[Wilhelm]

grinner, as surprising as it may sound, some ATMs here in Colombia also ask that question.

I'm in Colombia, we speak Spanish here, give me the fucking money!!

I guess that's revenge for us, heh.

[Putinist]

Regarding my earlier point about why the French language should not be taught in schools.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html#A0774735

This serves my point!

Language - Approx. number of speakers

1. Chinese (Mandarin) - 1,075,000,000
2. English - 514,000,000
3. Hindustani - 496,000,000
4. Spanish - 425,000,000
5. Russian - 275,000,000
6. Arabic - 256,000,000
7. Bengali - 215,000,000
8. Portuguese - 194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian - 176,000,000
10. French - 129,000,000

[Putinist]

I am quite surprised at Indonesian too I must admit!

[KurtFF8]

shouldnt be taught in schools? i think it should be taught, just not a requirement

[Putinist]

shouldnt be taught in schools? i think it should be taught, just not a requirement

Yes I beg your pardon, that's what I meant; it shouldn't be taught as a main language when it comes an appalling tenth on the list of the most widely spoken world languages! Plus, I do not agree that it is the easiest, when I thought it quite hard to learn. Spanish is much easier, and much more widely spoken, hence it would make sense to do Spanish. Also, if you look at schools in the US, in particular the southern states, they border Central Latin America - where Spanish is widely spoken as a first language. Hence another good reason why French should be abolished as a first language of education in schools and replaced by the tongues of Iberia and South America.

[Adrien]

Well, i know that our (lovely) language is not very useful on a worldwide scale, but some places still speak french because it's their cultural legacy, and in those places french shouldn't be kicked out of the first languages classes in school, it would be wiping away a part of their culture.

It's like in Quebec when they close francophone schools and open loads of Anglophones one... it's not good at all!

But what i say goes for any other language too.

[Putinist]

It's like in Quebec when they close francophone schools and open loads of Anglophones one... it's not good at all!

Well obviously it makes sense in Quebec, their heritage is also shared with the Frogs, cough, cough... French! Ribbit.

[Adrien]

Addendum: it's not Quebec who closes the francophone schools apparently, but the anglophone federal government, that's important.



And you Putinist say one more time "froggy" and i'll start using "rosbeef"!



Aaah, the good old english vs french cliché.

[Putinist]

And you Putinist say one more time "froggy" and i'll start using "rosbeef"!

Go ahead, but I'm not English.

Aaah, the good old english vs french cliché.

Numerous polls conducted during the 1990s found the British, in particular the English, to be the people whom the French "most disliked". Here is further irony; guess who topped their list as France's most likeable? The Poles!:)

[Adrien]

Aaah yes i forgot you were coming from Poland...

But it's true that there is for a long time quite a link (even historical) between France and Poland.

[FCP]

In Canada it makes a certain degree of sense as almost 7 million people speak French as a first language which reperesents maybe 30-35% of the population. However, that being said, the good ol' Franco - Anglo strife of yesteryear still pervades Canada. As such, you get the good ol' linguistic resentment in Quebec and elsewhere. Apparently, Belgium has similar problems with Franco - Flemish antagonism. Switzerland seems to do a pretty good job at it though. Damn French, there always causing problems.....

[Yeddi]

The reason Fench is taught in schools in England is that the closest neighbour, and the country most likely visited by english schoolchildren would be france, it makes sence to learn the language of your neighbour

[Proctor]

I'd like to point out that a lot of these 'lazy immigrants' you guys are referring to have come to our respective countries as adults. They have probably struggled the whole time they've been here to gain a better grip on the English language. But as has been pointed out, it's not easy, and put simply, adults suck at completely relearning to talk.

Also, it is unfair to compare Asian immigrants to European ones when it comes to learning English. If you already speak a European language, it will be a lot easier to learn another one, since there are some similarities. People who speak languages from 'out of town' will find it a lot harder.

I don't know that English would be the hardest language, but it would be up there. I would have thought French would be as well. I have actually found Japanese to be a lot easier than I expected, since it is kind of similar to Maori, and both have very rigid sentence structure. That said, I'm not to flash at either...

As Baby said, Mandarin is the most used language in the world. The fact that it is only really spoken in two countries prevents it from being adopted worldwide. English is second, and Spanish third. If I remember rightly, Spanish is the national language of the most countries. But seeing as English is spoken by the most powerful country on Earth, it carries a bit more weight.

[Putinist]

But it's true that there is for a long time quite a link (even historical) between France and Poland.

Yes indeed. Both of our nations opposed the Nazis during the Second World War, but unfortunately my nation paid a heavy price for that.

I was thinking. You know like Hitler and Stalin signed the Hitler-Stalin Non-Agression Treaty during the Second World War? Well, what would have happened if the Spanish fascist dictator General Francisco Franco had signed one with the French nation, then would it have been the Franco-Franco Treaty?:?:

[Yeddi]

haha , I'm not sure if this is absolutly true.. but i read/heard somewhere that Franco appointed as his successer the Prince of Spain (the point i'm not sure on is if thats in the actual position of monarch...) I find it funny that the guy goes in, creates a dictatorship for himself... and then when he dies he returns it to the way it was... i love that, he knew what he was after, POWER.

[Adrien]

Yes indeed. Both of our nations opposed the Nazis during the Second World War, but unfortunately my nation paid a heavy price for that.

I was also thinking of the time of Louis XV or the "strange" link between Poland and Napoleon. And i have to admit that sadly if Poland paid heavy price during WWII it's mostly because of us and our lame attitude toward Hitler (what we did to Czechoslovakia is unbelievable)...

And Yeddi yes, it's interesting how Franco acted! And as he brought Juan Carlos back to Spain at the age of ten, in the 60's certainly, he must have planned his succession very early!