http://www.vox.com/2014/6/11/5799678/map-where-europeans-speak-english That kind of matches my experience. In the Netherlands, it seemed everyone spoke English, American English. But in Southern Europe, that only seemed common in tourist areas.
Holland is Protestant as is Denmark and Swedem. The shocking one for me is Catholic Austria. You can really see the massive cultural influence Britain has around the North Sea aswell.
In fact in Texas, California, Nuevo Mexico, Arizona, Florida, La Nouvelle-Orléans... nowadays more people speak English than in 1820, 1720, 1620 etc... Do you know how many people spoke english in Los Angeles in 1800? or in San Agustin, Florida, in 1810, or in Sacramento, or in San Antonio, Texas, in 1830... or in Nouvelle-Orléans in 1803? No, English languages is widely spoken in California or in Texas.. more now 2014 than in 1840...
* In a part of London they don't speak exactly English, as you could expect. In some quarters you can hear a curious mix called "Cockney". A part this ... Can you really believe that the 34% of Italians is able to hold a conversation in English? 1/3 of Italians what? The source of data is not reliable. Italians pretend to speak English and usually we do it so well that foreigners really think that we speak English !
I'm not clear what your point is, that English use is increasing in the United States by claiming more people speak English now then in 1620? New Orleans wasn't in the US in 1803. Neither was Florida in 1810, or California and Texas in 1830. Go back prior to the Norman invasion and no one in the world spoke English as we understand it today. Wow!
Holland and Beligium is where we grow our linguists in Europe. (some of them very cunning linguists!) The countries nearest Britain can pick up our radio and TV progs. which helps in learning the world language of trade.
German was, and still is in some parts of Texas, common before the Civil War and after. Texas at one time had the largest Czech language newspaper outside of Czechoslovakia up until recently, up until the late 1990's, and maybe still does, I don't know any more for sure. I think Chaucer and his era is the beginning of 'English' as a distinct national language, well after the Norman Conquest. The Normans spoke French among themselves for a few generations.
I was about to post the same thing - Dutch people I talk to and ask about English shrug and tell me that they are a low lying country so get about seven other countries TV - they grow up exposed to other languages so many are multi-lingual with a vengence
Yes, that one is surprising to me as well. I guess they didn't do a study in Switzerland? Germany seems kind of low to me; I never had much of a problem there. The Dutch have always been a big international trading nation, so their multilingual traditions are pretty strong, plus their small size would mean they wouldn't have anybody to talk to after a while if they weren't. I was doing some commo contracting in Afghanistan a few years back and ran into a Dutch unit there; their English was better than mine.
English is also spoken in Australia and New Zealand - but only for a given value of "English" The phrase "sweet as" is mandatory Kiwi http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-to-speak-like-a-kiwi-essential-words-tips-and-phrases/ The video shows an example [video=dailymotion;x4w869]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4w869_pineapple-lumps-true-story_shortfilms[/video] But at that Kiwis are probably more understandable than an Aussie in free flight Ocker mixed with Strine and most overseas visitors just end up with a glazed look and about 15 minutes of confused translation http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html I.e "It was bloody hard Yakka - flat out like a Lizard drinking, me and me mate Donga who is built like a brick (*)(*)(*)(*) house were climbing the Coathanger for a Gander at the big smoke " You get the picture - the words are more or less the same but the usage........
My point is that English is not dropping or increasing...it depends on the historical moment...If it is now in 92% and maybe It was 95% in 1950...the English would be "dropping" compared to 1950... but is rising compared to 1880, for example.. in La Nouvelle - Orléans...French was the language spoken (and the French language is "dropping" if we compared the percentage of the population speak French in 2014 and the people spoke French in La Nouvelle Orléans in 1861 or in 1820 or in 1780 or in 1700.. right? The same happens in San Agustín, Florida... The Spanish language is "dropping" compared people speak Spanish in 2014 or people spoke Spanish in 1820, or in 1780 or in 1680 or in 1580...doesn´t it? or San Antonio in Texas...most of the people from San Antonio came from Canary Islands and the most of the majors from that city were Canarians... In 1691, a group of Spanish Catholic explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Payaya settlement on June 13, the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua. (from Wikipedia) And now the surname of the people established San Antonio, Tx.: 16 families: The heads of the 16 families who settled in San Antonio were: Juan Leal Goraz, Juan Curbelo, Juan Leal, Antonio Santos, Jose Padron, Manuel de Nis, Vicente Alvarez Travieso, Salvador Rodriguez, Jose Leal, Juan Delgado, Jose Cabrera, Juan Rodriguez Granadillo, Francisco Arocha, Antonio Rodriguez, Lorenzo and Martin de Armas, and Felipe and Jose Antonio Perez. How much people spoke English in Texas in 1691? So, I´m sure you will agree with me that the Spanish Language is "dropping" in Texas compared to 1691, 1791, 1850... while English is rising.. compared people spoke English in Texas in 1591, 1791, 1850.... Regards
When it comes to Austria, one has to understand its history. After WWII, it was divided up between the US, UK, France, and Russia. The Russians came in and dismantled almost every industrial complex and hauled them east. The others did their best to help the Austrians rebuild. If one goes to Vienna today, it's not difficult to separate the zone controlled by the Russians and those by the allies. In response, Austrians made it a point to learn English [much to the frustration of the French] and have always been friendly to Americans and the Brits. In my three years in Vienna, I never me one single person, young or old, who when they realized I was American due to my horrible German accent, immediately switched to English and asked me to do the same. Love country. Great food. Awesome wine. And super friendly people.
