Maybe I am super sheltered in my North American life but how does...

dylpics 10 months

Maybe I am super sheltered in my North American life but how does everyone on Collective know English so well when they are not from English speaking countries? Spelling, grammar, idioms. ✅

Like 22 comments

lone_wanderer

Wow. Never thought of that!

10 months

serenawilliams

language learning isn’t really a big focus in schools in the states or canada. in western europe — especially here in germany, where i live — parents push their kids to do well in english just like they would in biology or calculus. a lot of workplaces also use english. not all, or even close to half, but enough that people know speaking good english gives them a real edge. american media also has a huge influence. people who speak english well tend to watch or listen to a lot of it, and that’s how they naturally pick up idioms, slang, and the casual or “lazy” way people actually talk. it’s amazing how many non-native english speakers i meet who say they learned from watching ‘friends’. also, english is pretty easy to learn at a basic level — you can start speaking it quickly. the tricky part is pronunciation and spelling, because english is such a weird mix of german, french and latin influences. that’s why there are so many exceptions and inconsistencies.

10 months

dylpics

@daniel.mauro cool! This has taught me that I need to leave Canada more haha

10 months

serenawilliams

@dshums lived in sydney, london, and now berlin (i am from toronto). if you’re young enough, i strongly encourage getting a youth mobility visa and spending time away from canada. i learned that canada is a lot more like america than we like to convince ourselves it’s not… but i love being canadian, no doubt about that!

10 months

anseo

@daniel.mauro Yeah in the Republic of Ireland you can’t get into university unless you speak a minimum of 3 languages. English, Gaeilge and a third language. Even with that Ireland is WAY behind Europe with languages being a core part of education.

10 months

hidden

English is just an easy language to learn, and by having so much access to it in media/music and any resources, you can use it on a daily basis with no problem.

10 months

dylpics

@anseo I’m learning so much!

10 months

dylpics

@jon_jacobsen so much better than the answer I was expecting which was, “Chat GPT”

10 months

hidden

@dshums nothing wrong with ChatGPT either, as it’s incredibly good with translation tools. It has helped me a lot to improve my Portuguese and my Dutch with real-case examples.

10 months

dylpics

@jon_jacobsen Maybe I’ll finally cave and get it. Been trying to learn Italiano 🤌🏻

10 months

nebjamin

Sus? 😅 English is the lingua franca of the world, young people who speak other languages are obligated to learn it in school and then use it to access culture and communities beyond their borders.

10 months

nebjamin

Want to learn Italian? Get Busuu! Great app.

10 months

dylpics

@nebjamin It’s very impressive, I must say.

10 months

dylpics

@nebjamin noted 📝

10 months

jarrodt83

I think this all the time. I am always so impressed with everyone and I feel so dumb.

10 months

dylpics

@artfromla all tea, all shade 💅🏻 ☕️

9 months

dylpics

@jarrodt83 well, the answers thus far make me feel like North Americans in general aren’t the smartest 🤦🏼 I tried to learn French for 12 years. I can barely pronounce “Bonjour”

9 months

christina

We are basically taught in schools as the first foreign language, followed by either french/italian/spanish/german depending on preferences + growing up, most video games, music and movies were in English. Watching movies in english with translated subtitles was also the norm (maybe still is idk).

9 months

dylpics

@christina incredible stuff! I’m learning so much 🤓

9 months