16 March 2013
Why don't the French speak better English?
That's the question discussed in this article, which cites statistics showing how relatively poorly the French do on tests of English. Various theories are then proposed to explain this, ranging from the way French children are raised to the way languages are taught in French schools to the fact that most English TV and movies in France are dubbed rather than subtitled. I would be interested in knowing how the factors described here are different in the Czech Republic. The students and others I deal with at the university here (luckily for me) speak fine English, as do a surprising number of waiters, store clerks, ticket agents and train conductors. What are Czechs doing to teach and learn English that the French aren't?
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Probably it has something to do with a motivation to learn in...as we all know, the French are quite strong nationalists and their language is one of the most important languages in EU, whereas the knowledge of the Czech language solely is not sufficient to make onself understood in today's world.
ReplyDeleteAnd my second theory is that the French has to put every effort in learning their mother tongue(especially the vowel system is quite complicated, I would say) and once they learn it they can't get used to another language system.
In my opinion English isn't so "attractive" for the French as Spanish,for instance. Moreover, Spanish is in some aspects very similar to French and represents the easiest way how to learn a foreign language. As was mentioned above, French is one of the the most respectable languages in EU and the French have a higher chance to make themselves understoond in French than Czech people in Czech abroad.On the other hand, there could be a historical reason too. During the reign of William the Conqueror, French was brought to England and respected as the language of the nobility. At that time English was spoken only by the working class and there was also no sign of willingnes to learn English from the French. It's sure that the situation in the 11th century was completely different but it might have its importance.
ReplyDeleteYes, and it wasn't just in the 11th century. For hundreds of years, and as recently as the 19th century in some places (notably Russia), French was the language of intellectuals and the "highly cultured." In America, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, the most intellectual of the Founding Fathers, knew French well and\or spent lots of time in France and in correspondence with their French counterparts. Jefferson wrote a whole book replying to a French critique of America. (Notice how English has borrowed French words for intellectual operations, like "critique.") The French were the pacesetters in the Enlightenment, and it was only later that English began to "catch up" in terms of prestige. (Note the word "prestige": also French!) So it's not hard to imagine the French continuing to assume or act as if this was still true.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that it is also the other way - native English speaking people usually don't learn any other language because English is quite widespread nowadays. It seems to me that attitudes of the French and English/American people are very similar in this way (sometimes too confident). I'd say that this confidence in one's language is difficult to find in this country therefore the motivation to learn an international language.
ReplyDeleteWell, we all (Czechs) know, that czech language is maybe nice but absolutely insufficient in the rest of the world. English has become an absolute necessity and it is one of the basic requirements when applying for a job. In my opinion, it is mainly because of practical reasons why our English is better than English of the French. On the other hand French is a world language (official language of the EU, Canada etc.) and for a long time it was a serious rival for English (until English finally won). So for the French it is not really necessary to learn English properly and they are not willing to probably because of the historical backgroung (longterm rivalry of these two nations and languages).
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