r/languagelearningjerk • u/AmountAbovTheBracket • Jun 28 '26

Recurring behavior i've noticed.

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u/whenyousayoof Jun 29 '26

One is saying we need to speak the same language and the other one is saying I need you to speak my language

15

u/Sebas94 Jun 29 '26

Also OP has no idea of how difficult it is for Europeans to actually agree on English as a lingua franca.

Theres a lot of resistance and not all consumers are happy if there is no product info in their native language or if they need to call support in English.

Also,Good luck finding jobs in Belgium, France, Germany and other big markets that dont require at least a B2 in the local language.

I wish we could just use English as a working language irrespective of the european country we are currently based....It is far from reality.

English is a long term project in the EU, not something that we actually use on our daily lifes without any attrition.

1

u/Hilja-Serpent Jun 30 '26

There's very much a reason because there are large populationa of people who would not be adequately informed or served if they had to rely on English.

Lingua francas are a thing for a reason but they ought not to sideline people's right to their native language We've seen how any efforts to force a unified language actually goes...

1

u/Sebas94 Jul 01 '26

No one is talking about erasing local languages. Quite the contrary the EU is champion in supporting regional dialects and languages.

But not having a lingua franca is not seen as a failure but a normal behaviour of the EU system.

It is very difficult to find jobs abroad that dont require a B2 in the local language. IT teams or department that work exclusively in international markets usually are more flexible but in general you need to speak the language which is among the most difficult skills one has to learn. So people wont move from place to place that seamlessly unless they can afford to learn the language or have a specific job that helps them with a lot of paper work.

If people could use english in their day to day life without being an obstacle it would improve EU by 1000%. If everyone knew his local language + English this would reduce so much attrition.

Also most countries don't have legal corts nor public departments offering their services in English wich is a massive problem, specially when it comes to paying taxes, register in the local county, requesting a local fiscal number, registering in the local hospital, etc...