Look what I just passed...

[rovie]

Maybe I'll meet 2 of you when I pick up my Grenadier in the middle of nowhere in November.

 

[emax]

I've been thinking about this for a while..
I am humbled by the English proficiency of our European "co-enthusiasts" for whom English is probably one of several languages in which they're able to converse. My French and Latin skills (Melbourne proper education 60 yrs ago ) are at best rudimentary. "Science" German was compulsory for chemistry classes at Uni....Sadly I did not maintain it. Now that there are two generations added to my "extended" family, we have Dutch, French, Swahili /Congolese (!), Cantonese, Swedish ..."American" and "Scottish" and Italian...what a polyglot lot we are and all the better for it.
I've probably had one red wine too many and become philosophical...

Don't worry and enjoy your red wine ;-)

As far as I am concerned, I had to repeat a school-class due to my miserable English (and Latin as well).

But in the meantime I have been a software developer since almost 40 years now. And that forced me to learn English as programming languages are strongly based on English, let alone the manuals and tutorials you have to read and to understand. I even had to understand freelancer contracts which was the hardest part.

I worked in CZ, CH, NL and IT, as well as in Geneva (CH) which is purely french. When I was young, I had a girlfriend in southern France, and from 2007 to 2019 I was the technical lead of a project in Italy. Another challenge was my exam and permit to talk English over the airplane radio.

I had so to say no other chance than to learn English, Italian and French. So with my remaining fragments of Latin I kinda speak five languages now. There is however a big difference between a programming language manual and reading "The Sun". To really understand the latter one, often already fails at the headlines.

I then go to urbandictionary.com where you find words and idioms you'll never learn at school. ;-)

So the internet helps a lot. ;-)

 

[Shaky]

I am a typical Brit (much to my embarrassmen), I speak English, and if people can’t understand it I make it blatantly obvious what I am saying by saying it again very slowly in a raised voice.

If you can’t understand me then, you must be stupid !!…yes told you I was a typical Brit.

To you guys who dont have English as their first language, I am impressed as it is near on perfect and only occasionally do I see a few words ’out of order” for the way I would say it.

I am embarrassed for myself and many of my countrymen (and women).