English as a second language
My home town in England is home to more and more people who either speak English as a second language, or are visiting from other non-English speaking countries.
This is great for anyone who has an interest in languages, and makes the place seem more cosmopolitan, more international and so on, and about time too.
However, what I have noticed from this influx of non-English speakers is that it is not only us English speakers who fail to learn another language, but that other nationalities appear equally guilty or inept, and in particular I am thinking of visitors or tourists.
In recent months I have heard many non-english speakers struggling to fulfill their basic needs like ordering coffee and so on.
Now, I'm not even sure that this is because they don't speak any English, but rather that there is too great an emphasis on learning a language as opposed to getting by or surviving in it.
I'll illustrate this with my own experience of the German language. I am currently attempting with no great success to learn German and by that I mean learn to speak German, not just ask for a coffee. This is all fine and dandy. I can say "my name is ...", and ask you what your name is, and am starting to learn some of the basic grammatical constructs which should enable me to create my own sentences before too long.
What my limited German doesn't allow me do is order coffee, ask for directions, order food and perform the very basic day to day requirements of visiting another country.
This is because initially the vocabulary and grammer of learning to speak another language is by and large different from the language you need to 'get by'.
My theory is that people perhaps learn a lot of English, but that it is over-complicated for these simple situations. Obviously, once you are down the road to mastering a language you will be able to ask for directions, but before you reach this point, it is possible that you won't. You might well be able to discuss the weather (as this is always in language courses), and ask what someone does for a living and how old they are, but this doesn't always help.
So, you study English for two years, quit, visit an English speaking country and find that you can't communicate when you need to.
Naturally, this is all guesswork as I was educated in England. My experience of learning French while at school was certainly similar to the above. The spoken French that we covered was limited to some pretty odd and unlikely situations.
Maybe it has changed for the next generation of language learners? But, I haven't seen many signs of this.
So, pick up some useful phrases before you travel - and that goes for everyone.
Ciao.