Future foreign minister Westerwelle refuses to answer English question

And what makes this so news worthy? Would a Latino reporter expect President Obama to respond only in Spanish to a question poised to him? Or, how about Secretary of State Clinton, being asked by a Russian reporter on her views of the Iranian nuclear question, but to respond only in Russian?

Must be an early attempt to discredit the new foreign minister. At least he offered to meet the reporter afterwards to discuss the question further. At least give him credit for that.

The Local muckraker?

yeah, would Gordon Brown take a question in German?

Guido as party leader trying to clown around and get attention while his party is deep in the woods of the opposition might be willing to chat in English here and there but no national politician is going to speak in a foreign language at a press conference. duh. behind closed doors sure but not when put on the spot like that. When I saw it on TV I thought the silly Beeb reporter was being kind of ass.

Imagine the minister foreign affairs been asked a question in German or French in London, it just wouldn't happen...silly berk that BBC journalist

Mr. Westerwelle doesn´t seem to have much of a problem with speaking in a foreign language at a (press ?) conference:

ELDR Conference: Guido Westerwelle

Awful man how dare he not answer in English lets all boycott Germany...oh wait

To be fair, this is in a lot of German headlines too. Perhaps he saw the UK press articles yesterday with derogatory remarks about his "ostentatious attempts to learn English" (but fair's, fair, we Brits are known for being master multi-linguists and thus have the luxury of bieng sarcastic about anyone else who is only "trying").

Still, fair play to the guy for having a good go at nailing the "I can go where I want and speak to whoever I want - even to a guy who is overnight one of Europe's key politicians - and they should speak English because I want them to" conceit.

While I agree with most of the above comments, whats so wrong about answering a question in a different lang. If the person being asked know the lang.

With English being one of the major 2nd/3rd languages, what would it have hurt to answer in English. I'm sure all the other German reporters would have understood

what was being asked/said anyway.

As for the Obama/Spanish comment, he does speak Spanish, and has answered questions in Spanish when asked. Whats the big deal.. If you speak/understand

the lang. then use it.

It's the good old "you're in Germany, use the language" topic.

Perhaps, but the guy is the Foreign Affairs Minister. What would it have hurt to just answer the question.

The time used to berate the reporter could have been used to just answer the question. If he had, then

there would be no headlines.

He'll be the foreign minister (and vice chancellor) and can barely communicate in english. That's why he refused to answer.

I've never heard Angie speak in English (although I'm pretty sure she can) it hasn't been a problem for her. So what's the big deal?

From what I heard, his spoken english isnt very good. As a german and although Im a long time Guido hater, I have to say, this is the first time I actually feel sympathy for the guy. I can understand that - on the day of his biggest triumph - he didnt want to get embarrassed in front of tv cameras. Especially if you have to suspect, the reporter did it on purpose.

From my point of view he just has qualified himself as the future foreign minister. After all he is supposed to represent germany. Everyone knows we are rude and arrogant. So he´s a perfect fit.

I like your style Freising

Considering that English is a Germanic language (from the Indo-German and Indo-European family), perhaps the BBC reporter should learn to speak in the 'mother' of his mother tongue, especially when in the Anglo-Saxon Fatherland ;-)

She speaks Russian ... and Putin speaks German

Since English is the International language adopted by several hundred Countries, and the official language of the United Nations it's reasonable for Foriegn Reporters in a Foreign land to use the International standard. What happened at that news conference was embarrassing.

The Reporter needed to do what he did AND inform the Press of the International Standard period! Just because he is a Native Englisch speaker does not give the Speaker license to ridicule. The analogy does not work anywhere in any other country but Native Englisch countries.

The FDP showed their Ass first day into the next 4 interesting anti-immigrant filled years...

So what? She does business with plenty of countries besides Russia and copes just fine. So I don't see how it is a problem for Westerwelle to not want to speak in English.

He was perfectly right not to respond in English, especially with the media. You will note that even with foreign dignitaries who can speak English, when confronted with the press, they prefer to speak in their native language. A public official must be careful what he/she says, and switching to another language can cause confusion and misrepresentation of what was intended.

