I'm not bothered what language people around me speak.
Look at it this way: the people around you which are speaking a foreign language will probably still be able to speak English if you were to go up and talk to them.
They'll probably be bilingual- which is a lot more than can be said for most English people who are only able to speak their mother tongue because language education is appalling here.
Call me old fashioned but I like to here English in England. When I travel to parts of London I will feel the minority and feel sad that I don't identify these areas with England.
I think Terence Stamp is somewhat exaggerating to make a point. You can indeed get a mango from english speaking people in the east-end as cultureman further up has done so.
His point is more general I feel and in that respect others do agree with him (particularly of a certain age?). I personally don't because I've not had that experience where I live, yet others do feel like that about the town I live in. Some will say they won't go into town as they feel unsafe as it's "full of foreigners" - I don't feel the same. I think perspective very much comes from your own experiences, and I've personally not had any bad ones due to people speaking a different language to me, or being a different nationality or religion.
Where's the bit that says how many can speak English or not?
According to the last England & Wales census (2011) ...
Ninety two per cent (49.8 million) of usual residents aged three years and over spoke English (English or Welsh in Wales) as their main language.
Of the eight per cent (4.2 million) of usual residents aged three years and over with a main language other than English, 79 per cent (3.3 million) could speak English very well or well.
In 2011, less than half a per cent (138,000) of all usual residents aged three years and over could not speak English.
According to the last England & Wales census (2011) ...
Ninety two per cent (49.8 million) of usual residents aged three years and over spoke English (English or Welsh in Wales) as their main language.
Of the eight per cent (4.2 million) of usual residents aged three years and over with a main language other than English, 79 per cent (3.3 million) could speak English very well or well.
In 2011, less than half a per cent (138,000) of all usual residents aged three years and over could not speak English.
Thank you. So English is like a foreign language to 138,000 people resident in the UK. Mr Stamp must have had one hell of a day that he came across them all.
I think Terence Stamp is somewhat exaggerating to make a point. You can indeed get a mango from english speaking people in the east-end as cultureman further up has done so.
His point is more general I feel and in that respect others do agree with him (particularly of a certain age?). I personally don't because I've not had that experience where I live, yet others do feel like that about the town I live in. Some will say they won't go into town as they feel unsafe as it's "full of foreigners" - I don't feel the same. I think perspective very much comes from your own experiences, and I've personally not had any bad ones due to people speaking a different language to me, or being a different nationality or religion.
I agree. A couple of years ago I visited Tiptree, one of my childhood haunts, and I was taken aback at so many changes.
During my time it was very much a village, but now? It seems like a mini town. The fields we used to play in - including a huge tyre on a tree branch hanging over a small lake - were gone. New houses are there now. Shops I used to haunt are no longer there. A tiny sweets shop on a corner on Station Road is now a house next to a car showroom.
I knew almost everyone in Tiptree when I was a kid, thanks to Mum's involvement with the WI, but when I visited that time, I didn't recognise anyone. It was a bit unnerving, but such is life.
What is "lefty PC world" supposed to mean in this context?
I'll hazard a guess. The same reason its usually used , a lack of argument comment intended as a smart(lol) insult. Of course it swings from left to right according to chosen agendas. I've probably been accused of left right and anything else slopping around in politics. Poor Terence seems to have spent his life in a state of permanent xenophobic discontent and pretention. It does make me wonder how people like him ever survive foreign travel. Probably seek out the english enclaves.
Call me old fashioned but I like to here English in England. When I travel to parts of London I will feel the minority and feel sad that I don't identify these areas with England.
Some old fashioned folk may say that they like to read posts from English people who claim to love the language so much to be able to use words that sound the same but are spelt differently in the correct context.
Call me old fashioned but I like to here English in England. When I travel to parts of London I will feel the minority and feel sad that I don't identify these areas with England.
This poorly constructed post perfectly illustrates the point I was making in my last post...
