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Is India or US the biggest English-speaking country?
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<<All of the native Chinese people I have met in the US just used their actual names -- they didn't try to be "Bob" or "Julie". >>
At least one that I know of goes under the name "Ken", rather than "Chun-Kuan" (or something like that).
If they can't make themselves understood to native speakers, then I don't think it's accurate to say that they speak English. Many of them seem to have trouble not only speaking Engslih but also understanding it. As for the comparison to Scottish people, there's a difference between a regional dialect and a foreign accent.
Uriel: your use of "a whole 'nother" was in jest, right?
An excellent example of English usage in India: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsdGGDc7xjg
>>Uriel: your use of "a whole 'nother" was in jest, right?<<
Actually, "a whole nother" is a very common form in modern colloquial NAE overall...
India is probably a lot like the Netherlands, where many many people speak English but English is not one of the official languages.
************************************* Don't be silly. India has two official languages. Hindi and English.
Here are the word's 10 biggest English-speaking countries (the number of people who speak English as a native language or second language)...
Country......................No English speakers 1) United Staes...............251 million 2) India............................90 million 3) Nigeria..........................79 million 4) Britain...........................60 million 5) Philippines......................43 million 6) Germany........................36 million 7) Canada..........................25 million 8) Australia.........................17.3 million 9) Pakistan.........................17 million 10 France...........................16 million However, if you emasure the size of an English-speaking country by the percentage of the population who speaks English, then Britain is the world's largest English-speaking country..... Country............................% of people who speak English (major countries only) 1) Britain................................. 97.74% 2) US......................................89.33% 3) Ireland.................................87.06% 4) New Zealand.........................85.93% 5) Australia..............................81.13% 6) Canada................................75.69% 7) Netherlands...........................72.97% 8) Sweden................................71.62% 9) Denmark...............................69.23% 10) Finland................................50.77% There are other countries, such as St Vincent and the Grenadines, in which English-speakers make up 95% of the population, but I haven't included these micro-states and other very small nations.
But there is a difference, one must remember, between "English-speaking population" and "natively English-speaking population", which the above does not take into account.
<<10 France...........................16 million >>
Please. To come up with such a high number of English speakers in France, you need to disregard completely fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. If I had to guess, I'd say the number of fluent English speakers in France must be 600,000 at best.
<<It's off-topic now, but think about this if you like: I don't know about other countries, but do you, Germans, French, Russians (you all write in alphabet, unlike us and the Japanese, for example), for example, use English names instead of your real names in the English class/the English department/the English-speaking office? >>
I don't know about how other people do it in English classes, but when I was in high school, it was common for teachers of Sapnish or French to have the students pick out Spanish or French names to go by in class. I think it served two purposes: A, it was supposed to "get you into it" and embrace the language, and B, sometimes English names are not easily pronounced in Spanish or French, and you have to break out of the pronunciation environment they are trying to instill in you to say them. So if people had a name that was easily rendered and still recognizable in Spanish pronunciation, often they would go with that; if they had a name that had a Spanish counterpart, like Carlos for Charles or Juan for John, they would go with that; or if they really wanted to be creative or had some impossible name, they could just pick whatever they wanted. <<>>Uriel: your use of "a whole 'nother" was in jest, right?<< Actually, "a whole nother" is a very common form in modern colloquial NAE overall... >> Perfectly said, Travis. I often write the way I speak, colloquialisms and all. I figure you might as well see real-life usages so you can get a feel for them, rather than me always using the formal mode. That's why I will use incomplete sentences and slang when I post -- usually that was actually what was running through my head while I was writing. Sometimes I look back at my posts and get that English Composition 101 urge to correct them, and occasionally I do, but sometimes I just leave 'em as is. I figure if people spot something that they are confused by, they'll ask.
I would rather tend to think that everyone is different and has different qualities and defects. And it's one oneself who finds things that make that particular person better or worse than others, at least to one's eyes.
Although I also wonder what's a perfect man or a perfect woman, and if there are such things, by saying normal men I mean that we men are human, not better, not worse, but only human. That's our weakness, but also our greatest asset, our strength. And let me tell you, people. That no language in the world has enough words to describe or express love. Describing or trying to define love is trying to enfold love with words. Love can't be enclosed with words. That is impossible to do, for love is infinite.
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