It was a German news conference and the language is German.

If this is a problem, I suggest a German reporter pose a question, in German, to Obama or Brown at their next news conference. Do you think they will respond in German?

And what does a German Reporter resort to when in a Foreign Land that is not a Native Englisch speaking land do?

They frame their question in Englisch, like everyone else in the room if they do not have an interpreter.

Again your argument is true only in English speaking lands, all other lands use English too as a form of communication among the Press in news conferences.

The anti-immigrant sentiments of the T(r)ight wing politicians could in the very least be covered up with diplomacy...

As to the behavior of the Reporter, everyone knows in Germany that ALL official business is ALWAYS done in German. He merely wanted to Goat the Speaker and solicite a reaction. He got what he wanted, he was an Ass for his cheap shot.

Our soon-to-be foreign Minister had an opportunity to conduct himself with dignity or take it personally and react, he blew it. I am sure he will review himself and present a more level handed image in the future. Even though his feelings have been elicited and his true colors revealed, he will recover his image.

Whether he speaks English or not is the least of his problems as Foreign Minister. That he is openly gay may not go over well in many, many African and Middle Eastern countries. How is he going to negotiate with people who think he should be stoned to death?

True but stuff them. If certain countries want to chuck a hissy they will just show themselves up for the backward bigots they are. He is Germany's new foreign minister (well he will be) so tough luck. If we make concessions to bigots who don't want to deal with a gay bloke that makes us little better than them.

"As to the behavior of the Reporter, everyone knows in Germany that ALL official business is ALWAYS done in German."

Actually, not. Many of my students work for German companies where the internal and external communication language is English. Oh, and you don't "goat" a speaker, you "goad" them.

Be that as it may - I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect a future Foreign Minister to be able to speak such an important trade language as English. And I'm sure the journalist wasn't being a berk or an ass, just naturally expecting the Minister to be able to respond in kind.

And as for the discussion above about leaders speaking languages, the Australian Prime Minster, Kevin Rudd, speaks fluent Mandarin.

Oh, and Angie does speak English, and very competently too.

Maybe this is all so exciting because of this sense that "in German we speak German". Well, derr. But on the international stage it's quite a different matter. And let's not forget the six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Westerwelle should be lucky he was only asked a question in English!

Since the German foreign minister is usually the leader of the junior coalition partner, it's clear that the ability to speak English or other foreign languages is irrelevant to getting the position. For high level matters, you will always need translators anyway.

PM Rudd speaks Mandarin because he was a diplomat posted to China. That also means he has strong foreign language learning capabilities since Manadarin is very difficult for native English speakers. Not everyone has strong foreign language capabilities.

As for DK's claim that Obama speaks Spanish and has answered questions in Spanish in public, that's news to me, and I frankly doubt it. If Hillary Clinton could hold a news conference in a foreign language, it would be news to me as well. Of course, Madeline Albright and Condoleeza Rice did have that level of ability.

A lot of politicians who speak a foreign language competently still use a professional interpreter as you can quite easily get the nuances of the foreign language wrong. (The interpreter has the additional advantage that if the other politician seems to consider a statement to be completely out of line the interpreter can be blamed for making a mistake.)

I really hope that they abandon that silly tradition of handing the office of foreign minister to the coalition partner. It may be a nice job for the person in office but it is completely useless for advancing a political agenda. The ministers of the Interior, Finance, Justice and several others are far more important on the national and even on the European stage.

I find this whole discussion interesting, but mainly because it relates to my own experiences.

My German is marginal at best, although I'm trying to improve. When I'm in the country, I try to use it when I can, but a lot of what I need isn't in the typical vocabulary of "conversational German" courses. So, I try to politely ask if the person speak English. Almost without exception, they do, and their English is far better than my German.

