Hello! I'm Charlie, Charlie Felter. I'm your English language teacher. And today topic
is going to be...
Well, I have traveled the world... and having traveled the world that much I
can say that there have been places I've been to where I have been better
welcomed than others, especially as a native English speaker. So, let's speak
about Spain maybe to start with. When I was in Spain some people did try to
speak English. Some people did have a very interesting accent and it's
particular, it's a bit different, but you have to remember that Spain is in a
way than Empire, seemed like a small country, but it's not. It's an empire. Why
am I saying this because if you consider South America - well, they all speak
Spanish there. And you think about the biggest banks in South America, well,
they're Spanish banks. So, you understand that Spaniards have imposed
their language on other people, but they probably didn't think or have never
thought that learning another language was very important - like really learning
it fluently like speaking at least two languages fluently. However one of the
good things with Spain is that there're local languages, and people more or less... some
people more or less speak them and this is quite respected. For example, if you go
to the Basque Country, people speak Basque, and that's a very nice language.
It's... We don't know where it comes from actually. Nobody knows where this language comes
from because it's not related to any other languages. Some people actually
think that the Basque language is related to Georgian in Caucasian.
Nobody really really really knows. If you go to Barcelona you'll find
people speak Catalan. Now, Catalan is also a language, it's not a dialect. It's got
its a real grammar, it's academic, it's a real language, it's a
powerful language, just as much as French is an international language, and
just as much as Spanish or "Castaliano". "Castaliano" is an international language.
Well, Catalan is spoken mainly by Catalan people, but it's definitely a very
strong language. it was a major language at some point in history, and now it's
still.. it still presents... it's still a part of the scene, and it's a
very nice language, I really like it. If you go to Andalusia, people have their
own dialects there as well. If you go to Extremadura, and people have
their own dialects as well, fewer people, most people will speak "Castaliano", the
"Castaliano" which is the International Spanish. And there maybe also in Galicia
which is a part of Northern Spain people have their own language there which is
Gallego. I think it's similar... I don't know much about that language. I think if
I remember, it is close I believe it closely linked to Welsh, and to the
the britons language in France and from the language from Brittany. I think there
are links there, I think they're linked. However as an English person I never
quite felt... It was strange, it was... because... Basically in... Spain being an
empire, and that avoids linguistically speaking and they don't
really have to learn English, and people who speak English I've seen very much as
a green goes and were very different. We have a very different mentality. A lot
of these try to argue or justify, or explain, or find the truth, or being the devil's
advocate. These are things... these are in English qualities I think or it
could be stereotypes, or or aspects of English culture, but in Spain it was very
different, in Spain people want to know everything about me. People wanted to
know: why did, where I was going, who were my friends, what I did with them, - and
usually groups. And if I had known better, probably I would have played the game
and being honest because I like to keep things private. I like... I think of
certain things are personal, and I think you shouldn't trust everybody and say
everything to everyone. Well, I didn't, I kept things for myself I was honest with
certain people. I mean I was sincere with some certain people and speaking
them about my life, why not? I did it. But there were lots of people I kept away
from my life. But see, in Spain everybody wants to know who you are what
you do and they're going to speak very quickly and spread rumors... and I thought
my experience they did spread rumors. They said "he was doing this and this, and
this, this", - and it became a big story and that was probably because they
have a good mentality. They function as very much
as groups: you're in the group or not in a group. If you're in the group, you got
to trust a group and be very open about your life. It does
the way it works: have to be very open about your life. I wasn't like this
at the time, and maybe things would be different now. I still have
Spanish friends and it's fine. But that was my point of view. I've also
noticed that... and I noticed then that when I was in Spain, I wanted to... I didn't
just want to stay in Spain. During the holidays I wanted to go up to other
places or other countries, or visit the world. And I was fine with meeting
people from different countries. I was fine with meeting people from all
around the world. That was fine for me. So, and even, you know, and even
speaking their language that was fine, to me
that was okay a learning the languages. So, I would always ask "how do you say hello
in your language, how do you say bye-bye, how do you say thank you, how do you say
please, how do you say, you know, how you say oh it's a very nice meal or how do
you say enjoy your meal". All these things I know, I wrote them down, I would write
them down actually and learn them. And the next time I met the person I had
learnt, I would have learnt these words and these sentences and then
be very impressed "Wow, it's like you know very very nice" - usually. Sometimes some
people reacted a little bit strange, but some people were very were
very fond of that. That was very good. So, it was a way of
making connections. I did feel that in Spain when they travel some
people do mainly like enough the Empire mentality. I remember that's the Empire
mentality. People who don't... have not been imposed or asked to
speak another language, haven't pushed themselves to speak another language
what off... Very often what they do - they stay with their own people.
So, I did feel that in Spain... when traveling with... with Spanish, Spanish
people they would stay if we met Americans, for example, or Latin Americans
or I would be very happy and very open to speaking with them, but the
Spaniards would be happy to stay
with Spaniards, which, which is sort... I mean it's in one way it's a strength
because they stay united and and strong, and it's something I didn't
understand then, it's something I understand now. And definitely I
didn't feel that was the place where speaking English was the most welcomed.
