charukesi November 4th, 2003
Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?
This verbal class distinction should now be quite antique…
There even are places where English completely disappears
In America, they haven’t used it for years!
Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?
Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks are taught their Greek
In France, every Frenchman knows his language from A to ‘Zed’
The French never care what they do, actually, as long as they pronounce it properly.
But use proper English, you are regarded as a freak.
Oh, why can’t the English,
Why can’t the English learn to speak ?
I wonder, what would Prof. Higgins have to say to this?
The latest in the “going global” craze are English coaching centers, say The Week. There’s money, and careers, to be made by learning the Queen’s language-and people in small towns are joining this ‘English movement’
The report goes on to say that English is seen to be essential to get ahead in the IT world, or simply to show that you have ‘arrived’ in life…..
If this is true, then how has Europe survived for so long ? and still does ?
How did George Bush get elected as the leader (ok, Prez, not leader ) of the largest English speaking nation of the world ? I know they speak American and not English, but I am not splitting hairs here, you know what I mean. George Bush, of, “Is our children learning” and many other Bushisms fame…..
Tony Blair…. We won’t even talk about. I have often been appalled by the English I’ve heard in England. Nowhere else is the Queen’s language murdered as in her own country…..
I am genuinely curious – does being able to speak good English truly give one a competitive edge in the world today?
