Council Madness

[Wizzo]

An investigation by TV channel More4 revealed in June that local U.K. councils spend the equivalent of £40 million a year translating their documents into dozens of languages in the cause of "fairness," even obscure languages that few residents speak, and even given evidence that, in dozens of cases, no one has ever tried to access the documents. Translations were found in Albanian, Bengali, Kurdish, Somali, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sierra Leonean Creole, Karen (eastern Burma) and Ga (Ghana), among others.

Sigh 

[Jericoke]

I know this might sound like an odd question, but does the UK have an 'official language'?  In Canada, we have 2 official languages, English and French.  By law all services in Canada must be offered in both languages, and if you don't know either, then you're at the mercy of the people you're dealing with.

The USA, conversely, has no official language at all.  Obviously most people use English, but there's no law requiring anything be done in any particular language.

[Ian]

All National documents should be in the language of the relevant country, if you want to live in that country, learn to read and speak in their language. That should be law whatever the country.

[Scott]

Well, to be fair Ian, as an english speaking Canadian (never learned more French than I need to order a coffee), I happen to live in a German part of Switzerland and have learned mostly by immersion.  I am however going to see-saw back and forth on the yay and nay of your argument. 

I took a German course years ago, but here they speak in dialects, so it was fairly useless as far as learning to speak and understand the language.  It helped with the reading, but I still (after 7 years) find it difficult to get through an article in the newspaper.  In conversations, I sometimes even miss the main point.  If it's a table full of people, I usually just put my head down and eat.  Thankfully Swiss get english now in grade 6, so I can at least speak english with most of the younger Swiss.  I do try with those that can't speak english, and thankfully my vocabulary in hotel/restaurant service is big enough that I can get by with that. 

As for official documents, one thing you may be forgetting is that even if someone is able to learn quickly to read, speak and understand a laguage, most government documents are filled with words and expressions that you don't hear in normal conversation.  Then again, someone with a bit of ingenuity can find translation tools easily on the internet, certainly enough to fill out most government forms.  I'm very thankful that there is no law (I guess you think it should be with tests?) requiring me to speak any of the Swiss languages.  If there was, I would move away.

Should I live here?  Well, I just so happened to have found myself a Swiss wife, and currently it makes more sense to live here than in Canada for us.  Should I try to find time between my job and my family and take intense courses so I can blend right in?  I don't think so, and don't really care what any locals think about that one.  But on the other hand, I can deal with things being in French, German or Italian wherever I go, and wouldn't ask the government to print anything in English just for me.  I think you would probably find this attitude in most english speaking ex-pats here, and there is a very large population of them here (someone told me it's something like 8% english mother tongue in Switzerland).  Perhaps if the proportion of english here increases, they should look at doing that extra printing.  Some have the language talent, some don't - I don't.

   

[Ian]

I understand what you are saying Scotty, most British people probably have trouble with official documents( I think that they ARE meant to confuse you). The problem over here is that the government seems to bend over backwards for asylum seekers(legal or illegal)but will not give a British born person the slightest of help. THIS IS NOT A LEADER FOR AN ARGUMENT. That being said, like yourself, I would try my hardest to learn the language of the country I migrated to.

[Jericoke]

All National documents should be in the language of the relevant country, if you want to live in that country, learn to read and speak in their language. That should be law whatever the country.

So in England that would be Gaelic?  Welsh?  Saxon?

That's why I ask if there is a codified 'legal language' in England.