You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: White Winter Wonderland / Weißes Winterwunderland
Yes, I think it is important to speak at least one additional language. English is the main second language that is taught at school, but also Slovenian is taught as well as some schools offer a variety of languages you may learn if you want to (French, Russian, Spanish, Italian etc).
Right, I work my eight hours a day and when I work longer I can go home earlier on other days - esp on fridays I like go home at about 12 :)
Howdy sir johannpiber! wow, those are great work hours! Are most companies that flexible with their employee's hours? I'm guess that they aren't. Do you speak any other languages besides Austrian/German and English?
Hi @janton, we have flexible working hours and I'm sorry, but I do not know, if there are many companies offering these. I only speak German/Austrian and English.
Howdy again sir johannpiber! Hey, when you talk to neighbors and local people, do they speak both languages or does everyone speak German/Austrian? Surely there are older people who don't speak English?
Hi again @janton, of course the older people like my parents don't speak English and we speak mainly Austrian.
German is the main official language, but we also have the Slovenian ethnic group or the kroatic and some more. I have grown up in a part of our country, where only Austrian was spoken, so I can hardly tell anything about these groups. The languages used to cause some problems many years ago, but not anymore :)
howdy again sir johannpiber...thanks for the explanation. So if I were over there visiting and walking down the street and stopped someone who wasn't old, and I spoke to them in English they would probably be able to understand me?
Yes, I think every Austrian below the age of 50 or 55 should be able to understand you. But this depends also on how long they have not spoken English or if they ever have needed English after school. When you don't speak a language for a long time you will forget a lot.
Howdy again sir johannpiber! It's probably real late there now isn't it? Well, so you never see any signs in English and no radio done in English? It seems like if the public schools were teaching English they would want the people to be able to keep it as a language so you would think there would be something in the public areas that would force them to stay familiar with English.
But that's just my thinking on it. I don't mean to keep talking about this one little subject but I'm just trying to understand it since we have only English taught here unless you take a special class.
We have many Hispanics here, very many in Texas.
Hi @janton,
yes, it's 10pm and I am going to bed in a few minutes. Right, no english signs etc, apart from signs for tourists...
Yes, they are teaching it, but when you don't need a language apart from school, why learn it further on? When these people then get a job where they need English or another language they will learn it again :)