The one exception to this was at the archiv in Berlin. There was a wonderful woman there who spoke English and was more than willing to assist me. However, she was the receptionist. When I went to the department to ask for the documents I needed, the man refused to even work with me, and although I filled out the paperwork in German, I never heard back. When I asked if the woman might help by translating, he stormed off.

In my case, officials can be "official" if it suits them.

Should he have answered the question? It depends. He could have, and most people would have cut him some slack if his English isn't perfect. Clearly his proposed position would be enhanced by knowing the language, but that's not an absolute requirement I suspect. In the end, it's a tempest in a tea cup.

He's not (or will be) the foreign minister because of his amazing language skills but because it's traditionally the second minister after the chancellor so it's always the head of the coalition partner.

Simple as that.

So I'm not really sure what the reporter tried to achieve, would kind of expect that from someone from the Sun but not really from the bbc.

Well , Thats a typical German Depp, English is the international language of the world. They only wanted the world to HEAR him, Not hear what such an Idiot he is...

There's a difference between speaking a foreign language and speaking a foreign language well enough to give an impromptu answer to a question about global politics in front of millions of viewers. This is a no-brainer, isn't it?

I think if a british correspondent is sent to a Deutsch press conference,

he should be able to present his questions in german, since sometimes there are a lot of people there who don't speak english anyway!

Just so you know, the official language of the United Nations is not English, they have 6 official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. German is not one of them, but still, the guy is celebrating his victory, he's not that good in English and he didn't want to be embarassed... it's not so bad. No BBC reporter would go to France and ask a question in English like that I'm pretty sure, they would send a correspondent speaking French, so why not do the same here?

To auniquecorn, and Edmond Schindler-- would you please stop bloviating about how English is "the international language" or "the official language" (of what, isn't entirely clear). I'm American myself and it's undoubtedly a convenience to be able to use English in so many of my business travels, but there are many "international languages" throughout the world these days, of which English is just one. Chinese is already the most spoken language and growing as an international one (especially as pinyin and the Chinese characters are increasingly used alongside each other), French still has some cachet, and Spanish is of course a biggie anywhere, even Portuguese to an extent (given the use of Portuguese in Macao and East Timor as well as Brazil.)

And, yes, German IS an international language-- it's one of the most popular throughout East and South Asia, not only in China (where the business community often speaks it quite well) and its old strongholds in Korea and Japan, but increasingly in Vietnam, Thailand, even in India. (Germans and Austrians are now able to get contract work, instructing native Indian teachers or going to teach the language themselves.) Germany for now is more or less the center of green tech with a lot of the best innovation in it, and the core of the EU. Plus, the Asians love those German classical composers, philosophers and inventors-- a more traditional culture in that way. German's also big in South America (the German car companies alone are a big factor), and of course in Eastern Europe where it's a critical language.

For my own work in East Asia (solar panels and wind tech), the main language is increasingly Mandarin Chinese, for obvious reasons-- China's the main trading partner, has millennia of history with the countries in the region, and despite the authoritarianism they still have there, seems in the minds of many to have a more sustainable (and less rapacious to its own people) economic model than the USA, even giving recent emphasis to green tech and a health care safety net. 15 years ago, just about all the international conferences in the region were in English. Now, they're in a gaggle of languages but increasingly in Chinese-- even in places like Thailand, Korea, and Malaysia-- or occasionally in Japanese. (Fortunately for us Westerners, they've figured out how to put up their slides in pinyin rather than just the Chinese characters so it's not as scary to look at as before.)

Apparently Obama and Angie speak Spanish when they get together in the Casa Blanca.(-:

What a ridiculous incident. I'm no fan of Westerwelle, but he was completely in the right. What kind of point was the journalist even trying to make, demanding that a German politician speak to him in English? If you lack the language skills to properly conduct yourself, get out of the press conference. I'm sure there are plenty of qualified German-speaking journalists who could take your place.

To add to this-- I suspect English will be fine into the foreseeable future as a valuable international language, but as my country continues to shoot itself in the foot with blundering policies, the USA is losing the power we once had to attract the world. And unless we reverse course, the languages of other big national and international blocs (especially Chinese, Spanish, probably Hindi and German so long as they stay a global tech and innovation leader) will continue gain preponderance.

