English people will understand this. Ever listened to the youth of today? School standards must be really slipping. It's saddening to see people without a grasp of basic grammar.
Let me add some context. I have a German friend who I speak to and she is sometimes concerned about her grasp of the English language even though her English is perfect. To me, it feels really painful to have to tell her that her English is much better than a lot of English people I know. It's embarrassing to have to admit that because England is where the English language was born.
Maybe this is a bad analogy, but I thought of this just now: Germans speaking better English than English people is like the American Football team of the Russian Federation being better than the United States team at American Football. I don't want to suggest that German people can't be good at speaking or writing English. What I'm saying is, wouldn't it be odd if the Russians beat the Americans at their own game with no trouble whatsoever?
Many European countries invest heavily in learning the languages of neighbours but in England we can't even teach our own language properly, let alone the languages of our neighbours. That makes me awfully upset.
This, coupled with other things, especially in relation to foreign affairs, mean I am ashamed to call myself English. I know I shouldn't though, because Britain has done so much for me. And, just to be clear, I'm not expecting everyone to talk like the queen. All I want is for people to speak English clearly and not moan about immigrants, who may in fact speak better English than they do. Is that too much to ask for?
P.S. Some immigrants do have really poor English skills but loads of English people go to other countries expecting everyone there to know English. If it were me, I'd definitely make an effort to learn the local language even if I was going on holiday.
Let me add some context. I have a German friend who I speak to and she is sometimes concerned about her grasp of the English language even though her English is perfect. To me, it feels really painful to have to tell her that her English is much better than a lot of English people I know. It's embarrassing to have to admit that because England is where the English language was born.
Maybe this is a bad analogy, but I thought of this just now: Germans speaking better English than English people is like the American Football team of the Russian Federation being better than the United States team at American Football. I don't want to suggest that German people can't be good at speaking or writing English. What I'm saying is, wouldn't it be odd if the Russians beat the Americans at their own game with no trouble whatsoever?
Many European countries invest heavily in learning the languages of neighbours but in England we can't even teach our own language properly, let alone the languages of our neighbours. That makes me awfully upset.
This, coupled with other things, especially in relation to foreign affairs, mean I am ashamed to call myself English. I know I shouldn't though, because Britain has done so much for me. And, just to be clear, I'm not expecting everyone to talk like the queen. All I want is for people to speak English clearly and not moan about immigrants, who may in fact speak better English than they do. Is that too much to ask for?
P.S. Some immigrants do have really poor English skills but loads of English people go to other countries expecting everyone there to know English. If it were me, I'd definitely make an effort to learn the local language even if I was going on holiday.
