Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

[Koyaanisqatsi]

More specifically, people who live somewhere where English isn't the primary language.

Basically, I'm just looking for the effects of having multiple languages/dialects in other countries. It's just an introductory linguistics class, so there's nothing heavy involved:

• What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?
  
  In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)
  
  In areas where there is more than one primary language, are there advantages to speaking one language over another? If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?
  
  For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)
  
  Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?

I'd really appreciate it if a few people would be willing to answer some of these questions for me. Like I said, I don't really need anything in depth, but I may ask a few more questions based on answers to these.

[alva]

What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?

Belgium:
Country is divided in 2 major regions ( actually 3 but I going to drop that one)

North (Flanders):
Older generation: Flemish(native), french(fluently), English(getting by-ish), German (understanding)
younger generation: Flemish(native), English(fluently), French(getting by-ish)

South (Walloon(sp?): French(native)

French used to be teh language not that long ago, spoken by the rich and the church and was forced even in flemish schools.

In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)

See above

In areas where there is more than one primary language, are there advantages to speaking one language over another? If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?

English: bussiness and miscellaneous
French : bussiness

For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)

....

Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?

When I was little I had an English friend, after that I started fooling around with computers. Then of course there's music and movies..blah blah blah.
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I'm don't know how your questions will play out for others, but in our situation, they overlap each other qute alot.

[Spiffor]

Re: Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

Originally posted by dv8ed
What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?

Only French is commonly spoken. France has a strong tradition of language centralization, and there was a great effort to destroy the many local languages one century ago. The policy has been extremely successful, as pretty much nobody uses a local language in ordinary discussions anymore.

In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)

N/A

In areas where there is more than one primary language, are there advantages to speaking one language over another? If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?

N/A

For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)

Many immigrants speak their native languages at home, and French at work. Their children learn French at school, very efficiently so. English (or rather Franglais) is the standard fare in several managerial and computer jobs.

Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?

I learned English from computer games, fairly automatically. Also, everybody in junior high learns English (either as first or second foreign language). English is seen here as a useful skill for many jobs (there are quite a few private English schools for adults, that advertize how useful English can be in a company), and it is a hip language among the youth in highschool.

[Urban Ranger]

Re: Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

Originally posted by dv8ed
What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?

Cantonese, Mandarin and English. It appears that some people think that sprinkling English words in an otherwise Chinese sentence makes them superior. In actuality, it just means they suck at both.

Originally posted by dv8ed
In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)

We are just a city

Almost everybody speaks Cantonese. Visitors and new immigrants from the PRC speak Mandarin. The foreigners, domestic helpers, and random people speak English.

Originally posted by dv8ed
If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?

If you speak French in front of a local who thinks speaking in English makes him (or her) superior (and not because of out of need), you can make them feel inferior.

Originally posted by dv8ed
For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)

Cantonese - almost everybody
English - evil furriner
Madarin - evil Mainlander

Originally posted by dv8ed
Why did you learn English?

Most schools (including primary schools) teach English, just because our overlords were the Brits

Originally posted by dv8ed
What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are?

Most locals can't speak English well, that's including the graduates from local universities (why, they don't even know "astronaut"...). Unfortunately this also applies to most graduates coming back from foreign countries (Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, etc.)

Originally posted by dv8ed
Has the current political climate changed that at all?

The tide is a-changin', since the new overlords speak Mandarin

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by alva
French used to be teh language not that long ago

is that intentional or just a slip?

[Pekka]

for finland.

"What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?"

Besides Finnish.. Swedish. (and sure English). Finnish and Swedish are both official languages of this country. However Finnish is THE language.

"In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)"

Everyone speaks Finnish, Swedish speaking Finns likes to use Swedish as their primary language (swedish speaking finns meaning 'finland's swedes' meaning finns who have swedish origins but they are finns 100%) SOMETIMES. Not all of them, but some do. Swedish is mandatory for everyone in school, so everyone should be able to speak swedisdh as well, but that's not .. realistic. Many people DO speak swedish, but most are just not that good at it. Like me for example,I do understand swedish, I read the swedish newspapers no problem, but it's difficult for me to speak swedish correctly, even though I manage pretty easily.

Like swedish, english is mandatory also. English in fact most often becomes a mandatory subject for student before swedish does. Maybe in 3rd grade? Not sure... I think it was 3rd or 4th grade, and you start your english studies. Swedish for me came in the 7th grade.

Most people speaks english in here, so if you are a lazy bastard like most of you are and never bother to learn another language or few words, you will be just fine in here. You don't have to start speaking SLOWLY and LOUD and with BAD english, we can understand you thank you. YOu just make yourself look stupid.

There is an exception to the rule, some old people don't necessarily speak english. But as a rule, you can stop anyone who walks by you and they should be able to speak english at least averagely.

