Why speak English??
By revdauphinee
@revdauphinee (5703)
United States
October 12, 2007 6:32pm CST
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S, English, Canadian, Australian and French Navy's. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a
large group of officers that included personnel from most of the countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages,
Americans learn only English. He then asked "Why is it that we always have to
speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied "Maybe it's because the Brits,
Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop.
3 people like this
7 responses
@girtsmomma (297)
• United States
14 Oct 07
WE need that American Admiral, My he can figure out a way to keep us from having to speak mexican.
1 person likes this
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
23 Oct 07
Is this true? It is great! Can you fill us in more on the details?
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
13 Oct 07
I like that... it was straight, to the point, and completely true.
You can bet he will never ask that particular question again.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
23 Oct 07
English has borrowed from many languages, and it is now the language of business and commerce. Besides America was settled mostly by English speaking people, and by the time, the non=English speaking immigrants came to America, there were more English speakers around, that they had to learn to speak English to get along. It is only in certain areas, that they speak their own language.
However when Castro drove all those Cubans out, Florida had a whole influx of Spanish speaking people and when many illegals crossed over into Texas, California, and New Mexico then Spanish became almost a second language.
In Europe, you have countries with people speaking different languages and dialects, so in order to go to France, you have to speak French, in the Netherlands, you have to speak Dutch, in Polish, you have to speak Polish, etc. so in order to go all through Europe, you need to know several langauges.
@nesher (237)
• United States
15 Oct 07
Nice story you got. This Admiral found a valid reply to the very controversial issue. Actually, everything dictates and international market. If it pays off to know English, more people will speak English, if tomorrow it will be more profitable to learn Chinese or Hindu, more people will speak these languages.