The nasty truth of the matter, is that the United States just isn't looked up to much anymore in the East Asian region in particular-- they increasingly see us as not only cruel to our own people (the health care mess is being followed by EVERYBODY these days) and overmilitarized, but also so overwhelmed by predatory and crony capitalism, and immigration levels that we truly can't handle, that our model is unsustainable for any country that wants to hold together. Foreign students from China and Korea who used to study in the USA, are balking these days with good reason-- they don't want to be forced into indentured servitude if they wind up sick and have to go to a US emergency room! Hopefully this will change soon, and if we can reform our system a little they'll restore some of their confidence-- but they need to see real results, and a more humane place overall, for our reputation to regain some of the luster that we need to attract them.

¦quot;We could meet for a fabulous tea outside of a press conference and then speak only English...but this is Germany here,¦quot;

He's making fun of the Englishman here because he feels embarrassed about his poor English.

Of course he should speak English. Regardless of whether or not he was given this position by default or not, he is still the Foreign Minister. eventually Germany has got to learn to get along with "Foreigners."

This arrogant response to his own inadequacy is so typical here (Germany) it's not surprising the world "loves" Germans.

I believe HE did the right thing. We should support any such demonstration of National Pride.

Who else will respect and promote you and your language if your people will not do it themselves.

Thank you for pointing this out again. :-) The BBC concurs with your opinion in its international survey:http://www.gtai.com/homepage/info-service/press-releases/press-releases-2008/mar-apr-08/bbc-survey/?backlink=Back%20to%20Press%20Releases%202008

He isn´t ...

A press conference about victory in a German election is aimed at the german people - not an international audience (even if he is the foreign secretary) - why shouldn't he want to limit it to speaking german.

He was speaking to the people who elected him. Foreign correspondents should have realised that.

As soon as he's appointed, the foreign office will put Westerwelle on language courses, exactly as they did it with all other foreign secretaries. Westerwelle probably has a better knowledge of English than many of his predecessors and he'll cope.

Still, if you don't feel utterly secure, answering questions of the press in a foreign language is risky. Better to remain silent and let people assume that you might be a fool, than to speak and remove all doubts.

So he's the Foreign Minister, so what. Do you expect him to speak all 6913 world languages?

Would you expect him to be able to answer a question asked in Urdu or Japanese?

It is not the job of a Foreign Minister to pander to the press of a foreign country but to represent his own country.

I was just thinking it might be rude to others present to answer in English.

Most of the press there were German and it would be difficult for them, if they didn't know English, to follow up with a question or even make the mistake of asking the same one that the BBC reporter did. Also maybe incite a lot of discussion there on what the translation of the question and answer were.

By the looks of it I think he weighed all the options and probably chose the option that would benefit everyone.

Yes he did the right thing by not answering in English. His English is not good, and he would be ridiculed. And as somebody already pointed out, majority of the people in the room were Germans. But...

"...but this is Germany here"

shows how un-charming and how un-diplomatic he is. He is playing the patriotic card, but patriotism is out (thanks to Bush). I wonder whether he will make a good foreign minister for Germany.

He will ... German foreign policy is determined by the chancellor (and the German Bundestag) and executed by the Federal Foreign Office

Do you know the different between germans and germany? Someone loves germany does not mean s/he likes germans.

I agree. Westerwelle can be quick-witted, but this reply could have been better worded. I would prefer him as minister of justice or the interior over foreign affairs.

No...... He just might be in a future coalition (that is not yet signed & sealed).Correct!Again no - the foreign minister is Herr Steinmeier

Ok so edit my post to read "He is going to be" or "So he is the Foreign Minister designate" or whatever will stick that split hair back together.

