In case that really threatens we Germans just make a Muttersprachenschutzgesetz and require 2 hours of spoken German per day from everyone.
But yes, it often happens that you have everyone speaking English (at least at university or technical fields meetings) if there is one who isn't fluent in German.
Stil there is a huge gap between... lets say pre-internet folks and the rest. After all if you have no need to use a language, you forget it, even if you had it in school.
Me and my husband were in a conference, actually in Berlin. We met a fellow scientist from Finland and talked with him in Finnish. Then a non-Finn joined the conversation and we switched to English. When he left we continued our conversation with the Finn. After a while he asked, why we are speaking English. After living abroad so long, I don't always realize which language I am speaking anymore. Goor or bad.
Sounds familiar xD I often talk English with my friend and it gets really funny, when someone joins and then we're having a conversation, where someone asks in English and another one answers in German.
Hopefully German won't die off as a language.
ReplyDeleteIn case that really threatens we Germans just make a Muttersprachenschutzgesetz and require 2 hours of spoken German per day from everyone.
DeleteBut yes, it often happens that you have everyone speaking English (at least at university or technical fields meetings) if there is one who isn't fluent in German.
Stil there is a huge gap between... lets say pre-internet folks and the rest. After all if you have no need to use a language, you forget it, even if you had it in school.
Me and my husband were in a conference, actually in Berlin. We met a fellow scientist from Finland and talked with him in Finnish. Then a non-Finn joined the conversation and we switched to English. When he left we continued our conversation with the Finn. After a while he asked, why we are speaking English. After living abroad so long, I don't always realize which language I am speaking anymore. Goor or bad.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's a good thing. It's becoming a language soup inside your brain.
DeleteSounds familiar xD
ReplyDeleteI often talk English with my friend and it gets really funny, when someone joins and then we're having a conversation, where someone asks in English and another one answers in German.