Maybe he was thinking of the British?
Displaying numbers
Re: Displaying numbers
Not a chance. Walter has a burr up his ass when it comes to Americans.
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Re: Displaying numbers
Most Americans go their entire lives without meeting anyone from another country. Learning a foreign language would be a waste of time for them. In sections of the country that border Mexico, Spanish is widely spoken and even more widely understood.
In my case (in the Northeast), we border the province of Quebec, Canada. Most people here can understand and even more can just read French. It's just a matter of necessity. In Europe, you may run into people from all sorts of different countries and knowing multiple languages is almost a necessity. Americans just don't see much need to learn other languages. It's not that we can't learn. Besides, if y'all are learning English anyway, Americans don't need to learn your languages!
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Re: Displaying numbers
I came here for the DM42 information, but it looks like my first post will be about culture!toml_12953 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:19 pmMost Americans go their entire lives without meeting anyone from another country. Learning a foreign language would be a waste of time for them. In sections of the country that border Mexico, Spanish is widely spoken and even more widely understood.
In my case (in the Northeast), we border the province of Quebec, Canada. Most people here can understand and even more can just read French. It's just a matter of necessity. In Europe, you may run into people from all sorts of different countries and knowing multiple languages is almost a necessity. Americans just don't see much need to learn other languages. It's not that we can't learn. Besides, if y'all are learning English anyway, Americans don't need to learn your languages!
This statement is patently wrong. In my office alone we have people from Germany, France, Norway, China and Russia, just to name the ones I know. I pretty sure that most Americans have met someone from another country. Vast majority live in large cities that are absolute melting pots of different cultures. I would venture to say it's the exact opposite.
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Re: Displaying numbers
The surveys I've seen show less than 50% of people actually meet foreigners. This doesn't count buying food from street vendors or working in the same building as them but actually having an ongoing relationship with them. Just running into them wasn't counted in the surveys.amitor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 8:39 pmI came here for the DM42 information, but it looks like my first post will be about culture!toml_12953 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:19 pmMost Americans go their entire lives without meeting anyone from another country. Learning a foreign language would be a waste of time for them. In sections of the country that border Mexico, Spanish is widely spoken and even more widely understood.
In my case (in the Northeast), we border the province of Quebec, Canada. Most people here can understand and even more can just read French. It's just a matter of necessity. In Europe, you may run into people from all sorts of different countries and knowing multiple languages is almost a necessity. Americans just don't see much need to learn other languages. It's not that we can't learn. Besides, if y'all are learning English anyway, Americans don't need to learn your languages!
This statement is patently wrong. In my office alone we have people from Germany, France, Norway, China and Russia, just to name the ones I know. I pretty sure that most Americans have met someone from another country. Vast majority live in large cities that are absolute melting pots of different cultures. I would venture to say it's the exact opposite.
Tom L
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Re: Displaying numbers
I didn't expect any US-American learning German as long as Chinese or Spanish have far more native speakers (and are closer to the USA, BTW). My remark was caused more by the unbroken naivity employing G... Translate (or alike) and expecting anything reasonable. This naivity - in my experience - peaks in the USA. And yes, a bit more interest in other countries incl. their cultures and languages would suit the average US citizen well IMHO. In Germany, you can't graduate from "highschool" equivalent without having learned at least two foreign languages - nobody leaves any regular German school without at least one foreign language - I'd appreciate if similar requirements would exist in the USA.Thomas Okken wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:24 pmWhat do you mean by "a" foreign language, exactly? Do you really expect Americans to learn German? Granted that there could be more effort made here towards learning foreign languages, but wouldn't more obvious candidates be, say, Spanish or French? Or if you're thinking globally, then how about Russian or Chinese?
Hmmh - two are obviously too much - but one foreign language mandatory in "highschool" would be fine! Pssst ... it may even help the USA internationally ... but don't spread this message!
EDIT: I was looking up how this strange word "Bildung" is called in English - ahh, "education"!
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Re: Displaying numbers
When I went to school in New York State there were at least four types of diploma. In decreasing difficulty: College Prep Technical, College Prep, General, and Vocational. You needed to pass one foreign language course (our high school had a choice of French, German or Spanish) for the first two types. I'm not sure about the General type. Having to actually learn the language wasn't specified.
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Re: Displaying numbers
Please see Bob's post above.Thomas Okken wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:13 pmGoogle Translate is not as bad as it used to be. You might be surprised.
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Re: Displaying numbers
Not fair. Even humans suck at translating poetry!Walter wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:18 pmPlease see Bob's post above.Thomas Okken wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:13 pmGoogle Translate is not as bad as it used to be. You might be surprised.