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I suppose this is because in the UK there is still this whiff of upper class and culture if you can speak French. The new King Charles was the first monarch to
by mytailorisrich 3y ago
I suppose this is because in the UK there is still this whiff of upper class and culture if you can speak French. The new King Charles was the first monarch to give a speech in the French parliament (afaik), and he did it in French, for instance.
Spanish? Nah, we sunk the Armada and took Gibraltar, that's about it... and let's not forget the Argies.
- rgblambda 3y ago>Spanish? Nah, we sunk the Armada and took Gibraltar, that's about it. And shared a king: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain
- SllX 3y agoNot a highlight in English history as it was a rather bloody time.
- graemep 3y agoThere is still an expectation that even mildly posh British people know how to pronounce French words at least approximately correctly. Speaking French was historically a strong class marker. The phrase "pas devant les domestiques" which as sufficiently commonly used to be contracted to just "pas devant" is a good example (you would not use it if the domestics would understand it). I was born in a country (Sri Lanka) where speaking English is a class marker. Not simply whether you can or can not speak it (lots of people can speak it to some extent) but how well you speak it, your accent, and whether you are a native speaker (in that it is the language you use to talk to your family and friends) or not.