Germans are proud of their language, but speak other languages

KUN0029 4 GEN 0360 KUWAIT /KUNA-FVK1 CUL-GERMANY-LANGUAGES Germans are proud of their language, but speak other languages By Fahad Ebrahim BERLIN, Feb 23 (KUNA) -- Contrary to a worldwide stereotype that Germans are too proud of their language and do not speak others, Germans speak other languages and are willing to help foreigners who do not speak the language. Christan Kuen, an Austrian technical engineer who has been living in Germany for 25 years, says most Germans tend to speak English if asked, but this matter depends on their age. Kuen noted that 30 percent of the Germans speak English quite properly, and 30 percent are able to communicate in English, while the remaining 40 percent are not able to speak English. Asked why, he said it's a matter of education or upbringing. Whether pride of the German language was among those reasons, Kuen said, "I don't think that is true." "Of course they are proud of their language but it is not the reason why they don't jump into other languages, definitely not. "People in some other European countries have different ideas about foreign languages, but in Germany, they have no problem speaking other languages. It's a matter of education, not a matter of political or other reasons," he added, asserting that Germans are nice to foreigners and would help them. Christin Selle, a German 21-years-old hotel employee, says that most German people speak English because they learn it in schools for many years, asserting that pride of the German language is not the reason why Germans don't speak English. "I don't think that that this is true, otherwise, I wouldn't be working in a hotel", she said. "Yes I am proud of German language because it is hard and not widely spoken, while English is spoken everywhere" she added. Selle noted that she prefers speaking English and that she knows many people who think the same, while others may have problems speaking other languages because they did not learn them in schools or don't practice them in other countries. "If you go to other European countries, like Switzerland, people there can speak English, German, and French really good (well)." Whether Germans would still help foreigners even if there is no common spoken language, she said, "I would try to help using other means of communication, like pointing to things or making hand gestures, because expressing yourself with signs is always the same and you can use it to tell things. I feel obligated to help other people and will always try." Markus, 30-year-old German Public Relations Manager, agrees with Selle that most Germans speak English because they learn it at schools. He said that at his age, students started learning English when they reach 10 or 11, but nowadays they start at the elementary school level when they are seven years old, and then it depends on how long the person goes to school and earns education. In response to the common pride claim, Markus says, "I think it's not different than in many other countries, people know their mother language and like to speak it to feel like home. But some of them try to speak other languages, such as English, which is commonly spoken." He added that if Germans can and are able to speak English, they will offer help to foreigners. Even if they don't speak English, they would still provide help and would do it. "For example, when you go to other countries where they don't speak English, such as Turkey, normally we speak with hands and feet and try with English and you mix it and sometimes you get the directions or the information you want. I believe that I should help others if I can." Hans Matzel, a 59-year-old German Mechanical Engineer, agrees with the rest that about 60 percent of Germans speak English, and falsified the claim that Germans don't communicate in other languages because they are proud of their language. "That's not true," says Matzel. "Yes, we are proud of the German language because it is special in a way that allows us to use words in different meanings and gives us more and more portability than the English language." He asserted that a lot of people are proud of the German language but "that is no reason not to speak other languages. A lot of people speak a number of foreign languages, but English is the most popular foreign language in Germany. " He pointed that the main reason Germans don't speak English is because "they are afraid that they may commit too many mistakes, so they just do the minimum and refer you to someone else who can give you full answer."