i was half asleep but i THINK that very thorough wanding/patdown in FRA going into the C area was provided by some yankees. what was that all about?

A number of yanks have jobs at FRA. More than a few are expats who've decided to stay in Germany after the closure of U.S. military bases where they used to work. I don't think it's a conspiracy, though. Just earning their money and living their lives.

A number of yanks have jobs at FRA. More than a few are expats who've decided to stay in Germany after the closure of U.S. military bases where they used to work. I don't think it's a conspiracy, though. Just earning their money and living their lives.

Yep, and since the check going into Concourse C is usually the secondary check required by US regulations for flights to the US, it's very likely that a fair number of the passengers will be American anyway. There are more Germans who speak English than there are Americans who speak German so it just makes it easier for everybody.

There are more Germans who speak English than there are Americans who speak German so it just makes it easier for everybody.

Oh tempora o mores.

I am waiting for the day the global language will be US English because the yanks refuse to learn other languages and everbody tries to accomodate their needs.

There is evidence that such strategy can work. Luxembourg is a perfect example. 20 years ago German or "Letzeburgisch" was was the every day language. After French and French-speaking Belgium expats occupite the country (and the French are not very good in languages either) it shifted more and more to French: As soon as 5 Letzeburger and 1 French are standing together the language will be French (every Letzeburger speaks French). Do not ask what happened to the local language... :D

I am waiting for the day the global language will be US English because the yanks refuse to learn other languages and everbody tries to accomodate their needs.


It really is now, if you think about it. What do Greeks and Norwegians speak when doing business? Chinese and Latvians? All Int'l ATC? What is the common language on every airport information sign you've probably ever seen?

And, not all yanks refuse to learn other languages. I understand the stereotype, though.

The problem is just that most Americans think that they will be the leader of the world forever. They never think about China and other upcoming countries.
On the other hand, every smart person in the U.S. tries to learn Spanish because of the many immigrants who often refuse to learn English and live in their community.

I am happy to learn as many languages as possible and my personal opinion is that it's the responsible of the guest to be able to communicate and not of the ones who are hosting. Of course, places should have international signs, etc. but I hate it when people just talk to me in their language in my home country without even bothering to ask whether I speak the same language or not. I am always happy to help guests, both in French and English but people just can't expect it or be annoyed because not everybody understands them outside the place they call home.

Chinese

There will be a day when we all have to learn Mandarin....

When I am with my European friends, there are time when we could speak french - and leave me out, although i had 5 years of french that is nothing useful to me. We go over to English (not Pidgin English) because that is what most of us learned in school as first foreign language.

Most southern people and from smaller countries in Europe do speak more than one foreign language fluent, some portuese friends of mine speak very good English and French as well as some German and Spanish.

English - not US English - is the common lingua franca. Not more, not less. Some of us have a US accent due to the availability of material to learn from, but that absolutly not imply that with this we also include US worldviews or anything.

Most Ámericans I meet are more intrigued by the fact how well we speak english and that we bother to l"learn" a language even down to pop culture.

As for the original thread question:
I would assume that if it is so, the American side actually prefers US citizens to handle such jobs because they have better information on them. And although many people do speak English in Germany and learn it all as first forein language, many do not master a fluent enough level.

Btw: I am constantly considered american by my accent at first hearing, only after a while people get that there is something different. if I would only use those short sentences at the screening, chances are you would take me just as a 'yankee'. Which is just due to the fact that my accent on such would be highly influenced. (Frankfurt is an area of American occupatoin, until today there is american radio available as lasting influence on language learning).

There will be a day when we all have to learn Mandarin....

I doubt it - for all its shortcomings, English is still comparatively easy to learn, and that is part of its success.

I've tried learning Mandarin, and failed miserably, simply because it is such a confoundingly difficult language for non-native speakers (not least because of its tonal nature) and because you need to put in so much time and effort (I'm talking several hours each day) to get anywhere. Most people do not have that time.

