Why english is the official language in Europe? Andaluz to the power

[Dreamer128]

Originally posted by Skunk: Some European politicians have taken to making announcements and speeches in English on the grounds that 56% of the EU population claim to be fluent in English - but their preference for English usage does not imply that English has become the sole official or defacto language of the EU.

56% of the EU population fluent in English? Is there some kind of hidden EU nation we don't know about?
Seriously, try visiting nations such as France, Italy or Spain and see how many people speak English there

[ZaRos]

"I am sure that the language of the English court was French untill about that time and for a long time after was a major player in the nobility of England."

How do one make those fancy quote thingies?

I am not completly sure about the exact year.
But the danish was the sponken language in the upperclasses for a "few" hundred years. But as times went on french took over that role. I do not remember when, but somewhere between 1400 and 1600.

"I'm on thin ground here but I think a lot of northern england got a lot of words and certainly its accent from the Danes."

As fare as i remember it is up to 1500 words that has been "copied" from danish.
And in scottish the danish influence on the vocabulary, has been even greater.

[wellard]

Originally posted by ZaRos: "I am sure that the language of the English court was French untill about that time and for a long time after was a major player in the nobility of England." How do one make those fancy quote thingies? I am not completly sure about the exact year. But the danish was the sponken language in the upperclasses for a "few" hundred years. But as times went on french took over that role. I do not remember when, but somewhere between 1400 and 1600.

By pressing the quote button upper right hand [img]tongue.gif[/img]

"When William the Conqueror seized power in England, French became the official language of the court. This didn't mean that the conquered Saxons all started to speak French. The mass of the populace contined to speak Old English, but French began to influence their vocabulary. An amazing 10,000 loan words entered English, including such words as enemy, battle, peace, religion, service, miracle, design, beauty, romance - and, especially, many words for food. These French words can be grouped together in various ways, according to J C Smith, Professor of French Linguistics at Oxford University."

from the bbc radio4 website And from another

"At almost the same time as Shakespeare, came the printing of a book which has had an even greater effect on society and culture - the 'Authorised' or 'King James' translation of the Bible in 1611. For almost the first time, anyone who could read had access to the Bible in their own language, and in words which were easily understood."


IIRC proir to the Norman invasion the Saxon language was very germanic and/or norse....dammed vikings [img]graemlins/viking.gif[/img]

[Stratos]

ZaRos, to quote an entire post you just press the 'Quote' button on the upper right of the post you want to quote. It also adds the 'Originally posted by...' text in the quote.

To qoute individual parts of a text, type (QUOTE)enter text here(/QUOTE), but exchance the paranthesis () for brackets []. This doesn't add the 'Originally posted by...' thingie however, so you might to to want to type that or anything similar, especially when quoting several persons in the same quote.

I good tip: I you want to know how a person typed something, like with coloured letters, smaller or bigger one etc., just press the 'Quote' button on that post.

Hope that helps.

[Stratos]

Originally posted by wellard: IIRC proir to the Norman invasion the Saxon language was very germanic and/or norse....dammed vikings [img]graemlins/viking.gif[/img]

Ahh yes, those were the days. When everybody would fear the Norsemen or get their head cleaved with an rather over-sized axe. Or a sword, same effect really. [img]graemlins/viking.gif[/img]

[ZaRos]

Originally posted by Stratos: quote: Originally posted by wellard: IIRC proir to the Norman invasion the Saxon language was very germanic and/or norse....dammed vikings [img]graemlins/viking.gif[/img]

Ahh yes, those were the days. When everybody would fear the Norsemen or get their head cleaved with an rather over-sized axe. Or a sword, same effect really. [img]graemlins/viking.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]Hehe now I can make quote thingies [img]smile.gif[/img] thanks all...

[Skunk]

Originally posted by Dreamer128: 56% of the EU population fluent in English? Is there some kind of hidden EU nation we don't know about? Seriously, try visiting nations such as France, Italy or Spain and see how many people speak English there

You have to allow for different cultural attitudes when explaining this.

For example, in the Netherlands the Dutch are *PROUD* of their english language skills and are never too shy to show it. For example, when I was learning Dutch, I would naturally want to speak in Dutch to shopkeepers etc. - but, as soon as they heard my english accent, they would almost always immediately launch into English. Result? The ridiculous situation where the englishman insisted on and continued to speak in Dutch, while the shopkeeper continued to insist on and continued to speak in English. Confusing or what??

In France, the attitude is generally different. For the most part, the French (for example) insist that, since you are in *their* country, that you try to speak French. As one French businessman put it (paraphrased): "I can speak very good english (if I have to) when I am selling something to an english-speaker - but I see no reason to speak english to people who want something from me."

This summer, on my annual vacation I was in France. In one hotel, the land-lady didn't appear to speak any english (as far as I could tell). No problem for me, my french could easily stand the test - but my Dutch wife had to work very hard with her high school french to make herself understood. She asked the woman if she could speak in english, but the landlady would just carry on in French. On the last day at that particular hotel, I heard the landlady speaking perfect english to some other guests.

I asked her why she wouldn't speak in english to my wife and she responded that she'd rather not speak a foreign language in France unless she really had to - and these (Romanian) guests really didn't speak any French at all.
Besides she said (beaming), it was good for my wife to practice her french.

When you are in France, remember that just because you do not get an answer in english, it doesn't neccessarily mean that they don't speak the language. More often than not, they can but choose not to.

Oh well, as they say, When in Rome, do as the Romans do...

[ZaRos]

I've been in france numerous. And practically all the young (age 30 or less) where more than happy to communicate in english... And the same goes for the germans of same age as earlier mentioned
Actually I have never been anywhere in europe where i wasn't able to communicate with younger people in english... And i've been traveling quite a bit i easter europe...

[Donut]

Originally posted by ZaRos: "I'm on thin ground here but I think a lot of northern england got a lot of words and certainly its accent from the Danes."

I wouldn't boast about that if I were you!

[Faceman]

a sidenote on India and Hindi (not Hindu)
There are 300+ dialects (=different languages) in India
Hindi is a common language Indians learn at school. It is an official language but mother-tongue to only a part of Indians. English is also taught at school in India with almost the same importance as Hindi.
result: Almost anybody who can speak Hindi can also speak English. People who can't speak English (mostly poor uneducated people) mostly only know their respective dialect (e.g. Kannada, Malayalam,...) and not Hindi.