[Foundation-l] A simple question on languages.

[Dan Rosenthal]

Don't forget though that English does not have to be one of the  
languages of the bilingualism. I'm sure there is a fair population who  
speaks say Yiddish and Russian, or  French and German, or Cantonese  
and Mandarin, etc.

-Dan
On Jan 25, 2008, at 10:20 AM, Mark Williamson wrote:

> Speaking "at least a little bit of English" is far from functional
> bilingualism. You being able to buy toiletries is not the same as them
> being able to read a press release.
>
> Mark
>
> On 25/01/2008, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 25/01/2008, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Okay, still, that stands. A lot less people are bilingual than you
>>> seem to think.
>>
>> What are you basing that on? Speaking more than one language isn't
>> particularly common in English-speaking countries, but elsewhere,  
>> it's
>> pretty much standard in my experience. I've done a fair bit of
>> travelling and speak only English and a little German, and I've have
>> rarely had much difficulty - an enormous number of people in the  
>> world
>> speak at least a little English. People whose native language is only
>> spoken by a small group will very often (probably almost always,  
>> but I
>> don't have the evidence to back that up) also know the language that
>> is more widely spoken in their country.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> foundation-l mailing list
>> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Refije dirije lanmè yo paske nou posede pwòp bato.
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l