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Re: rail racism...
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Re: rail racism...
I was stood next to an Indian couple today, naturally I eavesdropped....................
I could only pick up the odd word....Fringe.....layered........perm......highli ghts........extensions.......bob.......mohican.... .... Turns out they were talking..... Hairdo I'm here all week..........OAPs and kids half price. |
Re: rail racism...
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Re: rail racism...
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If you had guests in your own home and they excluded you from conversation by speaking in a different language, then fair enough. Ditto if you were a guest in their home. But out in public, such as on a train, people who have no connection with you whatsoever are under no moral obligation to speak a language you can understand. |
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So are you saying that when you abroad that you speak the native language the whole time you are in public, so that you don't offend anyone?? ---------- Post added at 13:30 ---------- Previous post was at 13:29 ---------- Quote:
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Re: rail racism...
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Clearly, when there are other conversational partners we'll speak English, but I don't count complete strangers on the other side of a train aisle as conversational partners. I don't know how many languages you speak, but trust me, even after extensive experience, there is no substitute for native proficiency. I consider myself fluent in English, but my native command and vocabulary size is considerably better for the simple fact that I spent longer speaking it, and was educated in it. |
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like I said if your on holiday its something you can't help but living within a country? I think you should speak the national language. The Welsh have their own language, their Wales not England, Scots do their thing, their within Scotland not England.
I'm from a mixed raced background and have been brought up to speak English in public. Within the comfort of your homes you can speak how you wish. May be thats old fashion now, may be its wrong, may be its right. |
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So you're natively bilingual? That seems slightly different to me than having a native language and being fluent in a second language. Trust me, native language conversation is just more natural, and I'm not going out of my way and have an awkward conversation on the off-chance that a complete stranger might be offended by a conversation he or she is no party to.
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When I visit my family in Poland I wouldn't dream of speaking English in a group whether it be in the home or in public despite the fact that my cousins all speak fluent English. The elders do not and it would be rude to exclude them from the conversation as Daniel has mentioned in similar circumstances.
On the other hand one of my cousins does live here and again we speak Polish...her English is good but not as good as her husband's so it is the language we are all most comfortable with in a group conversation. What anyone else thinks is irrelevant. |
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Fair enough if you have invited someone somewhere and they sit there jabbering away in another language. That is rude. Also, how would you feel if you heard someone on the phone? A friend of mine frequently switches to French on the phone, but that's only because she has some French friends who speak little or no English. She was bought up speaking both those languages, and Dutch so is fluent in all three. If she is in the pub with me and one of them calls, would it be rude of her to answer the phone in French? |
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born and bred in the UK, I've grown up to read, write and speak English and have it as my first language. I can understand my 2nd, 3rd and 4th languages but have difficulty speaking those languages fluently. I cannot write or read in those languages either.
I completely understand what your saying but I just see it as rude. may be this multi culture thing has hit heights I never knew about and its no longer deemed rude. |
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I don't mind people speaking in their own tongue. as long as it's not somewhere like a shop where they intentionally change to their tongue when you just know that the whole purpose is so that they can talk about you :)
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Couldn't they be talking about something personal to those involved in the conversation?
Sometimes, Gary, just sometimes, you aren't the centre of the Universe.... |
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