Lounge Jay Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 We should forget about the complicated multilingual mess that is the EU and bond together instead with our English speaking cousins across the atlantic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 If you want a referendum on that, are you going to offer the 300 million plus people on the other side of the Atlantic a vote? Which way do you think they would vote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Oh, and BTW - Which 'English-speaking cousins' are you talking about? I moved back to the US in Jan 2007. On the first Sunday we were there, we went to church. When we came out I said to my wife (who is an American) "Last week I went to a church where the priest spoke German with a heavy Swiss accent. I could understand him. This week we went to a church where the priest (supposedly) spoke English. I didn't understand a bloody word he said! A few days later, I went into a local Radio Shack store and asked the salesman to tell me about the available cell phone calling plans. He spoke to me for nearly 15 minutes. I understood two words - the last two words he said: "Thuh beeyull'. Not only are the English and the Americans 'two people separated by a common language' but (depending on where you live) there si no such thing as a 'common language'. In southern (and indeed to a lesser extent in central) Florida, if you go into a shop the people who work there will address you in Spanish. If you can't understand (and they may well try 2 or 3 dialects) they will talk to you in English. Or ignore you. I think you're on a hiding to nothing, Jay. Even in that part of the US where the people have 'no accent' (:hihi:) - (The Mid-Wast) you'd face an uphill battle. "You Brits tock funny!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Jay Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 I think you're overstating the differences; it may not official, but the US is clearly an English speaking country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingray-man Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 whats the big problem with taking responsibility for ourselves and just going it alone for a while ? i think we should back away from the eu and keep away from america and fix our problems ourselves, it about time we focused on the uk and stopped worrying about everyone else's mess we have enough mess here to clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perplexed Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Most Europeans speak better English than the Americans. Or the English... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppins Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 We should forget about the complicated multilingual mess that is the EU and bond together instead with our English speaking cousins across the atlantic. OMG Please NO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I have to say, I heard/read many complaints about our membership with the EU, but this is the first time I've ever seen multi-linguism as a reason for us to leave! @OP - if you think the language barrier is the best reason to leave the EU, I suggest you may wish to climb out from under the rock you've been living under for the last few decades - there's far better reasons to leave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I think you're overstating the differences; it may not official, but the US is clearly an English speaking country. You think? :hihi: I've been married to an American for more than 30 years. We now understand each other. - it wasn't always that way. I've lived in 5 states and visited (for extended periods) a number of others. America is - as it says on the can - a Federation. 50 Sovereign States in a Federal Union. They don't always see eye to eye. My MIL was a 'Daughter of the Alamo' and her husband was a direct descendant of Ethan Allen - he was a 'dyed in the wool' Yankee. He didn't object to us getting married and I suspect that was because he felt I was less of a foreigner than were his wife and daughter. Puerto Rico has been nibbling around the edges of Statehood for many years. Don't hold your breath. The chances of the UK forming any sort of political union with the US are about zero. The UK already has a good trading (and other) relationship with the US. What makes you think that - should the UK leave the EU - the US would be prepared to offer any advance on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ]Most Europeans speak better English than the Americans[/b]. Or the English... Pillocks Ever spoken to an Italian or a Frenchman speaking English. Hard enough to make out a lot of the words never mind trying to dodge all of the waving hands and arms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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