I don't think it's really a matter of him answering the question in English, German, Mandarin, or French fo rthat matter. I believe it had to do with his smarmy look and attitude about it. "Let's have a tea party sometime and talk in English" - What was that about? He could have said (through an interpreter if he wanted), "I would prefer that we speak in German" but instead he just ridiculed the guy. Both people were on the job and one of them was really acting like an a** to the other. He should get one of those FDP focus groups to help him with his people skills right away!

I heard an interview with Peer Steinbrück on the BBC - he speaks pretty good English and it was nice to hear him explaining the mysteries of German politics and economics to outsiders. Of course Westerwelle doesn't have to speak English in public, but it won't harm his international profile if he does it occasionally and in the right context...

Not that it is in any way relevant, but does Steinmeyer speak English? I've never heard him speaking anything other than German.

He does, but when he started the job he wasn't very good at it.

There were interpreters present. I still think he's a slimy git though! <shudder> he gives me the creeps and no mistake.

I thought it was quite amusing. A German with a sence of humour - what-ever next!!!

I'm a non-German-speaking New Yorker with an interest in Europe. I agree with #51: Mr. Westerwelle could have said something like, "This is a German press conference in Germany, and you should have asked the question in German, but I will answer in English as a courtesy." Thank you.

Serve the guy right. such a snobbish BBC reporter. Why didn't he ask Westerwelle in Deutsch? Or can he even speak any other language beside snobbish british slang? He was in Germany, reporting German news and was in Germany press conference. Chancelor Merkel almost always answers questions in Deutsch when she travels outside Germany eventhough she's fluent in english. the guy was just being ridiculous.

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's about time someone in a position of leadership in any one of our Western democracies put on his/her pants or lederhosen, for that matter, and said what had to be said. As long as Western democracies continue pandering to other Nations and cultures and fail to defend and reassert their own, they will continue the current precipitous decline which is leading nowhere but to the end of democracy and its ultimate replacement with fascist theocracy. The American novel "Up Dog Street" describes a satyrical example of how far we're going. In that instance, Miami, Florida's language is Spanish and the official State sport is dog fighting. Half the city names have been supplanted with Spanish versions and the politics is akin to that of Spain under Franco. Amen to cultural relativism.

I was unaware that immigration from the National Football League was a particular cultural concernDear God, no! Those immigrants, ruining our Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and San Francisco

By God, before you know it, they?ll ruin those All-American names like Chicago, Manchester, Berlin, and Milwaukee.

Okay, one should be aware of slippery slope and all that but I'm rather certain that answering questions in English instead of German isn't leading to an inevitable path to fascist theocracy.

By the way, I really like the city of Bismarck. Kind of surprising that the name survived two world wars without being changed to Freedomtown.

In my opinion every person has right to speak on his own mother language and to keep his identification in any conference.

It does not mean he/she is a nationalist or refuses an other language too.

But some people who have a broad minded and wanted to good communication all over the world prefers to speak in those languages, which he / she speaks practically in the daily life.

As a human being we should have to understand each other for bringing harmoney, peace, love, respect and good behaviours in a positive views.

Yours well wisher,

Mr.Azmi

Offenbach-Germany

This is the funniest thing I've read here in a long time. I wonder what were the name of those cities before ... The Angels? King Mount? Saint Hanna? Sacrament? The Drawer? Big House? Victory? Yellow?

I'm proud of him. I've never heard any other foreign minister being asked a question in a foreign language. I think Hillary Clinton would have a serious problem with English. And George W. Bush certainly did, and with logical thinking as well.

This has nothing to do with NZ's acting PM Bill English asking a question does it?

Westerwelle answered well. The English love a good cup of tea. Offering a stein would have been so obvious ... this is Germany here.

The man is genius.

I am so fed up of the English attitude toward Germans. It's as rabid as a form of racism and they don't seem to notice that or think anything is wrong with it. This was just another case of that attitude, with the BBC reporter copping an arrogant stance to embarrass this German minister. The BBC should have better trained professional staff to represent them at international news conferences. I don't know of any English or American leader that would be as competent in a foreign language as so many everyday Germans that I have met.

Tony Blair made a speech in French didn't he? He speaks it pretty well. So does the Queen.

