AMA: Living in Spain

[davidI]

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How is chauvinism a bad thing exactly? You are a man, aren't you?

I'm a man, not an asshole.

[davidI]

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Living in Germany as a kid, I was pretty sheltered. English pretty much wherever I went. My mum speaks German and my dad speaks French, so we were rarely if ever unable to communicate as a family. I didn't spend much time in Spain when I was a kid, though.

After travelling more as an adult in Europe, I've come to a conclusion: German people prefer to speak english to you. French people can often speak English, but just pretend they can't. Spanish people just can't speak English.

I feel like this image is relevant to the language discussion:

139077990_3827141727329547_5160173960013556693_n.jpg

[ExtraSlow]

There's an error in that map in the region circled in pink.
139077990_3827141727329547_5160173960013556693_n~2.jpg

[Gainsbarre]

I've always found the English Proficiency Index an interesting read: https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/

I totally agree with the countries in the "very high" ranking. Some of the other countries I'd switch around a bit. For instance, from my travels I'd have to knock Russia and Brazil a category lower - Russia in the moderate category seems absurd. Vietnam, Thailand and Ecuador seem a bit low on the list to me.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Pardon the interruption, but this was GOLD back in the Grand Theft Auto days.


Caller: "Lazlow man, I...I was listening to that English wimp you were talking to earlier, I mean, do these guys realize how wussy they sound?! I mean, th..they have the nerve to call 'crackers' 'biscuits!' And they say 'al-u-min-ium,' instead of 'aluminum.'
I mean...what's up with that!? They all think they sound so smart
with their little funny accents, I mean...I got something for
'em...SPEAK ENGLISH, YA LIMEY MORONS!!"

Lazlow: "Well you know..I think they were speaking English before we
were! Th..the people over here were speaking Shoshone and Cherokee!"

Caller: "Man, Cherokee-shmerokee, man! A..and another thing! What's up with them calling 'soccer' 'football?!' Man

[davidI]

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I've always found the English Proficiency Index an interesting read: https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/

I totally agree with the countries in the "very high" ranking. Some of the other countries I'd switch around a bit. For instance, from my travels I'd have to knock Russia and Brazil a category lower - Russia in the moderate category seems absurd. Vietnam, Thailand and Ecuador seem a bit low on the list to me.

Yea, it's quite interesting. I haven't travelled Russia or Brazil but have recently met a lot more Russian travelers with an exceptional level of English which suprised me. I would still think their rating would be Low though.

The thing with places like Thailand, Vietnam, and Ecuador is you need to consider all of the rural population. Sure, they speak English in tourists areas, but not off the beaten track. In Ecuador, we sometimes couldn't even communicate in Spanish!

[Kobe]

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Yea, it's quite interesting. I haven't travelled Russia or Brazil but have recently met a lot more Russian travelers with an exceptional level of English which suprised me. I would still think their rating would be Low though.

The thing with places like Thailand, Vietnam, and Ecuador is you need to consider all of the rural population. Sure, they speak English in tourists areas, but not off the beaten track. In Ecuador, we sometimes couldn't even communicate in Spanish!

Damn it tried to send and clicked "post Quick Reply" by mistake and deleted my post.

I agree I know about 20 Russians born and raised there, and only 2 of them speak English without using a translator. They both took English courses privately as well it's the only reason they can speak it, even people I meet traveling in Europe most of them didn't speak much English.

Thoughts on the Euro? Do you think it makes a big difference for people living there? I know in countries like Poland it would be a disaster for them they say if they implemented the Euro.

Ever get to see a football match? The energy from the fans is insane, prob the most energetic fans from when I got to see Euro2012 and Spain play.

Edit: Just remembered a mutual friend of ours (I think you know Jon from Merica' taught English there like 4-5 years ago) ever consider doing? I think it would actually be pretty fun.

[davidI]

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Damn it tried to send and clicked "post Quick Reply" by mistake and deleted my post.

I agree I know about 20 Russians born and raised there, and only 2 of them speak English without using a translator. They both took English courses privately as well it's the only reason they can speak it, even people I meet traveling in Europe most of them didn't speak much English.

Thoughts on the Euro? Do you think it makes a big difference for people living there? I know in countries like Poland it would be a disaster for them they say if they implemented the Euro.

Ever get to see a football match? The energy from the fans is insane, prob the most energetic fans from when I got to see Euro2012 and Spain play.

Edit: Just remembered a mutual friend of ours (I think you know Jon from Merica' taught English there like 4-5 years ago) ever consider doing? I think it would actually be pretty fun.

The Euro helps Germany more than Spain. At the same time, the government would be even more reckless with its budgets and probably bankrupt itself without oversight. I don't think the currency is as much of a problem as the socialist mentality and bureaucracy here.

I've been to a Real Madrid vs. Lyon game down in the 4th row (saw Ronaldo corner from 25M away) but honestly, other than the good looking security gals, it was pretty lame. I'm not into all of the flopping in football. The only good match I've been to was in Belgrade and that's because it was absolute chaos - the stadium was legit on fire when we left the game and something like 2500 police in riot gear and helicopters to make sure the fans didn't kill each other.

Yea, I remember 'Merica Jon. I don't have much interest in teaching English, though I may look into running wine tours in English or starting a whisky tasting event in English.