The British Empire controlled a quarter of the land on Earth and subjugated a quarter of the world’s population. I wonder how many of the local languages the Brits were fluent in. 🤔
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THere's a story of someone complaining about some people speaking something other than English on a bus.
It happened in Wales and they were speaking Welsh.
The word Welsh incidentally means foreigner and was used as an insult. Still is.
And it's a struggle to get Cymraeg taught in our own country.
Mind you Britain did have a treaty with indigenous people in America before the rebellion not to go any further west. It may not have been abided by but we know for sure the USA didn't.
The announcement is silly dog whistling, but you're talking about something different, involving different people, somewhere else, a long time ago, so it's not really relevant. For the record my mill worker and coal miner ancestors did not learn any other languages but also didn't invade anywhere.
None. And that's still the case today. With few exceptions, the British share with the French a profound disinterest in languages other than their own. Wherever they go, they behave like they're at home and don't need to bother learning the local language.
If “fluency” in English had been the standard, Albert Einstein would not have been allowed to remain in the U.S. He could read English, but he had difficulty speaking it “fluently.”
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It happened in Wales and they were speaking Welsh.
The word Welsh incidentally means foreigner and was used as an insult. Still is.
Answer to your question: precious few.
Mind you Britain did have a treaty with indigenous people in America before the rebellion not to go any further west. It may not have been abided by but we know for sure the USA didn't.
Again, it's a symptom of being completely disconnected from history.
The masters don't have to learn, the slaves do.
Looking forward to deporting them.
They should all be quiet forever, however.
They are keen to demand language criteria of foreigners most of then can’t meet themselves.
Also notable it’s only English?
Not Cymraeg for example.
Their lack of education doesn’t excuse them being heartless scum.