The reason why the English (well native British, and descendent Yanks, Aussies, and Kiwis), struggle to get their brains and lips, around a foreign language (particularly a Latin based one such as French, Spanish or Italian), has long baffled linguists.
They often have subscribed to the idea that native English speakers are too lazy, and that having the rest of the world learning English as their second language, either by force in colonies, or for economic reasons such as trading with the British Empire and US economies, has created the idea that they need not bother themselves to learn another language.
But having recently brushed up my French (rather unsuccessfully I might add), then turning my attention to Spanish as a change, I have my own theory now.
Around 800 years ago, when our Norman overlords were strutting about, and spouting their 'courtly' Norman /French at each other, the native English were left largely to their own unlettered ways.
They often have subscribed to the idea that native English speakers are too lazy, and that having the rest of the world learning English as their second language, either by force in colonies, or for economic reasons such as trading with the British Empire and US economies, has created the idea that they need not bother themselves to learn another language.
But having recently brushed up my French (rather unsuccessfully I might add), then turning my attention to Spanish as a change, I have my own theory now.
Around 800 years ago, when our Norman overlords were strutting about, and spouting their 'courtly' Norman /French at each other, the native English were left largely to their own unlettered ways.
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| Two Worlds, Two Languages And Two Outcomes ..... |
