Trickster
Gold Member
Germans are famous for having bad English.
what languages do you speak?
- Thread starter Zebra
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frigidweirdo
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No, they're famous for having amazing English, along with the Dutch, the Austrians and the Scandinavians.
Trickster
Gold Member
Absolutely not true.
Germans, unlike the Dutch and Nordics, dub all the imported American TV shows and movies making them less exposed to the language.
I doubt they are even top 10 in English proficiency.
frigidweirdo
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Of the countries which do not speak English as a language, Germany will be in the top 10 easily.
EF EPI | EF English Proficiency Index | EF Global Site (English)
The 2024 edition of the EF English Proficiency Index ranks 113 countries and regions by their English skills.
www.ef.com
Germany is 10th on this list.
Singapore is 2nd, which is cheating as it's an official language. Half of all people speak English at home, more than any other language (and the Dutch are better than them...)
South Africa... is 9th... I mean... it's an English speaking country. The Chinese put it down as one of the few countries that can work as "native speakers" in the English teaching trade there.
So, Germany is, essentially, 8th in the world.
Trickster
Gold Member
So, I was right.Of the countries which do not speak English as a language, Germany will be in the top 10 easily.
EF EPI | EF English Proficiency Index | EF Global Site (English)
The 2024 edition of the EF English Proficiency Index ranks 113 countries and regions by their English skills.
Germany is 10th on this list.
Singapore is 2nd, which is cheating as it's an official language. Half of all people speak English at home, more than any other language (and the Dutch are better than them...)
South Africa... is 9th... I mean... it's an English speaking country. The Chinese put it down as one of the few countries that can work as "native speakers" in the English teaching trade there.
So, Germany is, essentially, 8th in the world.
Thank you.
Germans suck at English and if you ask any German they would agree.
frigidweirdo
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"I doubt they are even top 10 in English proficiency."
They're in the top 10.
How are you right?
And no, Germans don't suck at English. The French suck at English, the Spanish, the Italians suck at English. The Germans are in the top 8 countries in the world and they're all from the same area, ie, Germanic and Scandinavian countries.
The Germans had East Germany, which had Russian as a second language until 1990, so anyone 50 or older from the East probably doesn't speak English that well....
The West Germans on the other hand will probably speak it quite well. And compared to America as a country for learning second languages that aren't the mother tongue of a parent or guardian or family member..... well.....
Trickster
Gold Member
That is because you are too bad to notice it yourself.
It is a well-known European stereotype that Germans are bad at English.
Trickster
Gold Member
It is still the case that Germany, compared to other countries in the same region, are bad at English.
Only Germans I have interacted with have been either university students or university graduates, so they of course spoke better English than most Americans, but even they would say Germans are bad at English emphasising the explanation I already gave; dubbed TV-shows and also that German English classes do not value oral aspects of learning as highly as reading and writing.
frigidweirdo
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That is because you are too bad to notice it yourself.
It is a well-known European stereotype that Germans are bad at English.
Have you even been to Europe?
frigidweirdo
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So, you're saying 8th in the world is bad?
I'm saying it isn't. You go to Germany, you can speak English. Same as Scandinavia and Austria, the Netherlands and parts of Belgium.
No where else in this world can you do that, unless the country literally speaks English as an official language.
I know, I've been to a LOT of countries and I've lived in Germany, and a load of other countries.
Trickster
Gold Member
Born, bred and currently in.
Trickster
Gold Member
They are not as fluent as, for example, the Dutch and Scandinavians.
But, when it comes to being notoriously atrocious at learning, speaking and understanding a second language, Americans take the gold medal.
Blues Man
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I learned a good bit of conversational Spanish when I was younger but I don't use it anymore so I'm sure my proficiency is pretty low right now.
I used to know a fair amount of American sign language not enough to be really fluent but enough to communicate with but again I haven't used it in a long time since the person who I used to use it with died so I doubt my ability to use it anymore.
I used to know a fair amount of American sign language not enough to be really fluent but enough to communicate with but again I haven't used it in a long time since the person who I used to use it with died so I doubt my ability to use it anymore.
GMCGeneral
Diamond Member
Igpay Atinlay, Okay?
frigidweirdo
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Well, like I said, the rest of the world isn't very good either. They're not as fluent as others, but they don't need to be, they understand enough for people to get by easily, and to go to university in an English speaking country.
Trickster
Gold Member
I am just a germanophobe in general, to be honest, so it might just be that I am biased.
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