A guest blog from Susanna Cha, recent MSc. Graduate in International Marketing Management:
If you are from Northern Europe and are considering taking an English test, you might find it easier than southern Europeans. This may be explained from a media related viewpoint that I would like to share with you. Please note that it is just a theory that is generalised – and that it obviously depends on the individual, as everyone is different.
Northern Europeans, such as the Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian people are, in my opinion, generally better at speaking English compared to our Spanish, German and French compatriots. This is an opinion that is also shared by others. The main reason for this is the media.
The Northern Europeans listen far more to the English language than the Southern Europeans. How come, you might wonder? Well, we all love to watch TV and in countries such as the Netherlands, all series, shows and films that are recorded in an English speaking country (mostly America) are not dubbed or synchronized. Instead, the Dutch listen to the English language constantly and receive Dutch subtitles. In Spain, for example, all series and films that are American are synchronised by Spanish speakers, as this case study in Translation Journal shows. This is the same for Germany and France.
Now you might think that the media, somewhat, has an influence is not fully responsible for someone’s English as education plays a significant role as well. This is true, but considers that you are listening to the English language since you were seven years old. Ask any Dutch child what the English for “yes” and “no” is and I bet that 90% could tell you.
There are, however, exceptions as not everyone can speak a different language easily. Surely there are Dutch and Swedish people who cannot even form one sentence in English! But do I think they’d understand more English than your average Spanish or French person? Yes.
There is also a difference between young people and old people. Young people are generally more exposed to the media, which may suggest that only young Swedish people are “better” at understanding English. This could be true, but a Dutch show whereby a Scottish psychic called Derek Ogilvie is helping Dutch people with the loss of their friends or family, is also proving that old Dutch people can understand English very well – as this clip demonstrates!
So to sum up, I believe that Northern Europeans are better at speaking English because of their greater exposure to English in the media, specifically, their exposure to the television.
Let us know your thoughts!
In my personal opinion the whole notion of Northern versus Southern Europeans speaking better English is pretty well known already in the continent itself and hardly a new fact. The article is kind of simplistic in its form and writing, but makes a valid point. Currently living as Dutchman in Spain, and this is one of the more favorite topics when it comes to the deplorable state of the Spanish speaking English. I would also add that there are even differences between countries in the hemispheres themselves – for instance Portugese speak much better English than Spanish due to the same media subtitle reasons the author outlined above. But to just boil it down to one common denominator feels kind of cheap, especially as many different variables are present like relative size of the language, geography of the country, culture, education system etc. Its no wonder that the Spanish hardly speak English – its a world language, as well as relatively isolated in geography compared to other European countries. Germans are arguably better than Spanish in speaking English by just looking at all the elements. To end on a quick note: Germany is also Northern Europe, or also known as Western Europe, like France. I would say the media is an important part in the equation, but not the sole one.
Well written article, very understandable… Even for a dutch guy like myself.
I agree on the fact that the media has a big influence on the English skills of my fellow dutchmen. The big difference between us dutchmen and for example the germans is the pronunciation.
As you mentioned in the blog every tv-show in Germany gets synchronized… They even replace the actual names with the german version (e.g. Face from the A-Team is called ‘Das gesicht’).
Hi Steph,
Many thanks for the feedback. The reason why I mainly focussed on the media is because this is often not mentioned, even though I believe it is of importance.
Hence why I focussed on media (“This may be explained from a media related viewpoint that I would like to share with you”) instead of all the other “more commonly addressed” variables, as you have mentioned.
Vertaalbureau, many thanks for your comment!
Groetjes!
I disagree with Steph. I don’t think the post is cheap at all, as it is written in a formal manner. Also, the author clearly pointed out that it was written from a media related viewpoint, so cut her some slack. I actually found this post highly interesting, because I had never thought of the media being so influencial! Great post.
‘Speaking as a speaker’ of French and Swedish, and consequently being able to read/speak my way around all the related languages, the article surely misses a point: Germanic languages are very similar. And so are the Romance languages. And they are both separate.
English, of course, has its massive vocabulary links with French, but mainly in loanwords that can nearly always be substituted with a ‘Germanic’ equivalent (royal, kingly etc.) and English grammar is so much more rooted in the Germanic languages that to learn it as a second language (as a Romance language speaker) will present a first barrier, add to that the sounds being completely unfamiliar and you have a second barrier, making the task seem somewhat tricky. This is probably why most Italian school-children opt for French over English classes.
Or, to put it the other way, Germanic-language speakers already have a feel for the simple English grammar and sounds before they even start to learn it.
You mention that TV isn’t dubbed as much in Germanic-speaking countries, and that young people are better at English, but to me these are more of an effect of English’s accessibility and popularity than a cause of its success in Germanic countries.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Let me share my experience with media and learning languages. I am 33 and I am Latvian (quite close to Northern Europeans), as I was 3-4 years old I already understood Russian because of TV programs I watched (usually they were more interesting then Latvian ones).
In 90-ties, as Soviet Union collapsed, we had a chance to watch a lot of German channels using satellite dishes. In couple of years I understood German as well. In Secondary school we had to choose the 2nd foreign language. I chose German and didn’t need to open a book during lessons, I new almost everything my teacher wanted to ask.
Today: my 2,5 year old son tries to speak Latvian, his favorite English words (from Mickey Mouse club house)are “come on” and “see”, he also uses some Russian words and he can also say “hello” and “thank you” in Chinese, thanks to cartoons.
It just shows that using media can help to understand other languages, however you can also easily forget one if you don’t use it quite often.
This is something that I haven’t considered before, but I certainly have noticed a large difference in the quality of English spoken by Northern Europeans compared to Southern.
I think that this highlights the impact that media, such as TV, can have on a person using a language.
This shows that for somebody who wants to learn a language in a more ‘casual’ manner, as a hobby for instance, watching subtitled films and TV programs could be a good tool to speed up their learning.
-Dale
Indeed there is a large difference in the quality of English spoken by Northern Europeans compared to Southern. But what can you say about Eastern Europe ? I believe we have almost the same TV programs as the rest but still the majority of the Eastern Europe has on my opinion the worst spoken and written of all.
The article is really fantastically written. I do agree with the fact that media has its biggest influence over a human life and it has created its impact in a lot of ways. Sometimes it has proven to be really classy whereas at several times it has put its worst consequences.
The article has put a sharp indication about the language difference and seriously this difference can stridently be pointed out. Although our parent can scold us many times for watching TV but dear guardians’ television does have its good impact for its viewers. What say?
It is true! Incidentally, in contribution, I should like to say that at least here in Brazil, is the same as in the Netherlands. I.e. many u.s. programs and movies are shown with subtitles. Which facilitates the learning of English.
For the Dutch it is very important to learn a lot of languages as it is a little country with a lot of possibilities (look at metropolises as Amsterdam and Rotterdam). If those people would only speak their own language, they wouldn’t get anywhere. For foreigners it wouldn’t bring a lot of benefits to learn the Dutch language as The Netherlands is so small compared to most other countries. It is important for them to communicate in a proper way to make a good statement though. Dutch can be a very complicated language.