Many English people can't speak English?

[ReptilianPeon]

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.

[Regina]

It's an art everyone needs to learn, it's called code-switching

When my Grandfather was alive he'd always speak in Maltese to his family and friends, and he'd get side-eyed by the English who would think they were listening to a "Paki". No he could actually speak English, probably better than you can, but why should he when he's with other people from his own country?

That said, there are some immigrants that I do think "really?". When I was working in retail the other year this woman came in and couldn't speak a word of English. However her daughter, who was not much younger than I am, not only spoke English perfectly buy clearly had been living here for years if not born here. That does make me think hang on, in all the years you have (clearly) lived here you haven't even got a grasp of basic English? That is a problem to me, because I am someone who comes from an immigrant background myself and it's people like her who make this stereotype about us.

On young British-born people, again they need to learn to code-switch. It's fine talking in slang with eachother, but when you're in a professional or academic environment it's not the time to be talking about "whatagwanin".

I also take issue with this "Jafaican" accent that has appeared out of nowhere in the last 5 years or so. NOBODY before say 2008 used to talk like that, absolutely nobody, this is a fake urban accent young kids have pulled out their arses. You don't sound cool because you "tuk layk dis", you sound fucking stupid. It's not like real Jamaican or AAVE, which are genuine black dialects of English which have naturally developed over centuries of slavery and racial segregation. This is a generation of kids (not just black, some are white and Asian too) suddenly forcing this fake accent and that's why it doesn't sound right. It's forced.

[BrokenQuill92]

It happens here in the U.S. to a ridiculous degree. The biggest thing we get are Southerners whining about some newbie speaking Spanish when for fucks sake "y'all" isn't a word! Then there are the people in urban areas who say I'm "acting white" because I don't use shitty grammar when speaking.

[rado84]

No surprise there - in countries whose native language is not English it's considered to be a foreign language and as such there's a requirement for people to speak English as fluently as humanly possible. For that purpose were created the levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. If one can't reach at least C1 with excellence, they wouldn't be given a certificate which would allow them to live or study in an English speaking country. Well, one can do that even without the certificate but what's the point of staying in a country whose language they don't fully understand...

[Silver]

Those who learn it as a second language do tend to speak it better. The problem is that those who learn it as their first language prefer to use slang and text speak. It is their first language, and they call it "hard", yet others learn it as their second language quite easily. Silly fucking Americans and the retarded education system.

[Minimalist]

When we visited Turkey in 2007 I was astounded by the English skills of virtually everyone we came in contact with.. I asked our guide about it and he explained the immersion process they use for learning languages in school.

[BrokenQuill92]

When we visited Turkey in 2007 I was astounded by the English skills of virtually everyone we came in contact with.. I asked our guide about it and he explained the immersion process they use for learning languages in school.

I've always thought we should try that in the US. It's embarrassing to go to another country and only half know language. Not to mention there's the stereotype about Americans expecting everyone to speak English.

[Faith No More]

You guys should just speak 'Merican like we do.

Seriously though, I don't know about the English, but I have a hard time believing you rape the English language worse than we do. My wife works at a University, and the students' writing capabilities are quite abysmal. The thing is, many of the people that work there write just as terribly as the students.

[Silver]

Writing is quite different than speaking.

[CapnAwesome]

I don't know, I speak American.