An officer in the U.S. Naval reserve was attending a conference that included Admirals from both the U.S. Navy and the French Navy. At a cocktail reception, he found himself in a small group that included personnel from both Navies.
The French Admiral started complaining that whereas Europeans learned many languages, Americans learned only English. He then asked: "Why is it that we have to speak English in these conferences rather than you speak French?"
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied: "Maybe it's because we arranged it so you don't have to speak German."
The group became deadly silent.
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Jesus Christ--The reason for the season!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
Used to be, after Latin fell into disuse, French was the universal language. Now it's English, and by next century, it will probably be one of the dialects of Chinese.....
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"Bitte, trinks du das Wasser nicht. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen."
Well said indeed. If history teaches mankind nothing else.......it teaches us that nothing lasts forever!
All the more reason today's children need to be taught history.....and have the ability to think critically.....enabling them to extract the lessons of history. I for one......no longer trust our public school system in this country to teach....any of the above!
And ignorance will only hasten that eventuality!
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You can live life, or simply grow old!
One thing that keeps a language in use is its ability to grow with the times. French vocabulary for example is not growing. English, however is growing in leaps and bounds and should that trend continue, it will eventually be the most common language in the world. Pls correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Spanish is the most common language at this time with English a distant second.
WHY IS IT THAT WE HAVE TO SPEAK ENGLISH?
