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Yes. The EU represents the worlds largest economy, dwarfing the US by about USD$7 trillion. Yet the potential is locked up in bureaucracy and petty nationalism.
by tomelders 15y ago
Yes. The EU represents the worlds largest economy, dwarfing the US by about USD$7 trillion. Yet the potential is locked up in bureaucracy and petty nationalism.
Another bitter truth that people in the EU need to acknowledge is that English needs to be spoken by the majority. Not as a first language, but to the level of countries like the Netherlands or Norway.
That's easy for me to say, I'm British, but this isn't national pride in my language. Only 4% of English speakers are English. English is a necessity in the world we live in, and Europe's diverse mix of languages is holding it back in a lot of ways.
- danmaz74 15y agoI think that among young Europeans English is already very very common.
- ajuc 15y agoI live in Poland, and every programmer I've met speaks English at least good enough to read documentation.
- kokey 15y agoI'm really impressed with the good level of English spoken by younger people in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. I believe this will give them an edge in technology over people from countries like Austria, Italy and Spain.
- bad_user 15y agoWhat baffled me when I visited Spain was that everything was translated - for instance I went to a cinema and all the movies had voice doubling in Spanish, whereas in my country the norm is showing subtitles, but leaving the audio unaltered. And this happens at all levels; for instance cartoon characters that are called like Pedro Picapiedra instead of Fred Flinstone, or El Pato Lucas (or something) for Daffy Duck. Also the doubled voices are terribly bad. In all seriousness, movie makers should sue for copyright infringement. My road took me through Barcelona and I couldn't get by with English. Maybe it was just my luck, however I met more people that understood some Romanian or Italian, rather than English. In Italy, I happened to travel to Livorno, staying there for a whole month. Again, all movies are voice doubled. But at least in Italy educated or younger people seem to understand English a little and a couple of them spoke it fluently. However while I stayed there I found it easier to learn some Italian instead, instead of bothering with English. (I'm from Romania)
- tomelders 15y agoI lived in Italy for a number of years. The company I worked for was international so English was a requirement, but the level of english spoken by many was rudimentary, which made it difficult to communicate and while the words may have been understood, all too often, the meaning and nuance was lost. Confusion ensued, productivity suffered.
- zyb09 15y agoOn that note I'm all for introducing English as additional official state language in all EU countries. There's a lot being done to educate people in English across Europe, but this will be a slow process, taking decades, no matter what you do. Right now politicians seem to be pre-occupied with keeping the EU together though, so we'll have to wait first for the dust to settle a bit.
- oinopion 15y agoI wish you could go to any govt office in any of EU countries and do your business in English.
- tomelders 15y agooddly enough, in the UK most forms and leaflets relating to council and government services are available in a range of languages from Polish to Chinese. As a brit, I take a small amount of pride in that.
- oinopion 15y agoI've spent some years in Scotland and I was amazed with how robust and effective most govt services were (at least ones I've used). Poland and Austria (were I lived, too) are nowhere near that.