I have wondered this for a really long time, but I've never been able to ask it because I don't know people in other countries.....well now I can ask this!!
I am from the United States and have always wondered how most people know English...do you have to learn it during school or what? It's something that has always fascinated me because since I grew up in the US I obviously learned English as my first language. But, others obviously learned their home language first...So, you don't have to go into detail, but I would love to know how I (an English speaking person) can read everything on this site in English...maybe I have it set to an English setting and I don't even know it. lol
Thanks! :)
@ericaleigh017
i'm from the Philippines (it's the animal-shaped set of islands in Southeast Asia, right below Taiwan, for those unfamiliar :D ). being a former colony of the US, i think the GIs shared a bit of their educational system with us and as time went by, English became a mandatory subject in school from elementary to college.
we also need to be very very familiar about the language because some of our jobs here require us to learn the different accents/inflections in the main US cities and the UK as well. other than for communicating, another benefit of becoming really good at it is being able to watch and 'get' the subtlest hints of a joke in the sitcoms that the English-speaking nations produce. :)
On a trip to the Netherlands, we encountered 2 brothers, age 13 and 15. The 13 year old spoke much better english than the 15 year old (although he spoke much better in english than I did in Dutch!) We asked them if they were taught it in school. The 15 year old was, as he was in high school, but the 13 year told us he learned from watching TV!
Here in Cambodia some people learn English in language schools or informally by watching movies, working with English speaking expats or talking to tourists.
I`m from Romania.
I grew up watching a lot of Tv,and here movies are subtitled,so it wasn`t hard to learn.A big influence on me was,back in the mid 90`s,Cartoon Network,that made it easy for me to understand it.
In school,my "advanced" language was french,because I took french class for 12 years,but I hate learning it so much that I barely know any words.
I had english class during my last 4 years of school,but I skipped most of them (kids,don`t do that!),mainly because the teacher knew less then me and I don`t like british english (the accent)...
So.. lots of movies,tonns of tv-shows and a great variety of music is why I know a little bit of english...
English is the de-facto language of business, due to economics, and, due to it being invented in America, of the internet, too. So that tends to help with countries deciding to make it their second language, and for people to want to learn it.
I'm from Germany - all of us have to study English in high school. However, when I went to the US for one year I realized all our school studies didn't help me much, so I learned by doing or rather speaking. I've studied English at university now and the English studies department is huuuuuuuge. Not all of them can afford a trip to an English speaking country and it shows, but pretty much everyone can get by. We're just surrounded by English so much it sinks in naturally :). Especially here in Frankfurt, a very international city. It's a really cool tool for me to communicate with people all over the world :))
I'm from Sweden.
We learn English in school, we're required to. I began in 3rd grade - not sure if they still do... We see English every day online, on the TV etc, so we're exposed to it quite a bit.
I'm from Canada and we are officially a bilingual nation. English and French is mandatory in our school system. There are many French schools teaching English as second language across this beautiful country of mine and not just in Quebec. Same applied to English school teaching French.
I was born in South Africa which was a British Colony so English is one of the eleven (!) official languages anyway, but then my family moved back to Cyprus (Greek island, where English comes after Greek and Turkish) when I was a wee one so I spoke only Greek as a kid. Moved back to South Africa aged five and at the time, there were only three TV channels so all I had to amuse myself with was Days of our Lives... and that is where I learnt English! :)
I´m from Denmark.
English is required in our schools as well. Kids are taught english from the 3rd grade and german/french (own choise) from 7th grade.
As mentioned by others earlier english is everywhere and the fact that a huge amount of the movies, tvshows, internet etc we watch is in english helps a lot.
I'm from Georgia, which is a post Soviet Union country, so English just started getting big here,- after everyone realised it'll help you greatly in your future work/business/whatever. Before that it was Russian - EVERYBODY older than 30 year old knows Russian, but now because of the agression, people tend to simply overlook it. But in reallity, it's a really great language . usefull,too. But our government changed the education system, and now the school program for russian is really weak. I've been studying Russian with a tutor since I was 6 (so,11 years now :D ) but not many do that.
We study English in school starting from almost 1st grade, but it's just simple, basic grammar- you won't be able to communicate/talk to somebody based on only that knowledge.
My mom used to study it with private teacher (during USSR times) and she knows it almost perfectly. The thing that helped me is that I have a stepdad who's american. and also, in 9th grade, parents transferred me to a small private school where the main language is English, and I've been studying all the school subjects in English for almost 3 years now. :)
Others, those who want to know it fluently, usually go to tutors or study groups :)
I'm from the Netherlands and since not all that many people in the world speak Dutch, we're pretty much forced to learn other languages. English is the first one, starting from about 9 years of age and because tv shows here are not dubbed, but have subtitles, we're exposed to English on a daily basis. We also learn French and German in school, but I really don't know enough to speak any of those fluently, although I can understand a fair bit.
@ericaleigh017 - As an American living in Europe I can tell you that it is really quite a shame how we don't know anyone elses language. I am always amazed at how well people can speak English, and I can barely muster up enough words to ask for coffee with milk.
@eyebrows - In whose world was English invented in America?? :O
I am always surprised by the number of people who speak English on here too.. it is quite rare to find people in England who are properly fluent in more than one language!
@spaceman wow, I never would have thought the Cartoon Network would help someone learn Enlgish! but, I guess that makes a lot of sense. I find it rather interesting that your English teacher knew less than you! lol
@eyebrows knowning Enlgish for business reasons is something that I was already familar with, but never thought about the internet being a big factor!
@jannaellen you learning English is probably similar to me learning French in high shcool -- I would feel lost if actually in France having to try and communicate with others!
@novablue I never knew so much English was exposed to other countries!
