem is that the average British person doesn't try. The British education system is not good when it comes to languages and no one can learn more than the few basics from the standard model of sitting in a classroom in front of a teacher and a blackboard. Many British children aren't even interested in that model anyway - and that's the education system's failing, not theirs.”

“I too regret that most British people are very poor at learning other languages. The main reason is rooted in our education system. Few children seriously study any foreign language until they are eleven. I once heard a psychologist say that the part of the brain that is receptive to languages needs to be stimulated at a very early age, and to be kept stimulated through childhood in order to develop properly. (Schoolchildren in Wales are compulsorily taught Welsh, so if that theory is right they should be better at learning other languages too.)
The other reason is rooted in colonial history. British colonialists were reluctant to learn native languages, so the indigenous people had to learn English in order to trade. The French behaved similarly. The Dutch, on the other hand, tended to learn local languages, e.g. bahasa Indonesia, which is quite an easy language to learn, so few natives needed to learn Dutch.
In Malaysia I once visited a couple who had emigrated from Kerala in southern India. My friends, who had a son, spoke fluent English. The grandma, who lived with them, could speak little but Keralan, so the boy learnt both from a very early age. And he picked up the Malay language from television, so was tri-lingual at the age of four!
Foreigners have much more respect for a visitor who has taken the trouble to learn even a little of their language. I have a smattering of three, but I don't find learning languages easy.”

“You are quite right 4caster - "Give me the child and I will show you the man". Childrens' minds are an information sink until they reach the age of 7, then they alter to a mode where social contacts become more important. Once that threshold has been reached learning is so much harder. That's why a six year old Chinese child will speak perfectly fluent Chinese, but a foreign adult trying to learn the language will always speak Chinese with a foreign accent - even if they study the language for 20 years.

We must start teaching children languages as soon as they start school. Unfortunately, many never really come to grips with their own language! Very few foreigners speak their own language so badly as many British people. That's not those childrens' fault - it's the fact the British education system failed their parents and now it's failing them.”

“As a final point my father was a flight engineer in the airlines and we lived in various Asian, Middle Eastern and European countries until we came back to the UK when I was 12. Despite my father having been to almost 100 countries and lived in many, he can't speak a word of a foreign language! (nor could my mother who's now dead). Nor would they ever try any local cuisine!

Whenever I'm abroad I always try to absorb as much as I can of the local people, culture, food and language. My parents never bothered and I've never really understood that.”

“I am currently working with an international school in Sudan. I am looking at the British curriculum with a view to its implementation across all age levels, up to first degree level. To my surprise there is no provision for MFL at the lower age groups. Undoubtedly this is why children in the UK have a poor ability in this area. Even at the older age groups there is no obligation to teach MFL. Here they are taught in both Arabic and English from the age of three. By the time they are undergraduates many are fluent in both.

When I was in Portugal there was an expectation that students would study Spanish and English. By 18 many where advanced in these languages and, of course, fluent in Portuguese.

By not having MFL early in life the students in UK are missing out on a cultural understanding and academic advantage in this modern world. With the increase in a global economy there is an increased need to communicate effectively.”