The only reason why we (as a nation) don't speak foreign languages is simple, almost anywhere we go, people speak English.
Arrogance and ignorance abound in this statement. And the OP calls us the most ignorant people in the world lol
Polish people are the most ignorant people in the world!
Arrogance and ignorance abound in this statement. And the OP calls us the most ignorant people in the world lol
Penn boy,how many languages do you speak?To equate not speaking other languages as stupid.........I don't have a problem with people
criticizing America,It's blanket statements that bother me.
criticizing America,It's blanket statements that bother me.
I guarantee you I'm smarter than you are. Which school did you finish? lol
of course, you're a genius, PennBoy
That's what I'm talking about Americans can never take even the slightest bit of criticism about the 'best' country on this earth
Learn how to criticize first
Can you read?
I certainly can teach you how to read, even in your own language
If only 1 in 5 Americans left this country that's ignorance about the world.
now say it again in English
That's hardly a good excuse. No reason to be stupid just because someone else understands you.
it's not an excuse, English is the most popular language in the world.
So to you if one doesn't speak any foreign languages is stupid, right? LOL
Arrogance and ignorance abound in this statement
Ignoring the plain fact that English is the most popular language in the world doesn't make you very smart. Tell the world not to learn English !!!
So to you if one doesn't speak any foreign languages is stupid, right? LOL
Exactly LOL. Everyone should speak at least one other language. English most popular, so what!!?? You're in a foreign country appart from when you'll ask a local for something they'll be speaking in their own tongue, and you'll stand/sit there like a moron. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union#Knowledge
In effect,There is a grain of truth in what he says. But only a grain. The British, for example, often do speak foreign languages; we learn at least one from age 7 or 8 and often a second at high school. However wherever we go people want to speak English to us. You can't blame a busy shop assistant in Paris for replying to us in English when we ask for something in French but here in Poland they take it to an extreme.
A couple of examples. I've lived here for years and like to think I speak Polish well - certainly well enough to give evidence for an hour in court during a complicated lawsuit and to deliver U3A lectures in Polish. When I'm here, I don't usually speak English from one week to the next. And my accent is good enough for me to pass as Polish (for a while anyway) if I really try hard. Yet a few weeks ago I was in a restaurant and ordered for myself and my guest in flawless Polish. Yet the waiter (whose English was so basic as to be almost unintelligible - he didn't even know the word 'fork') insisted in replying every time in some sort of English. And about a year ago, I was in a bar that I've been a regular at for 12 years with my closest friend (who doesn't speak English). For around half an hour we were talking about betting systems and why they mathematically don't work. All in good Polish. Then a guy leant over and said to me "How you like stay? How long you are visit? What hotel you?"
So people are criticed for not making the effort to learn Polish but treated with extreme ignorance by a certain type of Pole when they do. In effect you're dammed if you do and damnedest if you don't. No wonder so many people feel they don't have to.
A couple of examples. I've lived here for years and like to think I speak Polish well - certainly well enough to give evidence for an hour in court during a complicated lawsuit and to deliver U3A lectures in Polish. When I'm here, I don't usually speak English from one week to the next. And my accent is good enough for me to pass as Polish (for a while anyway) if I really try hard. Yet a few weeks ago I was in a restaurant and ordered for myself and my guest in flawless Polish. Yet the waiter (whose English was so basic as to be almost unintelligible - he didn't even know the word 'fork') insisted in replying every time in some sort of English. And about a year ago, I was in a bar that I've been a regular at for 12 years with my closest friend (who doesn't speak English). For around half an hour we were talking about betting systems and why they mathematically don't work. All in good Polish. Then a guy leant over and said to me "How you like stay? How long you are visit? What hotel you?"
So people are criticed for not making the effort to learn Polish but treated with extreme ignorance by a certain type of Pole when they do. In effect you're dammed if you do and damnedest if you don't. No wonder so many people feel they don't have to.
RevokeNice 15 | 1854
20 May 2012 #36
If only 1 in 5 Americans left this country that's ignorance about the world.
Only 15% of Americans have passports. The 3 in 20. How many of them even left North America?
English is the most popular language in the world
Jaysus H Christ. Mandarin is.
All in good Polish. Then a guy leant over and said to me "How you like stay? How long you are visit? What hotel you?"
They were probably trying to practice their English with you.
You can't blame a busy shop assistant in Paris for replying to us in English when we ask for something in French but here in Poland they take it to an extreme.
