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Do they all speak English?

од Cfail0814, 08. септембар 2013.

Поруке: 25

Језик: English

Cfail0814 (Погледати профил) 08. септембар 2013. 23.26.49

I am learning esperanto because I want to be able to communicate with people from all over the world. It seems , however, that all the people I speak can also speak English. Granted, we don't speak English to each other, but it takes away the feeling that I communicating with someone I couldn't have before. Does anyone else have this problem/feel this way?

Thanks

horsto (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 00.14.15

Yes of course, I think that almost everyone who speaks Esperanto can also speak English. You don't have to learn Esperanto. If you speak english to people from other countries you even have the advantage that your knowledge of the language is superior.
For the not native english speaking people it's different. They are in an inferior position.

RiotNrrd (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 00.37.10

There are certainly people participating in the forums who do not speak English to any appreciable degree.

I remember, quite some time back, being in a conversation with someone here in the forums. I was trying to help answer some question or another, and I fell back on English to illustrate my point. And I was actually surprised to hear him respond that he couldn't understand my examples because he didn't speak English. At all. Since all my interactions with him to that point had been in Esperanto, it just hadn't occurred to me that he might not speak English. I mean, everyone does. Right?

That was a long time ago, and I'm not surprised anymore. It is true that a large number of people participating in the Lernu forums do speak English (especially here on the English language board, where you actually are very unlikely to find people who don't speak English). English is, for better or worse, the "international language" of the day. But there are many here - well... not HERE here; this is the English language forum, after all - who also do not speak it. You just may not realize it. If you stick to the English language board, you won't see them, and if you talk with them in the Esperanto forums, well, they don't usually advertise that they don't speak English. I mean, why would they?

In any case, the quality of interaction should not be detectably different between English speakers and non-English speakers, so, really, does it matter? In the Esperanto forums, everyone is an Esperantist. Whether someone knows some other particular language or not is unimportant.

Cfail0814 (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 03.51.41

I'm not quite sure if horsto is being sarcastic or not.

noelekim (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 04.51.17

Cfail0814:I am learning esperanto because I want to be able to communicate with people from all over the world. It seems , however, that all the people I speak can also speak English.
Not in East Asia, they don't. In two visits to Japan, most of the people I spoke to - Esperantists and non-Esperantists - had studied English to at least high school level, but none of them wanted to speak to me in English, and for the same reason that I wouldn't dare speak French to a citizen of France: I was taught French by non-native teachers and had hardly any conversational practice. I would sound like an idiot.

Zedwardson (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 04.55.23

For example, I was taught some Spanish by both native and non-native speakers. But My poor Spanish is VERY formal and more that what is in books and not what is spoken. Though the only real skill is I can pick up enough words to read Spanish newspapers.

In France it was fun, since I asked if someone knew English, they would say no, I would ask if they knew Spanish (in Spanish) and they would smile and speak to me in English - as they then figured I was not the ugly American who assumed that everyone speaks English.

Terran (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 06.10.06

Zedwardson:In France it was fun, since I asked if someone knew English, they would say no, I would ask if they knew Spanish (in Spanish) and they would smile and speak to me in English - as they then figured I was not the ugly American who assumed that everyone speaks English.
When I was living in Brussels I used to try to speak French to the (francophone) locals, and they would ignore me because my pronunciation wasn't perfect, and when I tried English they would simply put their hand in my face and say "non!"

I learned that the best strategy was to ask my questions in Dutch. The Dutch-speaking Brusselaars would hear my accent and automatically switch to English, and the francophone Bruxellois would get a terrified look on their face and say "Engellish pleeza." ridulo.gif

sudanglo (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 11.49.51

On French TV almost all programmes imported from the Anglosaxon world are dubbed into French, implying that the natives would have problems understanding them otherwise.

(Curiously, though, you can often switch on the original soundtrack, and watch them in English or American.)

The Americans too are not known for their ability to speak English, however, fortunately, most citizens of the UK can make a good fist of understanding American.

Fenris_kcf (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 13.08.36

sudanglo:On French TV almost all programmes imported from the Anglosaxon world are dubbed into French, implying that the natives would have problems understanding them otherwise.
Sorry, but this is total [Bockmist]. Sure this holds for some, but just a minority. The thing is: Why shouldn't they prefer their native tounge? Let's say you were forced to learn Finnish in school and you have a film with Finnish and English audio. Would you turn on the Finnish version?

pdenisowski (Погледати профил) 09. септембар 2013. 17.00.25

sudanglo:The Americans too are not known for their ability to speak English, however, fortunately, most citizens of the UK can make a good fist of understanding American.
Too bad it doesn't work the other way around ridulo.gif I guess people in the UK are exposed to far more American English than vice-versa. Most Americans' exposure to British English is limited to Monty Python, James Bond, and Captain Picard.

Ironically, I once met someone in the UK who was absolutely convinced that I was really a Brit faking an American accent (not sure why anyone would want to do that ...). I had to show her a wallet full of dollars, a South Carolina driver's license, etc. before she finally believed that I was really an American. This was surprising because most Brits' imitation of an American accent is so over-the-top that no one from either side of the pond would fall for it.

Then again, most Americans who imitate a "British" accent either sound like the Queen, a Cockney, or some strange combination of both, possibly with a little Australian thrown in for good measure ridulo.gif

Amike,
Paul

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