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Originally Posted by Fluffy Kittens
I find it a bit embarrassing that most English people can't speak a word of any other language yet most of the rest of the world can speak English, that seems quite ignorant tbh, especially when we go on holiday to other countries and don't bother to learn a few words of their language.
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This mostly applies to the older generations, but it's a logical conclusion to a country that once ruled the world and everybody else had to speak English to get on in the Empire. There was never any need for Brits to learn other languages because everybody else spoke English. I think this metality is now changing with younger people who do make an effort to learn other languages.
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Originally Posted by misspoptart
In what lines of work?
Worldwide, there are 92 million native German speakers, in seven countries on one continent. Meanwhile, there are almost 390 million native Spanish speakers (+70 million as a second language), spread over 25 countries, 3 continents, and comprising 6% of the world's population. Even if a number of jobs seek German speakers, MANY more seek Spanish speakers. Having "Spanish" on your CV is an asset for almost any line of work.
However, some types of work may require German, and for those it would make sense. In any case, you will probably meet many more Spanish speakers in your lifetime than you would any other language.
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I'm referring to Spain here and not Latin America. I've worked in a number of European countries and also in South America and I can tell you the working conditions and pay in Spain has to be one of the worst in Western Europe and therefore most people here in Europe that think about learning Spanish for work probably have the idea of working in Spain. Whereas on the other hand, working conditions in German speaking European countries are probably the best all round in Europe. Therefore if somebody is learning a language for work in Europe I'd recommend German over Spanish every day of the week.
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I do find it ignorant, especially with the amount of English people who get uppity about immigrants not speaking our language when they're in England. I'd imagine once the person you're talking to realises you're shit at their language then they'd naturally just switch the conversation to English anyway, but it seems nice to at least try, as opposed to just "f*ck 'em, they speak our language anyway".
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The English are no different to the Spanish and French in this respect. They expect immigrants to speak their language as well.