(July 15, 2015 at 8:22 am)Metis Wrote: Not to offend anyone personally but I really don't understand why if I can reach this standard in less than three years why the British and Americans can't in eighteen. Plenty of other Europeans manage to become fluent in two, often three east of Germany and these aren't always smart people; I've even met illiterates who can speak several languages perfectly.
I can't say I know what happens in them but the state ran English speaking education systems must be terrible.
Our education systems are pretty abysmal, but most of them aren't so bad that a person couldn't come without a basic grasp of the English language. I think our terrible grammar is more due to the deeply seeded anti-intellectualism in our culture, and using proper English tends to give many Americans the impression that you are a snooty intellectual.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
