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Is English Sufficient?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 5th, 2004, 11:41 PM
emailalias
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Default Is English Sufficient?

Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?

Always Wondered.

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals


  #2  
Old September 6th, 2004, 12:02 AM
Jim Ley
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On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:41:55 -0400, "emailalias"
wrote:

Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?


Why is it a myth that you're fine in European cities if you only speak
English? I've never had any problem in places when I've known none of
the language, of course I've ended up with things I perhaps didn't
really want to eat, and sometimes had to walk a bit further than I
needed too as getting directions was tricky, but certainly never had
any problem getting by without the language - people generally get
bye.

As to the countries you mentioned, well I've had no trouble without
any japanese at all in the 36 hours I've been in tokyo so far.

Jim.
  #5  
Old September 6th, 2004, 08:04 AM
Miguel Cruz
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Jim Ley wrote:
"emailalias" wrote:
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it
rather a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but
generally it is a myth that you're fine if you know English?


Why is it a myth that you're fine in European cities if you only speak
English?


These are not legitimate questions. He's just disingenuously coming up with
one random question per day to post in the travel forums so he can get hits
on the ads-only web site in his sig.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu
  #6  
Old September 6th, 2004, 08:04 AM
Miguel Cruz
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Default

Jim Ley wrote:
"emailalias" wrote:
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it
rather a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but
generally it is a myth that you're fine if you know English?


Why is it a myth that you're fine in European cities if you only speak
English?


These are not legitimate questions. He's just disingenuously coming up with
one random question per day to post in the travel forums so he can get hits
on the ads-only web site in his sig.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu
  #7  
Old September 6th, 2004, 08:53 AM
Daniel
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"emailalias" wrote in message
...
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it

rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it

is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?

Always Wondered.

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals



IMHO you cannot get by with only English anywhere in PRC. There is
virtually 100% inability to understand English in all major cities in China,
and I make myself understood with non verbal aids. In the meanwhile I am
practicing my Mandarin.

I see difficulties ahead for Beijing for the Olympics in 2008 unless hotel
staff and taxi drivers go on a crash course to understand very basic English
phrases. Airline checkin staff come in no better with only a really
rudimentary understanding, but at least a little better than average.

But thats only my opinion.

Daniel
Shenzhen


  #8  
Old September 6th, 2004, 01:33 PM
Yaofeng
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"emailalias" wrote in message ...
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?

Always Wondered.

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals


Sure it is sufficient. Only you'll miss a lot not understand or read
the local language.
  #9  
Old September 6th, 2004, 01:33 PM
Yaofeng
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Default

"emailalias" wrote in message ...
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?

Always Wondered.

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals


Sure it is sufficient. Only you'll miss a lot not understand or read
the local language.
  #10  
Old September 6th, 2004, 08:32 PM
PTRAVEL
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Default


"emailalias" wrote in message
...
Is English enough in the big cities of China, Korea, and Japan? Is it
rather
a case of much of Europe, where some people speak a bit, but generally it
is
a myth that you're fine if you know English?

Always Wondered.

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals


Though you'll find English speakers in the major cities of China and Japan,
you will not be able to rely on speaking English. However, that begs the
question. After many, many years of international travel (including China
and Japan), I've found that communicating in English is absolutely
unnecessary to get along. A phrase book for simple concepts like "please"
and "thank you", a willingness to look foolish acting things out, and a
sense of humor are all that are necessary to get along in viritually every
human culture.








 




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