Grasp of the English language!?

Question

Why do a lot of people insult those whose grasp of the English language is poor. Sureley this not their fault?
How would you feel, if abroad, people slagged you off just because you could not speak French, German, Italian etc correctly.
Give these people a break

Alright, Slagged is an English term.
Princess Punk? Not your language, our language!

Thanks for the essay, rifle223. What if that perso was asking on yahoo from a foreign country? Yes he is responsible for his language, HIS! not ours!

Answer 1

whoa!Rifle 223 is an English professor I think!Anyway,I could charm my way through any mistakes in any language!I'm American and speak American.It's not just english here -its a mix of many languages and nuances and slang.
BTW -you spelled surely wrong!

Answer 2

Often times, people insult others' English skills, with the assumption that the person targeted has either the up-bringing, ample opportunity, or some obligation to have better mastered the language than he or she has apparently bothered to do.

An example of this is the apparently illiterate American youth. They have no one to fault more than themselves. (Athough the apparently low pressure to achieve excellence applied to them by the public school systems doesn't help) As much as I might accept that such a person was never well-instructed with English, I do suspect that the best motivation one can offer is a nearly snobbish introduction of criticism of inferior English usage.

I think, much of the time, when a Person finds themselves with a non-English speaker, they make an assessment of what that person should be able to do. A struggling visitor from, say, the Orient, who comes across as friendly and sincere, will get a lot further with little English skill, than will a native speaker who carelessly displays disgustingly poor language skills.

The online world delivers us a new balance of people, with varied skills. I do not always know from where a person is coming when they attempt to engage me in conversation. Sometimes though, I do find that foreign people with very poor English insist in engaging me in unsolicited conversation, and then expect me to carry the weight of interpretation. Those who take correction sincerely endear me to them; those who ignore it, or reject it irritate me beyond words.

What fascinates me most about your question, though, is your assertion that "Sureley [sic] this [is] not their fault[.]" Who is more responsible for their language than they? That strikes me as complete nonsense derived from shallow thought. That's like saying a person isn't responsible for the fashions they wear, since that is based largely on their surrounding environment. Agree or not, people who won't wear animal furs or leathers would seem to prove that people CAN take responsibility for things heavily influenced by their society. I expect nearly as much from those who wish to engage me as equals, through English.

Certainly I don't think that people should act cruelly towards those who mean well, but your notion that a person shouldn't bear the weight of responsibility for either what he can, or cannot (will, or will not) do is rather troubling, and sadly, is a sign of the times. If I go amongst the French speaking—even if I were particularly nice to them (ha!)—I should expect to have to make some real effort to communicate with them, and to the extent that I do not, I have little place to suppose they are obligated to make up the difference in our communication gap.

In business, or even as a consumer, you of course have a situation where it is beneficial for each party to make some effort to accommodate the other. A business which will not speak a tourist's language, must accept that they may loose out to competition better willing or able to reach across a language barrier.

With that said, English does, in our day and age, hold a position of advantage over most any language where international or intercultural communication takes place. For instance, even when Britain was absent (or otherwise not participating) from European Union meetings, English was used despite no other member country speaking it natively. This is just one example, and underscores that the primacy of the English language cannot be denied.

I'm all for giving a person a break, but too many people think they're owed that break, and won't accept responsibility for their own deficiencies.

Answer 3

You're right. It's not their fault and that highly rude kind of response always annoys me, too. Moreover, having ripped someone to shreds for 'not speaking English', they rarely have anything else to say worthwhile. If I'm feeling bolshie, I report them on two counts - 'Insulting other participants' and 'Not a Question or Answer'.

Edit: I don't know if Princess Punk is purposely spelling badly or not! If not, she's setting a very bad example to back up her statement! Also, that is not a gratuitous insult. It's a valid comment!

Answer 4

Perhaps it's because we don't know where they are posting from, if people realised they were posting from another country, and their first language was not English, then we would be a lot more tolerant, but this is an English language answers group, so you do expect people to ask an understandable question.

Answer 5

I guess that on a website/bulletin board where the prefered language is English, a certain standard should be expected. I do not go onto French, German and Italian boards as my language skills would not be up to it. When in Rome!

Answer 6

If u are coming to america u are expected to knoe the english language, it is only fair. It is unfair to you if you dont know it and it is unfair to the americans around you if u dont know it. Same goes for if u decided to immigrate to canada were they too speak english. Unless you are not moving here and just touring or visiting then i guess u dont really need to know it, but if u moved down here u should know it becuz if u dont we feel as if u are taking advantage of what america has to offer and dont even take the time to learn our language. If an american were to move to France they would too take time to learn french. It doesnt make any sense to go to a country where mostly one language is being spoken and u dont even know how to speak it yourself.

Answer 7

My finance and I went to France last year, and you are absolutely right. I speak fluent french, but my finance does not I notice that people treated him differently b/c of it. So you are right, the English language is the most difficult to learn b/c there are so many daily changes to it, the basics always stay the same but new words are always introduced.

Answer 8

I agree, yet each group of human beings has their flaws. And to be uncomplicated I genuinely have seen bikers that are very appropriate, with families and don't beat one yet another up. not sure it is optimal to single out all bikers as one group whilst a proportion of them are actually not your stereotypical biker "badass"

Answer 9

Mookhme ram ram gardhan me churi.

Answer 10

i dont insult anyone... especially those who cant speak english well... maybe there are some... but not all... just forgive them