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From: hinsenk@cyclone.ERE.UMontreal.CA (Hinsen Konrad)
Subject: Re: Languages in the EC
In-Reply-To: philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk's message of Sun, 5 Feb 1995 00:51:28 +0000
Message-ID: <HINSENK.95Feb5103912@cyclone.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
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Organization: Universite de Montreal
References: <3gtddp$crg@bambi.zdv.Uni-Mainz.DE> <791945488snz@storcomp.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 1995 15:39:12 GMT
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In article <791945488snz@storcomp.demon.co.uk> philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk (Phil Hunt) writes:

   I've got a friend who used to live in Germany, and he says that 75%
   of Germans know enough English to get by, and 10% speak better English
   than most English people.

I used to live in Germany myself for 28 years (i.e. my lifetime minus about
one year), and my experiences are very different. I don't know exactly
how you define "get by", but it certainly does not mean "get by in an
English-speaking environment". I had to interpret often enough for Germans
in English-speaking countries and for Americans in Germany (always
about everyday affairs) to have serious doubts about the 75%-estimate
you have given.

--
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