Bob, at 19:15 on May 15 1995, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> What part of Europe though? I'd expect the EEC countries to be
BG> teaching English, but not the (ex) Soviet Union, nor much of
BG> Scandinavia either. 

BL> You're wrong about Scandinavia, Bill... Sweden and Denmark learn
BL> English AND German at school. I don't know about Finland and 
BL> Norway. Most Dutch speak awful English too.

Fuck this, I'm just about ready to give up!  You'd all have us believing
that just about everybody in Europe learns English as a matter of course
(and in some countries, perhaps they do), but apart from the major
capitals, dad (who toured Europe last year) was amazed at the numbers who
were unable to speak even the most basic of English in virtually every
major city he visited.

BL> It's ironic that Germany and France are the dominant nations in
BL> Europe, but everyone speaks English.

Not in either Germany OR France, Bob.  My stupid brother and his wife
toured through France (on bloody bicycles, would you believe!), and in some
of the smaller southern villages, he reckons that nary a soul spoke
English.  This was around 10 years ago, but I doubt things have changed too
much since then.

BL> I have dealt with Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, and now Chinese, 
BL> and the astounding part is that Chinese send FAXs in *perfect* 
BL> colloquial English, and the ones they let use the telephone have 
BL> good accents.

Those that have to deal internationally, sure.  I'll bet that not too many
others do though, especially away from the major centres.

BL> I would have argued with Paul about the 20% too, but it explains 
BL> the good English.

Dunno, I'm nowhere near convinced.

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

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