| Sebastian Sands |
06-10-2009 08:06 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by ktj4l
(Post 15943288)
I think you're mixing up Germans and French with the refusing to understand anything else. A lot of French people get pissy if you go there without speaking French. The German school system requires English as a subject from 5th grade onwards. Then you pick a 2nd language in 7th grade and possibly a 3rd and 4th later on. This is if you take full advantage of what the school system has to offer, but at the very least you'll learn some English starting in 5th grade. There are three levels of post-elementary education, so you'll have to find the smarter ones of the bunch to find someone that'll be able to speak something other than English I guess.
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No offense Ktj4l, I grew up in a little town called Winterwijk about 3 miles from the German boarder. We have a huge market every wedenesday and saturday and I have to say that it attracts a lot of germans always, fresh fish market, farmers market with fresh fruit and vegetables etc. and I have never met one German who would speak Dutch or even understand Dutch when spoken to, personally I always thought they simply refused.
It also worked the other way around, for example a lot of the Dutch people went over the boarder to fil up their gas tanks or do other shopping. And unless you speak German they simply won't help you.
I am not saying this is the case with all of Germany though, so please don't take offense.
You are also correct on the French, then again they are known for this.
And it does make sense that german is higher up the list with their language, if I am correct germany is the area where the slavic language was born, a lot of other European languages are based of German. But with a population of 80+ million vs Hollands 15 million (of which 30% are foreign born Muslims) it makes sense that the German language is higher up the ladder..
We are better football players though... HAHAHAHAHA.. just kidding man:thumbsup |
