No 'togetherness' In Some Of Our Cities It Would Seem.

[anotheoldgit]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6990645/Ghetto-Britain-complex-division-Nigel-Farages-dog-whistle-politics.html

/// The highest concentration of Muslims is in Glodwick. One of the residents who answered the door to me was a woman, in traditional Islamic dress, who could not speak English; her son, 22-year-old Aqil, told me she had arrived in the country from Pakistan when she was in her 20s. She was now 60. ///

Been in this country for 40 years and still can't speak English????????

[youngmafbog]

No surprises really.

You see people in the middle of nowhere in Asian countries who speak English but they can or won't here. The big problem is cultural of course particularly with the older immigrants. I predict change with the younger ones as the years pass.

[cassa333]

What is dog whistle politics?

[THECORBYLOON]

Do all the ex-pats in Spain, for example, speak Spanish after living there for decades?

[youngmafbog]

TCL, actually you will find most do. If they dont then they will struggle to do anything with the civil authorities so they are left with little choice.

[fiction-factory]

I have some doubts as to whether this story is true. In my experience it is very unlikely that a Pakistani heritage Muslim lady would have answered the door to anyone other than a family member.

[sp1814]

There are areas all over Britain that are split down the middle (Jaywick and Grimsby spring to mind) where there are the areas extremely poor areas and relatively wealthy areas.

It's the case all over the country. Walk a couple of miles from Kennington and you get to Camberwell.

However, sorry to digress. That's not what this thread is about.

[fender62]

all my friends in greece or spain speak the the native language, as was mentioned to get on with civil authorities etc, and to better integrate
and understand what they are buying in supermarkets and restaurant menus.

[sp1814]

fender62

In terms of demographics, all your friends are hardly arepresentative of a group - unless the group is all your friends.

It's like Simon Cowell saying that all his friends own Porsches. It doesn't really mean anything unless he has a wide group of friends from varied socio-economic backgrounds.

[JJ109]

I have lived in Thailand for 12 years and I can get by with a lot of very basic pidgin Thai. However I can understand a lot more than I can speak. I know what words mean, I just can't pronounce them correctly. I have no desire to learn any more. Most of the people who I interact with have a basic understanding of English. There are many expats from many different countries and the common denominator is English....they all have better English than Thai.

I am exactly the same as that Pakistani woman. I am prepared to get by with a smattering of Thai mixed in with a bit of English. I am too old to go back to school and want to enjoy the rest of my life....I don't need to learn the language fluently!

[THECORBYLOON]

YMB, most may do but there will be some who don't and that is my point.

[THECORBYLOON]

I wonder how many of the ex-pats would be willing and able to conduct an interview with a journalist in Spanish?

[naomi24]

THECORBYLOON, As I read it the woman in question didn't conduct an interview. Her son spoke.

[THECORBYLOON]

I was meaning that not many ex-pats would be able to conduct an interview in a foreign language so why is it expected the lady to have done so?

[naomi24]

40 years is a long time.

[dannyk13]

Just a thought, when I was Italy and spoke Italian one person was surprised and told me it was thought that the English expected everyone else to speak English.

[THECORBYLOON]

I'm sure that many British folk don't bother making the effort to learn the local language regardless of how long they live there.

[sanmac]

Why on earth are you thrashing around with an interview with a journalist when the crucial point of the article is regarding the ghettoization of portions of the country by people unwilling and flatly refusing to learn the language of the country and adapt to its mores, customs, and rules?

[naomi24]

I think many British people do expect others to speak English when they go abroad, danny. That's not really the same issue as living in a country and, after 40years, still being unable to communicate.

[douglas9401]

Oh well, as long as you're sure.

[douglas9401]

^ TCL ^