"For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)"

Not sure what you're trying to ask here, but in here, it's never wrong if you go with finnish. HOWEVER there are areas where you should use swedish if you can. And in fact in Ã…land, the little Quebec of Finland, they might actually reject you if you speak finnish even though they speak finnish as well. THey are angry at the 'mainlanders' and have their own little ***** club going on. Every kid has a right to go to a) finnish speaking school or b)swedish speaking school. In real life, you can also go to russian speaking, and other language speaking school, if you live in a city, then you should have no problems with any schools, german speaking etc. But these little ***** Ã…landers, who wants to be swedish but REAL swedes don't even bother to think about them losers, I don't even think they'd take their sorry butts anymore. And we have started hating them too, because they are kind of an autonomy, they have their own flag etc etc, they don't have to go to army even though they are finns etc. All kinds of special rules so they won't break a nail and have to sweat. All they do is crap on us, hate us and be racists on us and our children and never providing them nothing in there except culture of hatred and hybrid gayness, but do they take OUR tax money to run their little ****ing POS island? Yes they do. Because they can't do anything, except be racists. That's what they are. You hear me Ã…lander pussies? Any of you read this, I wouldn't lose a sleep if we would ever bomb you the hell out of this planet. I hope your island sinks, and I officially do not protect you if anything should happen. You're OUT! Except the pretty girls.

" Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?
"

Because I had to. General situation, everyone speaks. Current political climate changed..? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you seriously asking if the war in Iraq has changed the popularity to speak english? if I understood correctly, get the hell over yourselves. Then again if I misunderstood the question, then the question still sucks, the ability to speak english and study in here has nothing to do with your little puny politics.

Did my answers satisfy your needs?

[Solver]

Latvia.

What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?

Latvian and Russian are by far the most spoken languages. Latvian is the official state language, and Russian is a no-brainer because Latvia was a USSR country. Generally, it's considered great for a person to speak both. Some do look unkindly at those who only speak Russian and are unwilling to learn Latvian. Ethnic Latvians mostly believe everyone should speak Latvian to at least some degree, while many ethnic Russians don't want to speak Latvian and insist on only using Russian. The disagreement in language politics and specifically about the use of languages in school edcuation has been a problem here for some time.

In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)

Ethnicity and age are the two most important factors. Ethnic Russians all speak Russian. Ethnic Latvians speak Latvian. Other minority ethnicities (Germans, Poles, Jews, Ukrainians) usually speak Russian. Pretty much everyone over the age of 20 speaks Russian, regardless of ethnicity. At least one half of ethnic Russians have learnt Latvian and speak it well, the majority of Russians can speak Latvian to some degree, and a group of ethnic Russians refuses to learn/speak Latvian at all. The over-20 ethnic Latvians, as said, speak Russian, and younger ethnic Latvians usually speak Russian, too, because it's taught in almost every school, and because they also often have contact with Russians. In fact, it might be that more people are able to speak Russian than Latvian here, but I can't back that up or be certain.
In the recent years, an increasing number of people speak English. English is studied as a foreign language in all schools now, but the quality of teaching of English is somewhat lacking. Still, most aged between 17 and 25 can understand English well. Generally, English is now a requirement of employement in many jobs. It is notable that the vast majority of those with IT-related education/jobs/hobbies have a far better knowledge of English than average, largely, of course, because of the Internet and computers being in English. Among older people, English knowledge is generally worse, as most have not really known it in Soviet times. Many of these people haven't started learning English now, either, and are only able to communicate on the very basic level, if at all. However, there is a trend towards more people learning English.

In areas where there is more than one primary language, are there advantages to speaking one language over another? If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?

Latvian is the official language, so you may be refused service in state institutions unless you speak it, theoretically. Practically, all official documents must be in Latvian. In everyday life, most people speak the language they're more comfortable with. Although most people here speak both Latvian and Russian, the vast majority is definitely more comfortable with one of those (as usually one is the person's native language and the other is learnt later). There is a number of persons equally comfortable in both, however, and their choice of language will be based on the persons they're talking to.
English is now being taught as a second language in Latvian schools. The importance of Russian is being decreased, and in schools, more attention is paid to English. In Russian minority schools, both Latvian and English are taught, with somewhat equal attention to both, but generally higher standards in Latvian are expected.

For what situations is one language appropriate or not? (Education, family, home, work, etc.)

At home and with your family, obviously, you can speak whatever you like. If you work in a government institution, you should speak Latvian, unless perhaps conversing informally. Documents in Latvian. Interestingly, when requesting services (at a supermarket, medical institution, entertainment park, whatever), you will usually be understood in both Latvian and Russian. However, there's a notable trend where younger employees are able to understand Russian worse, and sometimes worse than English.

Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?

My primary motivations for learning English were the Internet and computers, and English literature. I do now use English a lot. People are learning English here now, as I've mentioned previously, but the general level does still not seem very good. This especially applies to English lessons in school, and getting good English teachers is one of the current problems of our education system. That is because older teachers are typically not good English speakers, usually having a level sufficient for communication, but not sufficient for quality teachers. However, younger people with good English and highest education (which is required to work as a teacher) typically have far better employment options than to be a teacher in school, as teachers receive very low pay for their work here.

[Atahualpa]

Follow the link in my sig...