C'mon, we both know Spanish was the official language in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and a part of Colorado until 1846 when the US/Mexican war ended.
From '58 to '60, I served north of Bordeaux, France with a native of Den Hague. He spoke so many languages fluently it made my head spin. His English was like he was born in Queens. I also had a very good friend in Vienna who worked for their foreign service. Among others, she spoke fluent English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and learned Portuguese when she served in Brazil. She was then sent to Bangkok where she became fluent in Thai. I could barely manage German and a tiny bit of French.
If it depends on the historical moment, than yes, English is dropping or increasing. The 92% English users in the US was something I Googled for the current day. Not 100 years ago or a 100 years from now. So are you saying that English use as a percentage of the population is not dropping? If that's not your point, than I still don't get what you are trying to say, since picking particular moments in history to say English use was less then, seems off topic and irrelevant.
Exactly, + 1. Everything depends on the historical moment... 100%. The logical thinking inevitably forces us to make a comparison, because if something changes, increases or decreases, it will be in relation to something ... Won´t it? So maybe you are right, and English is "dropping" in relation to a date (I don´t know maybe It´s dropping in relation to 1980 or 1960? and raising in relation to another date...) In Louissiana, Texas or Florida, English is rising in relation to XIX century for sure..and Alabama, in relation to XVIII century for sure too.. What I want to say It´s clear and simple: English is dropping or Not, depends on the comparison date...and nowadays, thanks to inmigration, T.V., Radio, Movies etc English languages is widespread in USA...more than XIX Century. both French and Spanish are languages ​​that came to U.S. before English (is a historical fact), so French and Spanish are "dropping" in relation to the past..French is almost exctinct, Spanish a little better...but if we take into account that Spanish is the first European language spoken in what is now the United States, so also it´s a language is "dropping"... From Wikipedia: The Spanish language has been present since the 16th and 17th centuries with the arrival of Spanish colonists in areas that would later become the states of Florida, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and California and of the Spanish explorers - who explored areas of 42 states-. Also west of Louisiana Territory was Spanish between 1763–1800 .... So, from a historical perspective, I would say English is not "dropping" but increasing ...however, French and Spanish are "dropping" undoubtedly.. Regards
I think German language arrived to Texas around 1850-1860 as the bohemian language...or the danish one in California. Norman were danish but they received the french culture for centuries..
I'm in the tourism circus and I've found that a vast majority of Europeans are bi-lingual and often multi-lingual and yes, most certainly Scandinavians. I was in China a while back and lots and lots of kids there have some command of several of the Chinese dialects and English and sometimes they even take Spanish,Portuguese or Russian at the college level to help them in business with the B.R.I.C.S. Kinda depends what their parents are into as to the direction they follow.Unlike that thar murka( see flag,NASCAR coffee cup and cowboy hat) they're a very dedicated society as to whatever path they might choose.That's why they've been slowly winning since Heyzeuss was a corporal. What they lack is The Church of Satan,Faux Nooz, serial killers and "lady" GagGag , Smiling Virus and Okra W. but they do OK for a " third world" nation.
That's funny . . . my apprentice, now aged 22, was born and raised in Estonia. He remembers no one speaking English. In fact, the required second language taught in schools is usually German. My apprentice chose Russian. And no, the Russian language is not Estonian. For all you that can not locate Estonia, it is south of Finland where it shows a 50% ratio.
My time spent in Germany, I never had much trouble with finding Germans fluent in English. Most of the younger generations have a grasp of English.
I'd be interested to see a map like this for other regions of the world...parts of Asia, South America, the Middle East, etc. Just out of curiosity. I haven't traveled much. I've been to Iceland, but nearly everyone spoke English (and quite well, too), except for some of the elderly. I spoke to people from other countries while I was there, and was surprised to hear about how common English-language music, films, etc. were in Europe. It's not really surprising that so many Europeans, at least, know English. But still, I'd like to know how common it is in places like Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia...I'd like to travel somewhere like that next, but my Japanese is rusty and I don't even know any of the other languages from those areas.
East Asia is kind of spotty. I could get along in Korea, but then I was usually dealing with American educated Koreans or Koreans that specialized in dealing with Americans, and spent most of the time around military bases. Japan depends on where you're at mostly as well; some neighborhoods in Osaka you'll probably get lucky more so than other places than, say, Tokyo, in my experience, and as for Southeast Asia you'll probably have good chances in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the bigger cities in Thailand, and with quite a few ethnic Chinese Christians in Malaysia. My experience isn't comprehensive, though, as I didn't go everywhere in any of them or stay for long. I wouldn't go into Red China on a bet, nor Burma or Indonesia.