I was just replying to the original comment of this thread about Polish ignorance. If twice as many Poles traveled abroad (for vacation ) than Americans, if 29% speak English, 19% German and 26% Russian as opposed to only 19.7% of Americans speaking any foreign language. The gap is even wider since many of these "Americans' are foreign born naturalized Americans and the stat for the US asks about speaking a foreign language at home, not just American born knowing a second language like it should. only 19.7 percent of those surveyed speak a language other than English in their households, according to the Census Bureau report.
In comparison, in the European Union, which is composed of 27 different countries and 23 official languages, 56 percent of Europeans speak a language other than their mother tongue, and 28 percent speak two foreign languages. This also could be due to the increase in the number of people who have immigrated into the country. During the past decade, more than 6.8 million immigrants have become naturalized citizens, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.'
columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/01/04/language/
Patrycja19 61 | 2679
20 May 2012 #38
you will still sit there like a moron if you know only one language anyways if its not the tongue they are speaking at the moment.
penn boy,So am I to assume you only speak one other language,or would this be wrong?
Fluently Polish and English, some Russian (through friends) am trying to become fluent in it. (No I will not learn Spanish for the sole purpose of not making it easier for Spanish speakers in America, everyone else who came to this country had to learn English, so must they.)
Jaysus H Christ. Mandarin is.
yep, but only because of China's population, my friend (I'm talking world wide).
everyone else who came to this country had to learn English, so must they.)
wow, we finally agree to something, however please tell your countrymen in Chicago to finally learn English (whole bunch of them don't know it at all). I've met a woman from Chicago and after over 30 years in this country, her English was much worse than my Polish.
I should learn Polish,agreed.I know quite a bit of Spanish and I do know some polish.My point is that just because you don't speak
another language doesn't mean you're stupid.If you're going to say that it it is stupid not to speak other languages why is one other
enough.
another language doesn't mean you're stupid.If you're going to say that it it is stupid not to speak other languages why is one other
enough.
on the world
whoever wrote this doesn't have English as their first language.
FUZZYWICKETS 8 | 1878
20 May 2012 #44
btw wages in Poland are 2.5-3 times lower, there's no excuse not to travel somewhere further.
Your definition of "close" differs from mine.
You're in Colorado and you want to "travel abroad". Where do you go for a nice vacation "abroad" that's comparable in distance from Poland to any of those countries you listed? There's nothing in Canada and Mexico is a dump, as well as 99% of south america. Give me your travel plans and leave out the Caribbean islands please because Americans already travel there all the time.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I just added those percentages up, it comes to 89.2. What, or where should I say, is missing?
Warszawette - | 128
20 May 2012 #45
@Pennboy!
Do NOT compare Americans and Poles. When they go on holiday, most Americans do it big, they spend money, stay at nice hotels, eat at restaurants whereas most Poles when abroad on holiday don't spend much (some of them even bring food from home not to buy too much abroad - I know the case of some Poles on (camping) holiday in France just buying bread there) and a lot of them just take a coach to visit some relatives.
Do NOT compare Americans and Poles. When they go on holiday, most Americans do it big, they spend money, stay at nice hotels, eat at restaurants whereas most Poles when abroad on holiday don't spend much (some of them even bring food from home not to buy too much abroad - I know the case of some Poles on (camping) holiday in France just buying bread there) and a lot of them just take a coach to visit some relatives.
Your definition of "close" differs from mine.
You're right. Traveling let's say to some nice beach means flying thousands of miles to Florida or Hawaii, seeing wilderness flying or taking a cruise to Alaska.
Do NOT compare Americans and Poles.
I agree in general Americans do spend more than Poles do but Americans also make more money. The Germans by far spend the most while abroad.
the topic seems to be wandering
Ignorant doesn't mean stupid,under educated doesn't mean stupid,You can have all the money in the world and be dumb as a box of
rocks.
rocks.
jasondmzk
21 May 2012 #49
on mass
It's en masse, and even then you're making a malapropism of the term. Feign your worldly wisdom, and aim it specifically at "Yanks", if that's how you prefer spending your time. Just be aware, some of us "Yanks" are more cosmopolitan than yourself, and we won't mind reminding you so. The women I've met in Poland, were to a one more sophisticated in dress and manner than any but the rarest of British specimen. I wonder if some of these non-Polish posters aren't, by some devious design, purposefully trying to disprove the threads thesis by the content of their own posts?
hudsonhicks 21 | 346
21 May 2012 #50
Yes they are rude and ignorant, but we cannot blame them, years behind the iron curtain has had its toll.
The Russians are EXACTLY the same, I've experienced their manners whilst on holiday.
The Poles are learning, comming to a civilized nation such as the United Kingdom, exposes them to phenomena such as queuing while waiting for a bus or a train.