Add to that the difficulties of the writing system and the fact that Mandarin is more or less a static language (new "words" cannot be introduced, only existing syllables can be recombined to form a new meaning), I have a hard time believing it can become a new lingua franca.

Ich versuche mehr Deutsche zu lernen!

I was a young, dumb soldier stationed in Germany, and at eighteen, because of the way schools are set up in the U.S., I took three years of Spanish. Now, fifteen years later, I'm laboring through German II and plan to go all the way through advanced conversation, simply because I like to vacation in Germany and would prefer to at least try to speak the language.

My classes are at night and there are eight others taking German, solely for the purpose of learning a new language. Please don't think that I'm on a soapbox for people from the U.S., we have plenty of jerks here and abroad. Some of us do care.

The problem is just that most Americans think that they will be the leader of the world forever. They never think about China and other upcoming countries.

I doubt many Americans think about that.

Most Americans do not speak another language because its more often than not completely unnecessary. When you factor in Canada, you're talking about a sizeable part of the world where learning anything other than English is a waste of time.

On the other hand, if you are living in the UK, its only what..........a 30 minute train ride before you are in a country where everyone speaks another language?

Most Americans do not speak another language because its more often than not completely unnecessary. When you factor in Canada, you're talking about a sizeable part of the world where learning anything other than English is a waste of time.

On the other hand, if you are living in the UK, its only what..........a 30 minute train ride before you are in a country where everyone speaks another language?

I've had this same discussion with many of my international offices. Not to make excuses, but I do think that the size and the relative physical isolation of the U.S. limits the usefulness of learning a second language for most Americans. Most people don't travel us much (especially internationally) as we do on FT.

The other reason would be the lack of foreign language programming in the U.S. (excluding Spanish) compared to other areas of the world. When I was learning German in High School, I didn't have German television programs (with English subtitles) to help me improve my understanding of accents, vocabulary, and German pop culture.

Like I said, not an excuse, just some reasoning from my perspective.

Most Americans do not speak another language because its more often than not completely unnecessary. When you factor in Canada, you're talking about a sizeable part of the world where learning anything other than English is a waste of time.



As a German, I could travel to Austria and Switzerland and not learn another language as well. Or to Palma de Mallorca ;)

It's not about the traveling part, it's also about education! At some point, those Americans who work internationally (doesn't mean traveling but also emails and phone calls), they might run into problems with just knowing English.

Whatever, I can't change it...

As a German, I could travel to Austria and Switzerland and not learn another language as well. Or to Palma de Mallorca ;)

It's not about the traveling part, it's also about education! At some point, those Americans who work internationally (doesn't mean traveling but also emails and phone calls), they might run into problems with just knowing English.

Whatever, I can't change it...

Perhaps.......the better schools in the US have usually have more intensive language programs than the public schools. However, its usually not manditory because of the reasons I mentioned in my original post.

I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, but I know little of it now because you never need to use it. I'm sure millions of Americans have had similar experiences.

On the other hand.........if you are a German and you learn English.........what are your chances of having to use those skills?

Funny and related story...........my wife and I were having dinner in Cannobio, Italy. Our waiter approaches and I ask him politely in Italian if he spoke English. He responded "very little" and then asked us if we spoke French or German or Spanish............unfortunately our answer to all 3 was "No". My wife and I are college educated professionals, yet our waiter in a dinky restaurant off the beaten path in Italy knew 3 more languages than we did! Still, we all had fun with it...........he was trying his best with English while we did the same with Italian (Thank god for our Lonely Planet phrasebook).

The German places usually default to English as soon as they hear my broken urlaub Deutsch. The French hotels, they make me keep at it in my significantly worse French, until I throw up my hands and have to say "Parlez-vous Anglais?" I get most of the way through the transaction, but eventually something stumps me.

It isn't out of arrogance that I speak English in Germany, but when the people I am speaking to respond to my German in English, its kind of hard to maintain the language. I know that most hotel staff and waiters are probably in a hurry and really don't have the time to listen to someone stumble around in the language when they communicate well enough in English. When the universal language spoken by the majority of tourists to the staff is English, I guess it only makes sense.