[Koyaanisqatsi]

To all who replied: Thank you very much! You're saving my butt.

I'm going to split followups into seperate messages for each person.

Alva:

French used to be teh language not that long ago, spoken by the rich and the church and was forced even in flemish schools.

Why did this change?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Re: Re: Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

Spiffor:

Only French is commonly spoken. France has a strong tradition of language centralization, and there was a great effort to destroy the many local languages one century ago. The policy has been extremely successful, as pretty much nobody uses a local language in ordinary discussions anymore.

Are they still known, though? Obviously, if they aren't used in everyday life, they aren't going to be nearly as widespread or known as well by anybody who does understand them, but do any of these languages seem to persist as second/third/fourth languages?

I learned English from computer games, fairly automatically. Also, everybody in junior high learns English (either as first or second foreign language). English is seen here as a useful skill for many jobs (there are quite a few private English schools for adults, that advertize how useful English can be in a company), and it is a hip language among the youth in highschool.

I could guess from some news stories I've seen lately about French cultural protectionism (though I don't know how widespread this actually is compared to the media attention a few cases get), but how has English being hip gone over with the powers that be?

[alva]

The Flemish demanded this to change, we nearly came to civil war a couple of times.
The reason we were able to change it, is that we were no longer the poor, easy targets.
The big change actually started after and during the may '68 riots/revolution (Spiff can tell you more about that than I can)

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Re: Re: Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

UR:

Almost everybody speaks Cantonese. Visitors and new immigrants from the PRC speak Mandarin. The foreigners, domestic helpers, and random people speak English.

Do enough people speak Mandarin or English (well) that visitors can get by, or do they have to assimilate pretty quickly?

Most schools (including primary schools) teach English, just because our overlords were the Brits

Still? Is this being phased out at all?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Pekka:

Every kid has a right to go to a) finnish speaking school or b)swedish speaking school. In real life, you can also go to russian speaking, and other language speaking school, if you live in a city, then you should have no problems with any schools, german speaking etc.

Random question just because I'm curious: Do people generally just use alternative language schools because that's the language they know, or do some people go to different schools to help them assimilate a language they're trying to learn?

Because I had to. General situation, everyone speaks. Current political climate changed..? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you seriously asking if the war in Iraq has changed the popularity to speak english? if I understood correctly, get the hell over yourselves. Then again if I misunderstood the question, then the question still sucks, the ability to speak english and study in here has nothing to do with your little puny politics.

Actually, I suspect that's the response the instructor was expecting, having listened to her all semester. But she emphasized asking about that sort of thing, probably because she expected us to talk to someone from the (vanishingly small) foreign population on campus, which is about 30-40% Arab (no, I don't know why.)

Did my answers satisfy your needs?

Helped quite a bit, thanks.

[Eli]

Re: Multi-linguals: please help dv8ed with his paper! (survey)

What languages are commonly spoken in your country? Do any of them hold overt or implied prestige over the others?

Hebrew and Arabic. With Hebrew being the obviously dominant language.
Most Arab speakers understand and talk Hebrew though.

English is widely understood, at least on a basic level.

In general, who speaks which languages? (looking at social factors-education level, age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, geographic region, etc.)

The Jews speak Hebrew and the language of the country they(or often, their parents) came from to Israel.
The Arabs speak Arabic and Hebrew.

English is somehow understood by most people. The higher the social status the better, and younger people speak English much better than their parents. Mainly thanks to the predominance of English speaking TV shows on Israeli TV.

In areas where there is more than one primary language, are there advantages to speaking one language over another? If most people know more than one language, what are the deciding factors for which second+ language you learn?

Hebrew has the advantage pretty much everywhere.

Why did you learn English? What is the general situation of English (and people who speak it) where you are? Has the current political climate changed that at all?

English is taught pretty much from first to last grade. The TV has it's huge influence with the younger generation and obviously computer games. For the rest, see above.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Solver:

Some do look unkindly at those who only speak Russian and are unwilling to learn Latvian. Ethnic Latvians mostly believe everyone should speak Latvian to at least some degree, while many ethnic Russians don't want to speak Latvian and insist on only using Russian. The disagreement in language politics and specifically about the use of languages in school edcuation has been a problem here for some time.

Is this an issue in and of itself, or is it more of a smaller battlefront in a larger cultural war? I don't know enough about the ethinc makeup of Latvia to know what's going on, but is it largely just a holdover from the Soviet era, or is there a large enough ethnic Russian population that this is going to be an ongoing issue? I know you said later that Russian was in decline, but is there a block that will keep it as a primary language over generations, even though the official language is Latvian?

In Russian minority schools, both Latvian and English are taught, with somewhat equal attention to both, but generally higher standards in Latvian are expected.

Is this because they actually want to teach Latvian, or is it an just expectation of the government that is being followed (grudgingly or willingly)?

If you work in a government institution, you should speak Latvian, unless perhaps conversing informally. Documents in Latvian.

While people in government should speak Latvian, has there been any sort of effort to also ensure that they speak Russian as well, just as a matter of pragmatism?