Having visited other major towns and cities recently, I think he's right and I also think it's a great shame that we often feel like the outsiders in our own country.
I think this may the case for *some* areas of a few towns/cities, but let's not get hyperbolic about this. The *vast* amount of people talking to one another in this country are using English as their mother tongue (or at least the approximation that seems to pass for it these days....innit).
I suspect, Mr Stamp has only noticed it because you tend to aurally pick up on foreign languages being spoken by people around you, whilst English being spoken tends not to register.
What is "lefty PC world" supposed to mean in this context?
They try to get you to buy unnecessary software, expensive extended warranties and mung beans to munch on as you browse the Amnesty International website.
They try to get you to buy unnecessary software, expensive extended warranties and mung beans to munch on as you browse the Amnesty International website.
Unless you want to earwig what strangers are saying why does it even matter if you can understand them or not.
We run a small business and I also have to visit hospitals a lot and theres no doubt whatsever that it is often very difficult to understand people from overseas - especially from India and Pakistan etc. Its not just the language but their often strange pronunciation.
Hope this doesnt get pulled as the the mods dont like factual statements involving non-English.
Call me old fashioned but I like to here English in England. When I travel to parts of London I will feel the minority and feel sad that I don't identify these areas with England.
We run a small business and I also have to visit hospitals a lot and theres no doubt whatsever that it is often very difficult to understand people from overseas - especially from India and Pakistan etc. Its not just the language but their often strange pronunciation.
Hope this doesnt get pulled as the the mods dont like factual statements involving non-English.
Conversely, I often find the opposite.
Those educated outside of the U.K, generally tend to have a higher standard of language than those educated in the U.K.
We run a small business and I also have to visit hospitals a lot and theres no doubt whatsever that it is often very difficult to understand people from overseas - especially from India and Pakistan etc. Its not just the language but their often strange pronunciation.
Hope this doesnt get pulled as the the mods dont like factual statements involving non-English.
The same can be said about not being able to easily understand regional accents throughout the UK. No big deal really but some folk make it an issue for some reason to vilify foreigners.
I have just moved into a shared flat (5 rooms) in North London.
I have lived in London all my life, White, British (not a racist one though ).
The other folk in this flat share are a young married couple from Sri Lanka (in one room, A Young lady from Lithuania, a young lady from Portugal, and two French African (?) ladies (not sure but they are very quiet, and seem to have a French influenced African accent, they haven't told me where they are from).
I am they only one who speaks English as my first language, and find myself having to explain what I am saying a lot, especially my occasional attempts at humour.
I have only recently moved in, and they do all seem like nice people, but no one really mixes, probably because of the language thing.
I guess I do feel a bit like Stamp on this. Say twenty, thirty years ago a similar flat share would have contained maybe some Scots, some Irish, etc, but at least English would be their first language.
I don't really have anyone to talk to here (sad face).
Having visited other major towns and cities recently, I think he's right and I also think it's a great shame that we often feel like the outsiders in our own country.
I'm 62 years old; born and grew up in inner city Birmingham; have lived in London (both north and south of the river), Newcastle Upon Tyne, west Oxfordshire, Reading and Nottinghamshire, and the only time I feel like an outsider is when I read posts like this.
Comments
What a RIDICULOUS thing to say.
Where's the bit that says how many can speak English or not?
Look at it this way: the people around you which are speaking a foreign language will probably still be able to speak English if you were to go up and talk to them.
They'll probably be bilingual- which is a lot more than can be said for most English people who are only able to speak their mother tongue because language education is appalling here.
Maybe you shouldn't go around feeling minorities.
His point is more general I feel and in that respect others do agree with him (particularly of a certain age?). I personally don't because I've not had that experience where I live, yet others do feel like that about the town I live in. Some will say they won't go into town as they feel unsafe as it's "full of foreigners" - I don't feel the same. I think perspective very much comes from your own experiences, and I've personally not had any bad ones due to people speaking a different language to me, or being a different nationality or religion.