German is pretty insignificant as an international language so it shouldn't really come as surprise that foreign correspondents don't speak it. That said, i think it was well within reason that he refused to answer in English.

On one hand, I wouldn't say this guy's 'tea' quip really amounted to him having a sense of humour, but his refusal to speak English was fair enough. British English is hard even for some natives of other English speaking countries to understand.

Why ask this man to speak another language, and possibly be misunderstood.

German is official language in five EU countries as well as in Switzerland (+Liechtenstein). There are more native speakers of German than of French or English in the EU. Therefore it happens to be a pretty significant language in Europe.

Perhaps the Beeb should reconsider its priorities if it can't cover an event like the German election with a couple of German speaking journalists, as the election was hardly a sudden and unexpected event.

Great answer Guido, especially in light of the decision in 2007 by some British school boards to take German and French off the curriculum in favour of "economically useful languages" like Mandarin and Urdu. In the meantime it has become obvious that if Tommy can't learn German he's not going to make much progress in Mandarin. On the brighter side there is a program called "Springboard to languages" which tries to create language awareness and competence through the medium of the international language Esperanto. http://www.springboard2languages.org/home.htm

wtf? Did you listen to him on the YouTube link on the first page? The guy's English is fine. He sounds pretty German, but that's probably cause he is.

Foreign affairs can be sensitive stuff. It is common practice for diplomats who might have excellent English, to use an interpreter in international conferences, to make quite sure that their meaning is not misconstrued. The only one who doesn't do this, to my knowledge, is Putin when speaking German, because his German is close to perfect - and I believe even he usually has an interpreter on hand.

It is the height of arrogance to field a question in a German news conference in English. It was quite correct of him to refuse to answer it. For some of you guys to accuse him of arrogance is rather hypocritical.

The arrogance of some English speakers knows no bounds.

Just jumping in here on the thread. You guys start talking about Nazis yet?

The guy is in his home country, giving a press conference in German. As other people pointed out, it's potentially dangerous to speak publicly in your non-mother tongue. Nuances could end up causing gaffes, and seeing as there's alot of media attention on this case - a perfectly normal situation - gaffes in this modern day assfuck known as "the media" are the last thing a person wants.

so good for Westerwelle. Although I found him to be a bit overboard. He could have said something in english to make light of it like "I just got the job, so I think for now I would prefer to answer in German."

He should have taken the opportunity to smile, answer the question in English, laugh a bit about his pronunciation, and then answer it again in German as well.

It could have been a funny, light-hearted moment, but this is Germany and self-deprecation equals death.

Happened quite often during the 2006 World Cup here in Germany.

What nobody has realized here , is that the Journalist of the BCC was trying to check the level of english that new Minister of Foreign Affairs has, nothing more... or may be the translator always brings a wall between the fluent communication between the new Minister and the Press. For me , Mr. Westerwelle needs a VERY GOOD Image consultant that can fix this stupid mistake. Because in the mind of all Germans and the rest of the world, at this moment , is that Westerwelle do not speak english , or more worst he got the image of an "intolenrant /sort of intelligent man" that he has been nominated as Foreign Affair Minister , Position , that doesnt fit in.

And Why?? , When you get an international position , the first and basic thing is that you are able to COMMUNICATE , and that you will be measured for every single angle. And the first metric he got in public , is just really really bad.

Apparently some people have a problem with the simple fact that there are more German speakers in the EU than native speakers of any other language. Tough , but you´ll have to learn to live with that.

It is hardly an outragous demand to expect a major broadcaster like the Beeb to send someone who can speak the language to cover a national election.

Can anyone imagine the ARD or the ZDF to send a correspondent to Paris, Rome, Madrid or to London, for that matter, who asks a local key politician in a national post election conference a question in German and demands to be answered in German as well? It´s not hard to imagine the uproar in the British press if ze arrogant Germans dared to do something like that in London?

Perhaps Westerwelle might have been more charming in his reaction but the journalist was well out of line.

I have to side with Westerwelle on this.

