Newsgroups: sci.lang,alt.usage.english
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!gatech!news.cse.psu.edu!uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sprintlink.net!eskimo!rickw
From: rickw@eskimo.com (Richard Wojcik)
Subject: Re: Importance of German, etc. (Was: English: USA supreme court...)
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: eskimo.com
Message-ID: <DqCLLG.LsL@eskimo.com>
Sender: news@eskimo.com (News User Id)
Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever
References: <4j9tmn$uva@news.ccit.arizona.edu> <4le3pg$8pb@brachio.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE> <4leaqo$f25@jaxnet.jaxnet.com> <4lfv7q$1no@brachio.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 03:56:03 GMT
Lines: 27

In article <4lfv7q$1no@brachio.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE>,
Wolfgang Schwanke <wolfaefg@w250zrz.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE> wrote:
>nickc@users.jaxnet.com (Nick Carter) writes:
>
>>: rickw@eskimo.com (Richard Wojcik) writes:
>>: >>Well, I've generally found German more useful than English in my travels
>>: >>in Europe, although I haven't had the occasion to try either in Paris or
>>: >>Rome...
>
Would you folks please be a little more careful on your attributions?  I am
not the person who made the comment that you are responding to.  I am the
person who questioned whether German was truly more popular than English as
a second language.  Perhaps that is so, particularly in countries like
the Czech Republic, which has very strong historical ties with
German-speaking cultures.

One objective way to measure the claim is to look at foreign language
classes in the schools.  If German is truly more popular than English, then
you will find more children studying German than English.  Does anyone have
information of this sort to back up the claim?  It would certainly be
better than anecdotal evidence, especially from people like Wolfgang.
Although he may speak excellent English, I suspect that he feels much more
comfortable in using German.  James, on the other hand, seems to be a
native English speaker, so I find his experiences more intrigueing.
-- 
Rick Wojcik  rickw@eskimo.com     Seattle (for locals: Bellevue), WA
             http://www.eskimo.com/~rickw/
