This video for the linguistic privilege of the Anglophones was very interesting to me. He doesn’t say that if you go for a week to Greece you must learn the language (although some phrases would be nice). He doesn’t say that having a common language between different nations is bad.
But he is talking about native English speakers who are able to stay in foreign countries for a long time and still don’t learn the language because the locals around them can accommodate them by speaking English. These long-term visitors who are native English speakers (sometimes spouses and business partners) are not willing to learn the basics to survive in this country because they expect that someone around will know their language.
While this expectation might seem reasonable, it burdens the non English speakers to learn the language to the point we are considered unprofessional and unskilled if we don’t speak English very well - in our own country!
Story time:
I was meeting with a large group of online friends for drinks and doing our collective hobby together and there was an Anglophone in the group. She had been staying in the country for 10 years, she was under 30 years old (you can definitely learn the language at that age) and couldn’t communicate with us, making a dozen Greeks speak English to accommodate her.
Naturally, we didn’t manage for long to center our conversations around her language when we could communicate better in ours. Still, the attitude of this woman and people like her still baffles me. If any of us were to go to her country for a month we would be automatically required to know English otherwise we would be ridiculed. We would certainly not survive a decade without learning the local language.
same thing about French people in African countries. it’s not uncommon at all to find french people who settled in Tunisia, FOR YEARS, and yet they don’t speak two Arabic words together. and it’s intentional at this point, they consciously or not, come from a place of power
everyone interviewing for a management position
hired
I have no relevant skills.
I am unpleasant to work with.
I like to cause problems.
