Bilingual in Europe versus USA
Mxsmanic wrote:
spamfree writes:
This is somewhat of a USA rant, but Europeans will understand. In
the USA, if a sign/ad includes the word bilingual, it always refers to
an ability to speak English & Spanish (and not European Spanish, but
Mexican / Central American Spanish). But in Europe, bilingual would
simply refer to an ability to speak two languages; German & Italian,
Dutch & French, etc.
Many Americans don't realize that there are other non-English
languages besides Spanish.
Perhaps because most immigrants from other countries take
the trouble to LEARN English? The public schools offer
night classes in "English as a Second Language" - they used
to be free, so can't be all that expensive, even now. (And
certainly worth the investment for people planning to live
here permanently!)
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