I'm fluent in German, but our official language at work is English. If I'm presenting to a big audience in a meeting being conducted in English, and someone stands up and asks me a question in German (it's actually happened to me), my first thought is "this is some troll trying to trip up the auslaender gast/fremdarbeiter in front of a live audience". I employed exactly the same sort of thing Westerwelle appeared to ("last time I checked, our official corporate language is English, and as a courtesy to our non-German-speaking colleagues (of which there are a few), I'm going to continue in English if you don't mind"). Then I'd find out who the guy was, summon him into my chambers and give him a proper bollocking in German.

C'mon. The Bush-appointee American ambassador to Germany didn't speak a word of German. The new one does.

The very great number of language courses provided in schools proves the impossibility of enabling all human beings to communicate universally, by use of national languages.

When using interpreters, the "body language" is not conveyed. Rather important.

How easy is it to learn the english language , for refugees, immigrants? and even ... Politicians who have more important tasks to attend to.

Only a neutral auxiliary language, easy to learn, error-proof, taught in all primary schools in every country, would provide our descendants with a tool for inter-national communication, whilst respecting and ensuring the continuity of all national tongues, dialects, idioms within each ethnic group.

One of the objections cited by Education Authorities to the teaching of such a language is : there is no demand from any ethnic community, no evidence of student interest. When the roman numerals were replaced by the Hindu-Arabic numerals, had the education authorities waited for public demand we would still be making long divisions with M, D, C, L, X, V, I... what fun ! In the musical world, if each member of an international orchestra read his partition in his/her own language, could harmony be achieved? Maybe it is time for Educators to take the lead in the communication area. ..

English is often suggested as the international language. English is an elegant language, it would be a pity to see it disintegrating into englishes and being spoken badly by non-native english users. To preserve its integrity, we should protect it from splitting up as Latin did.

Of course, there have been many attempts at "simplifying" English; what would become of the treasures of literature?

However, spoken and written english are dismally dissimilar, which adds to the difficulty for students learning it as a second language.

There have also been many attempts at inventing an international language. Esperanto is at present gaining ground . It is very popular in Korea, Japan, China, Bresil, Canada; surprisingly welcome in parts of the U.S.A., and getting known in Africa. In Europe, whilst Finland was hosting the E.U. it had been added to the list of languages used to publish reports.

Of course, there have been many attempts at "simplifying" English; what would become of the treasures of literature?

However, spoken and written english are dismally dissimilar, which adds to the difficulty for students learning it as a second language.

There have also been many attempts at inventing an international language. Esperanto is at present gaining ground . It is very popular in Korea, Japan, China, Bresil, Canada; surprisingly welcome in parts of the U.S.A., and getting known in Africa. In Europe, whilst Finland was hosting the E.U. it had been added to the list of languages used to publish reports.

Esperanto is rejected by some educators as being "artificial". The vocabulary is based mainly on latin, greek, german, russian, slav... hardly artificial. (And, come to think of it, aren't cars "artificial horses" ? shoes are not natural either, should we travel exclusively on bare feet to be "natural" ?) - Phonetic, carefully compiled, Esperanto is logical, free of the exceptions, inconsistencies, irregular verbs, and traps inherent in, say, english or french for example. It has a definite propaedeutic value, encouraging the learner and boosting confidence, as what one learns today is not contradicted tomorrow; it is a "bridge" to the acquisition of more languages. In a multi-language group (of esperantistes of course) it is like a multi-national dictionary in everybody's brains!

Here are a few sites with useful information :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHALnLV9XU A Belgian linguist talks about it.

http://www.2-2.se/en/ written by a swedish doctor in medicine, Hans Malv,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Esperanto Here are depicted several experiments.

We often hear of "many millions" needed to teach local literacy, let alone foreign languages. Much time, effort and money, could be saved and employed for more beneficial ends.