@roadrunner oh wow...so people in Canada can speak both languages? that's pretty cool!
@indiannie_jones OMG -- Days of Our Lives is how you learned English...you poor girl!! lol
@chrisra thank you for your input! again, I didn't realize just how much English is a part of other countries culture...with tv, movies and internet!
@intheneverland so your schools only teach basic grammar, and then if you want more you go to tutors or study groups...that's cool! That's interesting to me! Thanks
@crappysailor OMG I know exactly what you mean! That's why I started this discussion because it just amazes me how many people know our language, but we have very little knowledge of theirs!
@katiegc24 I think eyebrows was referring to the internet being invented in America, not English... so it's rare for people in England to know other languages too? I didn't know that! thanks!
Thanks EVERYONE who answered! Like I said, this is something that has interested me for a while now, and with your help it taught me a little bit about my own language and how it influences others! :D THANKS!!
@crappysailor Pffffffft the locals here make such a big thing out of it - the foreigners "need to learn Greek" and then the foreigners are all "these people need to L2English".
I for one speak English wherever I am. I'm pretty badass.
(p.s.-you do know "America" ain`t the primordial soup of the english language and there are quite a few other countries where it`s an official language?)
@indiannie_jones - Its fair though that we should speak their language (in your case greek) when in their country. We tend to have that same problem here in the US. "You are in America, speak English." Hahaha, too funny. I speak English where ever I am too.....but thats because I am stupid.
@spaceman - Of course. Most people in the US (at least in the north east) can't trace their roots to an English speaking country. We are, after all, a country of immigrants.
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i'm from the Philippines (it's the animal-shaped set of islands in Southeast Asia, right below Taiwan, for those unfamiliar :D ). being a former colony of the US, i think the GIs shared a bit of their educational system with us and as time went by, English became a mandatory subject in school from elementary to college.
we also need to be very very familiar about the language because some of our jobs here require us to learn the different accents/inflections in the main US cities and the UK as well. other than for communicating, another benefit of becoming really good at it is being able to watch and 'get' the subtlest hints of a joke in the sitcoms that the English-speaking nations produce. :)
I grew up watching a lot of Tv,and here movies are subtitled,so it wasn`t hard to learn.A big influence on me was,back in the mid 90`s,Cartoon Network,that made it easy for me to understand it.
In school,my "advanced" language was french,because I took french class for 12 years,but I hate learning it so much that I barely know any words.
I had english class during my last 4 years of school,but I skipped most of them (kids,don`t do that!),mainly because the teacher knew less then me and I don`t like british english (the accent)...
So.. lots of movies,tonns of tv-shows and a great variety of music is why I know a little bit of english...
We learn English in school, we're required to. I began in 3rd grade - not sure if they still do... We see English every day online, on the TV etc, so we're exposed to it quite a bit.
I was born in South Africa which was a British Colony so English is one of the eleven (!) official languages anyway, but then my family moved back to Cyprus (Greek island, where English comes after Greek and Turkish) when I was a wee one so I spoke only Greek as a kid. Moved back to South Africa aged five and at the time, there were only three TV channels so all I had to amuse myself with was Days of our Lives... and that is where I learnt English! :)
English is required in our schools as well. Kids are taught english from the 3rd grade and german/french (own choise) from 7th grade.
As mentioned by others earlier english is everywhere and the fact that a huge amount of the movies, tvshows, internet etc we watch is in english helps a lot.
We study English in school starting from almost 1st grade, but it's just simple, basic grammar- you won't be able to communicate/talk to somebody based on only that knowledge.
My mom used to study it with private teacher (during USSR times) and she knows it almost perfectly. The thing that helped me is that I have a stepdad who's american. and also, in 9th grade, parents transferred me to a small private school where the main language is English, and I've been studying all the school subjects in English for almost 3 years now. :)
Others, those who want to know it fluently, usually go to tutors or study groups :)
I am always surprised by the number of people who speak English on here too.. it is quite rare to find people in England who are properly fluent in more than one language!
@pengu1n yeah, it seems most places you go, the others can speak better Enlgish than we, Americans can speek their language!
@palusami thanks for your imput!
@spaceman wow, I never would have thought the Cartoon Network would help someone learn Enlgish! but, I guess that makes a lot of sense. I find it rather interesting that your English teacher knew less than you! lol
@eyebrows knowning Enlgish for business reasons is something that I was already familar with, but never thought about the internet being a big factor!
@jannaellen you learning English is probably similar to me learning French in high shcool -- I would feel lost if actually in France having to try and communicate with others!
@novablue I never knew so much English was exposed to other countries!
@roadrunner oh wow...so people in Canada can speak both languages? that's pretty cool!
@indiannie_jones OMG -- Days of Our Lives is how you learned English...you poor girl!! lol
@chrisra thank you for your input! again, I didn't realize just how much English is a part of other countries culture...with tv, movies and internet!
@intheneverland so your schools only teach basic grammar, and then if you want more you go to tutors or study groups...that's cool! That's interesting to me! Thanks
@crappysailor OMG I know exactly what you mean! That's why I started this discussion because it just amazes me how many people know our language, but we have very little knowledge of theirs!
@katiegc24 I think eyebrows was referring to the internet being invented in America, not English... so it's rare for people in England to know other languages too? I didn't know that! thanks!
Thanks EVERYONE who answered! Like I said, this is something that has interested me for a while now, and with your help it taught me a little bit about my own language and how it influences others! :D THANKS!!
I for one speak English wherever I am. I'm pretty badass.
@spaceman oh, yeah...I know that! sorry if I was coming across as thinking America was only country that spoke the English language!
@spaceman - Of course. Most people in the US (at least in the north east) can't trace their roots to an English speaking country. We are, after all, a country of immigrants.