i feel mildly guilty about making everybody speak my language as I deal with our european friends.  but only mildly.

To be fair German is bloody hard with a rule for everything.

I really regret being so terrible at languages. 

Mandarin is probably up though, so there's that.

I found out the other day that it is no longer compulsory to do a language at GCSE. 

SAD!

To be fair German is bloody hard with a rule for everything.

I'm afraid Mein Herr, your syntax is not in order.

Mandarin should be compulsory so we can at least converse with our new political masters. 

English is widely spoken because it is a de facto lingua franca, flexible yet sufficiently standardised to allow for global mutual intelligibility. Nothing to do with cultural colonialism or complacency by the snaggletoothed jellied eel botherers. If you learned fluent Mandarin you still wouldn't be able to easily converse with most Chinese people. 

Ehh have to disagree on cultural colonialism not being a factor. English has no pronunciation rules of any discernible consistency, for one. That alone makes it quite hard. German is noticeably easier in many aspects.

English is useful for making people rich

no one gives a shyt that it is coincidentally Gary from Croydon's mother tongue

English is the de facto lingua franca because of (1) British colonialism and (2) American pop culture.

It's because it is understandable everywhere. There was an arabic speaking empire. No two dialects of Arabic are particularly mutually intelligible.

Modern china can be seen as somewhat imperial within its borders yet about a third of its population cannot understand Mandarin.

i think languages fall into a hole where they're hard but not very job-getting. 

high achiever types aren't gonna waste time they could spend doing more maths, people just looking for grades are gonna do subjects that are easier

Combined with the fact that the Eurasmus scheme isn't open to the UK anymore, this is really sad 

i know a lot of people who did language at university, not a single one i can think of uses their language professionally now

reality is you've got a continent (indeed a globe) full of people who have learning english as a mandatory requirement for career advancement, vs people in the uk where the motivation is mostly feeling sophisticated talking to waiters on holiday

similarly none of the british people i know who have actually gone abroad and work in non-english languages studied them at school particularly. they just learned them when life dictated they needed to learn them. 

This tells you all you need to know about why Britain is fvcked. Any self respecting nation wanting to trade with the world would consider languages a cornerstone. But for the Brits it’s the usual ‘and if they can’t understand us then we’ll shout until they do’. And you’ll never know what they’re saying behind your back will you?

i feel mildly guilty about making everybody speak my language as I deal with our european friends. but only mildly.

I wouldn't feel guilty at all. Multilingual people love the chance to flex their language skills, and especially against monoglot English speakers.

cookie - which languages do you speak besides English? Feels improbable that it is any.

I agree with Sizzler.

Furthermore, I had to travel to improve the pidgin languages I 'learnt' at school. 

French and German are the key languages. Spanish, too, for Brits who holiday in 'Spyne'.

The advantage of being proficient in another language is that one can go to non-touristy localities, even just around the corner, or book your own intineraries (hiking, cycling, vineyard visits), have conversations with the natives. One can also - blissfully - avoid the English.

3-Ducks, yes, learn Mandarin, but only to spy on them electronically or to run and debrief double agents.

English is the de facto lingua franca because of ... (2) American pop culture.

Maybe Korean will be the next lingua franca!

Sizzler, one would need to learn how to drink like a Korean, too. North and South, jeez, do they drink some! The 'paddies of Asia' I'm told.

I know, right! I used to think, oh East Asians are so abstemious.  Then I met some Koreans.

"English is the de facto lingua franca because of (1) British colonialism and (2) American pop culture."

It is also one of the easier languages to learn basic communication in (although one of the harder to master)

North and South, jeez, do they drink some! 

Can't say I have met any North Koreans. Will have to take your word for it ... 

PP: There are North Korean refugees about who've managed to escape the regime, though I've not drunk with one. the South Koreans are definitely big drinkers, not always in a jolly BTS kind way 

Also a fair number of regime kids come to UK unis

There was also the North Korean restaurant chain dotted about Asia a few years ago. Although I don't know if the employees were allowed to get drunk with the clients. I was torn about going and then the one near me closed down so I will likely die a North Korean restaurant chain virgin

That's a jarring thought.

Plucky Brits on holiday in Yerp - beware! They’ve stolen our food.

https://x.com/anthonyteasdale/status/1691034968980402179?s=61&t=3lWj0RN…