Even if students never subsequently use Esperanto, their new knowledge of etymology, their practise of logic, and a positive experience with language makes the exercise worthwhile. They can make use of it however, and they will never lack confidence in travelling to non-english speaking regions, they will be able to learn other Native languages much more effectively and will benefit from the goodwill generated by going halfway, with an easy neutral language, when conversing internationally.

What does the last post have to do with this topic???

EQUALITY !!! . Using english for inter-national communication gives english born speakers a huge advantage. Learning english as a second language is very time consuming, time which can be better used, and the "foreign" speaker is under additional stress, which is distracting.

By using a non national, auxiliary tongue, quick and easy to learn because it has been logically compiled, speakers are on an equal basis, no one is embarrassed at lacking the facility of expression of their interlocutor. There is no rivalry between father-tongues. Everyone keep their own, and none gets cancelled out as by a dominant language. AND for a change english-born-speakers also have to co-operate.

Westerwelle is playing to the middle-class arty crowd who feel colonised by the english-speaking universe, which provides most of the popular culture in Germany except bratwurst and hansi hinterseer. Now he's gone to Poland as his first foreign minister gig to confirm his central European identity to arty middle-class Poles, which will in turn reinforce his post-english identity at home, with a touch of Willi Brandt. But 1/he's gay 2/the nazis killed the gays 3/ergo, he's not a nazi. At least this avenue avods the torturous english classes but thinking about how time he spends flogging himsself at the gym, is this progress?

What do the last 3 lines of post # 87 have to do with the subject? A foetus is not a miniature adult. After conception, different parts of the body and brain develop independently and at different points in time. The chromosomes are not solely deciding the embryo's gender. Hormones in the mother during the whole pregnancy complete the work. Illnesses, fevers, medications, etc, come into play. Preponderant hormones at the time of unsynchronised development of the brain, and of the genital organs, give us our aligned, or divergent gender characteristics. From BRAINSEX "The Real Difference Between Men & Women, by Anne Moir & David Jessel.

What? The reporter can not speak german? What an Idiot!!

To Owain Glyndwr,

Her Majesty speaks French but now well - I've heard her: "Vous connez". Get the idea?

I shuddered.

PS:

I meant to say, "Her Majesty speaks French but not well."

I'd be more worried if she went around asking "voulez-vous coucher avec moi?"

The point most bloggers seem to be missing is that Westerwelle showed a lack of flair and experience and opted instead for a rather feeble attempt at humour. Faced with a question from a reporter in a foreign language, he could have (i) replied deadpan in German, (ii) answered with a simple sentence or two in English and then continued in German. Most politicians I have seen in this unfortunate situation choose (i) or (ii). I would have chosen to reply "Bitte, können Sie das auf Deutsch fragen?" and thrown it straight back at the reporter. (Touché.)

I suspect the BBC reporter did not actually know for sure, at the time he asked the question, if Hr Westerwelle was fluent in English, but he simply asssumed he was. Oh well...

Ironic to look back on this debate a few months on, especially the bits about how bigoted nations might react to his sexuality and so on, now while Westerwelle is defending the Swiss as non-bigots just because they voted to ban the minarets.

And why is he even commenting on this? Doesn't he have enough to do at Germany's diplomatic front line that he's speaking for the Swiss?

Westerwelle speaks English but a press conference in Germany is not a place for him to prove how good speaker he is. It is a standard etiquette when you are in a country you expect that the Foreign Minister will speak in the country's official language. Now if Westerwelle would make mistakes and what he should say or not say are nonsense.

The BBC reporter could ask in English(thats why there are interpreters) but he cannot demand from the Foreign Minister to respond in English. This is an outlandish lack of respect and complete lack of professionalism. Westerwelle's response to the untactful reporter to my judgment was pretty witty: if you like we can talk later in English but at this moment this is business and the official language of this place -which happens to be located in Germany-is German. I think he handled the case nicely. Imagine a reporter from France to demand from Blair who speaks some French to respond in French! !! It is about time for some English speakers to get over the illusion that English is the language of the world and it is everybody's duty to speak English. Thats why I like Americans , they stubbornly refuse to speak English.