Some people speak English oke sort of alright. But there are
lots of other great things in Spain, but I think English wasn't the most
most impressive. I've been to.. So that's it for Spain. Now, if we consider
I've lived in Poland as well for about three months, thinking Poland that was very
impressive. In Poland, I have to say, and not
everybody spoke English, but a lot of people did speak English. And their
accent mostly seemed like.. It almost seemed like
to me like a regional, strange regional British or native English accent
sometimes. It was interesting. And some people did master English very very
very well. Reasons for this in Poland
people... I've met lots and lots of Poles and it's a tendency "I really like
England, I really do", just a fact. For them England is, it's like a second
country, this is like a that's a lot of them want to go and they're very welcome
in England. Just a fact must be history, I don't have a real reason
explanation for it, but I did feel that I was I was quite shocked when I was in
Wroclaw, that I did meet people who spoke very nicely, very very nicely. And I
still have students... have had a few polish students and and learning English
was very very very important to them, very important to them. Few of them, one
he had a great level , but English culture... was very fascinated by
English culture, and so it was really beautiful and really really really
liked it. And I have... And I've met some other polish students who... I've
talked to them and they were had a very high level of English, some of them. Some
of them I've had three or four, and it was very interesting to work with them,
very interesting to work with them, especially. And the reason why this is, it's not just
linguistic, it's not because the Poles are better at languages, they're not.
Nobody is better at languages, nobody is. Some people are more inclined towards a
language ,and then another.. what it is is just cultural, it is just cultural.. There
is a link between Poland, a historical link between Poland and
England, and people are fond of the culture and English values, they
like these values, very often. That's what I felt, they liked,
they liked British values - they really did. And that was.... that was very very... is very
powerful that's why... that's why it is like this. Its historical, its
historical reason. Then... and now I live in Ukraine and I have to say that it's
completely different. Here hospitality is the most important thing.
And people are highly welcoming, and you will never be as welcomed. I mean in my
experience anywhere else as well as well as in Ukraine. Ukrainian people are
fabulous, extremely nice and they are very open and they're very emotional
very very very emotional, they'd like to speak about, they do as they feel, they do
as they think, and it's great, it's great to be with people like this. Some
people are.. Basically what I like about Ukraine I'll be very very very honest
with you.. Ukraine is a multi language country, is a bilingual country. Here
people speak Russian and people speak Ukrainian, but not only. Because here
there was also also "Mitteleuropa" which is the German influence or German...
the influence of German culture here, in this part of the world, in Eastern Europe.
And it was very powerful, it's still present. And if you go to Western Ukraine,
you'll find many people who actually haven't, some of them have never been to
Germany who speak fluent German. And that's very very very powerful. Here, in
Ukraine, you'll find people who also speak, you find different people, so
you'll find Romanians who speak Romanian, especially in eastern Ukraine,
you'll find Belarusians who also speak Belarusian, you'll find
people from other nations from the ex-soviet countries who also live here and speak
their language. And they all speak Russian. So, there is an understanding
of what being a foreigner is. And it's very important... And people want you
to speak Russian, it's important to them. And if you speak a little bit of
of Ukrainian, well, "дуже приємно" it's very very good. People will like you
even more because Ukrainian is a very very beautiful language, it's different
from Russian because it sounds different as an English speaker ukrainians it's
got a great great melodical structure, it's very beautiful to hear,
it's very soft and it's very tender and it's very very very romantic. Russians
got that the sort of harshness without being too harsh. It's got that power.. it
got that power without being harsh. That's whatI like about it. It feels like
it's very condensed and focused, and concentrated, and very emotional at the
same time without, kind of powerful without being aggressive, that's what I
like about Russian. And people will encourage you to speak Russian. Some
people don't know Russian, don't know English, but I'll tell you something if
you know Russian like me, but you at the intermediate level, so you
don't speak at a high high high level, but usually I work on my Russian, it's
very important to me. When you meet somebody who doesn't speak English, they
will be very happy to speak Russian with you here in Ukraine. They will feel like
you really understand them. And they will say well "On nash". If
you speak Ukrainian, a few words of Ukrainian, that's even better,
but knowing Russian is very very helpful because you need to know it here and, you
know, to go around the city, so it's... And people will really respect you for
knowing Russian or even if you don't speak at a very high level. However
you'll meet people who speak English and that's good, and most most people are
interested in speaking English. I'll tell you what, I like working with
Ukrainian students because in Ukraine people know what it's like to learn
another language because Russian speakers have had to learn Ukrainian, and
that's powerful, and that's great! And Ukrainian speakers have had to learn
Russian, and that's great, and that's wonderful, and that's what makes
Ukrainian people open as a nation. Ukrainian people will always ask how
other people, how foreigners or how Americans live, how Chinese people live,
they're very curious about how they live. They want to know what it's like and
they're very open. So, being here in Ukraine as an English speaker is
fabulous, it's very very very good. And people will ask you questions. They'll say
"how do you say this, what's the word for that,
what's the preposition, what's the right tense". And they will ask you questions
about your culture and at the same time having their own very powerful culture.
You see, what I like about Ukrainians is they learn the language without being
submissive. There's nothing being submissive about learning a language, but
that's what most empires think, that's what most Spanish think. They think if
you're going to learn French, you're going to submit yourself for the French, and
you're going to be influenced by the French and their empire. And the French
think if we're going to learn English, which they don't know some time, they
think we're going to be influenced by Britain and we're going
to do things like Britain and we're going to lose our independence.
It's not, it's not true! That's the opposite. And the proof is in Ukraine people are
doing it and people in Ukraine people speak Russian, English, some people speak
fluent German and people speak Ukrainian as
well. So, it's a many people speak four or five languages here and there being
respected. And that's very very powerful so I'm very happy here in Ukraine and
honestly it's it's it's wonderful here. So, that's it for today. I wish you..
Hope you liked it and I'll see you next time, in the next video
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