tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094192455188817050.post5796563049778906860..comments2024-01-18T12:15:22.642+01:00Comments on Around the Wherever: You're saying something but I'm not getting itaroundthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06055653945403820182noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094192455188817050.post-59274810497536092002016-04-28T09:50:44.273+02:002016-04-28T09:50:44.273+02:00I would have enjoyed that too, I'm sure. I lov...I would have enjoyed that too, I'm sure. I love hearing people experimenting with language! When I listen to my students speak Arabic, it makes me want to learn it. When I hear foreign languages on the train, I can much more easily block it out and concentrate on my reading than when someone is speaking English or German. I get downright annoyed when I hear loud American English!Ami im Schwabenlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13148291164062226269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094192455188817050.post-29866305317505407742016-04-27T20:42:36.882+02:002016-04-27T20:42:36.882+02:00Although I do have to admit that some guys from Af...Although I do have to admit that some guys from Africa on the train once had me really smiling. [Sorry, I'm not familiar enough with the languages there to be able to guess which language it was or which country was their homeplace.] They heard the announcement of the train station and kept saying the name of it in German, then something in their language, then giggling. The guys really got going and I wish I could have known what it was because they thought it was hilarious.aroundthehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055653945403820182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094192455188817050.post-70463358106445581052016-04-27T20:39:59.501+02:002016-04-27T20:39:59.501+02:00I imagine that the people who are all worked up ab...I imagine that the people who are all worked up about people from other countries speaking in their mother tongues do not have anything better to do or somewhere better to focus their attention. When I go out to run errands or am riding the train, I might register that someone's speaking another language but I'm usually busy with my own thoughts or tasks. I'm not such a busybody that I care what language some strangers are speaking.aroundthehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055653945403820182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094192455188817050.post-33795300788065157832016-04-27T14:41:12.107+02:002016-04-27T14:41:12.107+02:00This is such a hot topic, and I find it very inter...This is such a hot topic, and I find it very interesting! Americans are so critical of hearing two or more people conversing with each other in a foreign language, and many go off on the "Why do I have to press 1 for English?!" I usually assume these people haven't ever _learned_ (and by learned I don't mean attended a class for 2 years in high school) a foreign language and were never faced with having to communicate for real in a language other than English. [I won't go off here on the quality of their English, though native speakers...] If they had, they would understand that one normally chooses the most efficient language for communication. I am fluent enough in German, and my husband grew up bilingual German-English. Our language in the home is English, mainly because that's the language in which our friendship began nearly 30 years ago. <br /><br />Yes, I think people living in any country should learn the prominent language for day-to-day life and business. For anyone to really learn the language, though, they need to interact with the locals. Too many "locals" sit together grumbling about refugees/foreigners not integrating rather than reaching out and inviting them to integrate!Ami im Schwabenlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13148291164062226269noreply@blogger.com