CSU: Immigrants should speak German at home, CDU says LOLwhat ?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Tender, if I and a friend of mine went to live in Austria, would you have problems with us speaking English together at home?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Sure, but the speed of this transformation depends on the size and status of the language of the host country. If it is a world language like English, what you describe will be the case. Language change happens slower and more reluctantly if the  switch is to a minor language which isn't useful (or of limited use) outside the host country.

True, I have been in the Netherlands for 4 years and I still speak almost no Dutch, because I can survive with my extremely basic level. On the other hand I lived in Italy for six months only and my Italian is better than my Dutch, because no one spoke English there.

Many people move to a new country thinking it will only be for a short-time, and then you happen to stay 10, 20 years or your whole life...

Have you made no attempt to learn the language? I never understood why people would not want to learn the language of the country they live in (unless they're only living there for a few months or so).

I agree with you. Although I did the same thing as swl. Spent a year in the Netherlands and learnt, in effect, no Dutch. I feel rather embarrassed about that actually. But it is very easy to do...

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Sure, but the speed of this transformation depends on the size and status of the language of the host country. If it is a world language like English, what you describe will be the case. Language change happens slower and more reluctantly if the  switch is to a minor language which isn't useful (or of limited use) outside the host country.

True, I have been in the Netherlands for 4 years and I still speak almost no Dutch, because I can survive with my extremely basic level. On the other hand I lived in Italy for six months only and my Italian is better than my Dutch, because no one spoke English there.

Many people move to a new country thinking it will only be for a short-time, and then you happen to stay 10, 20 years or your whole life...

Have you made no attempt to learn the language? I never understood why people would not want to learn the language of the country they live in (unless they're only living there for a few months or so).

I agree with you. Although I did the same thing as swl. Spent a year in the Netherlands and learnt, in effect, no Dutch. I feel rather embarrassed about that actually. But it is very easy to do...

Yes - though I understand it's different if you're only planning on staying for a year (particularly if you are studying).
I can't really imagining living in another country for a long time without learning the language though - even if  English was the primary language at my workplace. Just socially and culturally, I would think you lose a lot by not being able to speak the native language.

I completely agree with you - and not just because I would have liked to have avoided the embarrassment of saying repeatedly "I'm sorry, I can't speak Dutch".