According to the last England & Wales census (2011) ...
Ninety two per cent (49.8 million) of usual residents aged three years and over spoke English (English or Welsh in Wales) as their main language.
Of the eight per cent (4.2 million) of usual residents aged three years and over with a main language other than English, 79 per cent (3.3 million) could speak English very well or well.
In 2011, less than half a per cent (138,000) of all usual residents aged three years and over could not speak English.
Exactly, all that graph shows is that British born people are still very much the majority. It says nothing about what language they speak.
Thank you. So English is like a foreign language to 138,000 people resident in the UK. Mr Stamp must have had one hell of a day that he came across them all.
What is "lefty PC world" supposed to mean in this context?
I agree. A couple of years ago I visited Tiptree, one of my childhood haunts, and I was taken aback at so many changes.
During my time it was very much a village, but now? It seems like a mini town. The fields we used to play in - including a huge tyre on a tree branch hanging over a small lake - were gone. New houses are there now. Shops I used to haunt are no longer there. A tiny sweets shop on a corner on Station Road is now a house next to a car showroom.
I knew almost everyone in Tiptree when I was a kid, thanks to Mum's involvement with the WI, but when I visited that time, I didn't recognise anyone. It was a bit unnerving, but such is life.
English is not a minority language.
What I do find though, is that often, it is people like the guy making this statement, that generally have the worst standard of English.
I'll hazard a guess. The same reason its usually used , a lack of argument comment intended as a smart(lol) insult. Of course it swings from left to right according to chosen agendas. I've probably been accused of left right and anything else slopping around in politics.
Some old fashioned folk may say that they like to read posts from English people who claim to love the language so much to be able to use words that sound the same but are spelt differently in the correct context.
This poorly constructed post perfectly illustrates the point I was making in my last post...
I think this may the case for *some* areas of a few towns/cities, but let's not get hyperbolic about this. The *vast* amount of people talking to one another in this country are using English as their mother tongue (or at least the approximation that seems to pass for it these days....innit).
I suspect, Mr Stamp has only noticed it because you tend to aurally pick up on foreign languages being spoken by people around you, whilst English being spoken tends not to register.
They try to get you to buy unnecessary software, expensive extended warranties and mung beans to munch on as you browse the Amnesty International website.
Good one!
We run a small business and I also have to visit hospitals a lot and theres no doubt whatsever that it is often very difficult to understand people from overseas - especially from India and Pakistan etc. Its not just the language but their often strange pronunciation.
Hope this doesnt get pulled as the the mods dont like factual statements involving non-English.
Saucy.
Conversely, I often find the opposite.
Those educated outside of the U.K, generally tend to have a higher standard of language than those educated in the U.K.
The same can be said about not being able to easily understand regional accents throughout the UK. No big deal really but some folk make it an issue for some reason to vilify foreigners.
I have lived in London all my life, White, British (not a racist one though
The other folk in this flat share are a young married couple from Sri Lanka (in one room, A Young lady from Lithuania, a young lady from Portugal, and two French African (?) ladies (not sure but they are very quiet, and seem to have a French influenced African accent, they haven't told me where they are from).
I am they only one who speaks English as my first language, and find myself having to explain what I am saying a lot, especially my occasional attempts at humour.
I have only recently moved in, and they do all seem like nice people, but no one really mixes, probably because of the language thing.
I guess I do feel a bit like Stamp on this. Say twenty, thirty years ago a similar flat share would have contained maybe some Scots, some Irish, etc, but at least English would be their first language.
I don't really have anyone to talk to here (sad face).
I'm 62 years old; born and grew up in inner city Birmingham; have lived in London (both north and south of the river), Newcastle Upon Tyne, west Oxfordshire, Reading and Nottinghamshire, and the only time I feel like an outsider is when I read posts like this.