this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Maybe you don't need the language for work. But you will need te learn the language eventually for other day to day interactions.
Or the paper works outside of the labs.
Don't know about other countries, but in Norway you always have the option of getting websites and government information in English. Everyone speaks it including cashier's, cleaners etc.
The same thing is not true in Germany and Spain.
Dutchie here, we do the same. Everybody speaks (some form of) English, almost everything is also available in English.
This is true but also keep in mind that Dutch is still leading in most cases. E.g. if you have a contract that's both in English and Dutch, if issues arise the Dutch translation will usually be the one that is followed
The Dutch speak better English than some parts of England.
My experience is purely based on Germany and I hate it even as a native. Plus having ADHD and paper being a chore doesnt help at all...
Also most folks (in my experience of south west Germany) of age >40-50 have little experience with English and can't converse beyond the most basics.
For some reason France really doesn't like giving english (or any other than french) options on their gov sites. Every other country in the eu are fine.
I would most certainly disagree that every person speaks English. Especially older people don't, but in general many people here do not speak a good english
Oh, I see that I totally forgot to mention I'm from Germany
No, pretty much anyone in Norway can speak English, some don't feel confident in their ability though. But if you ask any rando on the street if they speak English you get the answer of course ".
They're exposed to English every day from multiple sources. You aren't allowed into university unless you can read and write English to a high level. Your text books are in English at university and classes open to exchange students are taught in English. All English media is subtitled. And school lessons in English start when they're 6. No mystery, just practice.
never needed german knowledge to do standard burocracy stuff
im in the country for almost 10 years now without speaking a word. not true.