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Did you ever take a look who sits in the European Parliament and European Commission? Introducing Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Econ

Did you ever take a look who sits in the European Parliament and European Commission? Introducing Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society: (wait for his English at the 0:20 mark) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88OGXLFpeMw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88OGXLFpeMw As a German I am completely embarrassed.

skrebbel 11y ago
wait, you're embarrassed because a politician has an accent when speaking English?
- kuschku 11y ago
  No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". In general, his english is so bad that it’s become some kind of running gag.
  - mmarx 11y ago
    > No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". You're confusing Westerwelle with Öttinger.
    - kuschku 11y ago
      Öttinger said the same, too. Extra3 made fun of him for copying Westerwelle. It doesn’t change anything anyway.
- pluma 11y ago
  Calling it an accent is an understatement. He's basically reading off a script word-by-word with German phonemes. He sounds like a first year English student forced to read out loud from a text book he's never read before. It's not that he has an accent. It's that his English skills are ridiculous for the position he is in. English is taught throughout all high school education in Germany and fluency in English is required or at least recommended for the vast majority of jobs. He's not just any politician either. He's not some lowly drone in a communal government branch. His office involves a lot of international communication and English is the standard language for most of it. But there's a bias here: he's mostly ridiculed by younger Germans. His English (just like Merkel's) is on par for his generation. It's not entirely ridiculous when you consider that he likely grew up in times when learning English wasn't considered as important as it is now -- my grandmother speaks no English whatsoever and my parents-in-law just barely understand some basics. If young Americans groan about their presidents' "dad jokes", this is more like being embarrassed by your grandparents.
cptskippy 11y ago
He should run for President of the United States, he's already ahead of most of the Republican nominees.
jessriedel 11y ago
So I get that his poor English is a sign of his age, and that older folks are less likely to grok tech. But I'd still wager he has used WiFI before, and should be able to understand how useless but still costly those click-to-agree screens are.
linohh 11y ago
Better english wouldn't help hiding his incompetence. https://twitter.com/lino/status/558222792496537600 https://twitter.com/lino/status/558222792496537600

skrebbel 11y ago

wait, you're embarrassed because a politician has an accent when speaking English?

kuschku 11y ago
No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". In general, his english is so bad that it’s become some kind of running gag.
- mmarx 11y ago
  > No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". You're confusing Westerwelle with Öttinger.
  - kuschku 11y ago
    Öttinger said the same, too. Extra3 made fun of him for copying Westerwelle. It doesn’t change anything anyway.
pluma 11y ago
Calling it an accent is an understatement. He's basically reading off a script word-by-word with German phonemes. He sounds like a first year English student forced to read out loud from a text book he's never read before. It's not that he has an accent. It's that his English skills are ridiculous for the position he is in. English is taught throughout all high school education in Germany and fluency in English is required or at least recommended for the vast majority of jobs. He's not just any politician either. He's not some lowly drone in a communal government branch. His office involves a lot of international communication and English is the standard language for most of it. But there's a bias here: he's mostly ridiculed by younger Germans. His English (just like Merkel's) is on par for his generation. It's not entirely ridiculous when you consider that he likely grew up in times when learning English wasn't considered as important as it is now -- my grandmother speaks no English whatsoever and my parents-in-law just barely understand some basics. If young Americans groan about their presidents' "dad jokes", this is more like being embarrassed by your grandparents.

cptskippy 11y ago

He should run for President of the United States, he's already ahead of most of the Republican nominees.

jessriedel 11y ago

So I get that his poor English is a sign of his age, and that older folks are less likely to grok tech. But I'd still wager he has used WiFI before, and should be able to understand how useless but still costly those click-to-agree screens are.

linohh 11y ago

Better english wouldn't help hiding his incompetence. https://twitter.com/lino/status/558222792496537600 https://twitter.com/lino/status/558222792496537600