Shop staff members being polite and friendly will also be a surprise to Poles new in the UK.
Driving like maniacs with scant regard for human life is rife in Poland. In the UK, they learn road manners and courtesy
The Russians are EXACTLY the same, I've experienced their manners whilst on holiday.
The Poles are learning, comming to a civilized nation such as the United Kingdom, exposes them to phenomena such as queuing while waiting for a bus or a train.
Shop staff members being polite and friendly will also be a surprise to Poles new in the UK.
Driving like maniacs with scant regard for human life is rife in Poland. In the UK, they learn road manners and courtesy
you guys actually bothered to read the op's second post? I have a hard time believing that he travels at all... maybe works on the pipeline or something, and think himself a world traveler. Ha!
The Poles are learning, comming to acivilized nation such as the United Kingdom, exposes them to phenomena such as queuing while waiting for a bus or a train.
LOL, the amount of whining I hear by the British about the state of the country.
hudsonhicks 21 | 346
21 May 2012 #53
I think it's such a fantastic testament to our country that even in these dark times of the ressession and the terrible "state" we are in, still horeds flood though our borders seeking a better life.
Even the homeless Poles and Romanians would rather be homeless here.
Even the homeless Poles and Romanians would rather be homeless here.
The British hordes are emigrating to Spain and some even to Poland. Those that can spell hordes, in any case. I guess the rest stay at home and complain.
ShortHairThug - | 1101
21 May 2012 #55
just by calling somewhere "exotic" doesn't make it a nice safe place to visit
You might say I’m a living testament that such ordeal is possible.
the jungles of Vietnam are "exciting" but you probably wouldn't last 10 minutes inside one before you got bit by a venomous snake, eaten by a tiger or chewed up alive by insects the size of fists. surely an ideal place for a family of 4 to go visit.
Why would you think that jungles of Vietnam would be any different? Different strokes…….. as the Yankee saying goes, you lack the sense of adventure and that’s your problem. What scares the living daylights out of you, you tend to bash, once you show some respect I’m sure your family of 4 would be quiet safe and even the jungles of Vietnam would welcome you. Your second option is truly the American way, get a bigger gun next time you plan your trip abroad but bear in mind that while it satisfies the false sense of security it creates animosity towards the visitor, locals simply don’t appreciate it as much as you think.
Ooooooh.......I see. I'm American and made some comment about somewhere being "3rd world" and that makes me the a$$hole American now. Heaven forbid I have an opinion about somewhere and it automatically becomes an American exceptionalism issue.
Heaven forbid I would deny you your first amendment right, of course you’re entitled to your opinion and you’re free to voice it anytime you wish. Bear in mind that when an a$$hole makes its opinion known as you have so eloquently stated in a rude, obnoxious and loud manner at a social gathering more often than not it’s simply not appreciated by the rest of the participants at such an event even if they don’t come out and let you know right there and then.
You're completely out of line and simply looking for a fight.
I beg to differ; it is you that’s out of line, besides Those are the fighting words!.
hudsonhicks 21 | 346
21 May 2012 #56
peterweg
Terrible ain't we. Going to Spain to spend our pension money
The British hordes are emigrating to Spain and some even to Poland. Those that can spell hordes, in any case. I guess the rest stay at home and complain.
Terrible ain't we. Going to Spain to spend our pension money
I wonder how many billions that takes out of the UK economy. Send them back, that's what I say. How dare they spend their money outside the UK?
I don't care if Poland is first or last in some researches.It's my homeland and for me it's the greatest country in the world.If that makes me ignorant then thats fine with me.However,I never said that other countries aren't as good as Poland and I never insulted other nationalities like the author of this thread did.
Hipis:
I wonder how many billions that takes out of the UK economy. Send them back, that's what I say. How dare they spend their money outside the UK?
Yeah,I definately think you should be the person to tell British what they should do with their money.(I still hope your post was ironic but I had to respond)
P.S. I don't know how you can measure someone's beauty so any researches on that are in my opinion worthless.
Hipis:
I wonder how many billions that takes out of the UK economy. Send them back, that's what I say. How dare they spend their money outside the UK?
Yeah,I definately think you should be the person to tell British what they should do with their money.(I still hope your post was ironic but I had to respond)
P.S. I don't know how you can measure someone's beauty so any researches on that are in my opinion worthless.
Lenka,You love your country,nothing wrong with that.
hudsonhicks 21 | 346
21 May 2012 #60
I wonder how many billions that takes out of the UK economy. Send them back, that's what I say. How dare they spend their money outside the UK?
They've lived most of their lives in the UK contributing more than the youth of today does anyway, they deserve their retirement in the sun