International English

Should native English speakers have to learn international English?

Sometimes I think so called "native speakers" should learn to speak the English which is used more globally, such as that spoken by the Dutch and Scandinavians or Germans, To me (non-native English speaker) it seems that non-native speakers speak and write far clearer and use many less vague expressions than native speakers who often tend to often speak and WRITE in very convoluted ways. I work for an international company and when we get emails from native speakers we often have a hard time understanding exactly what they are trying to say. I think many emails native speakers send (both AE and BE) look they are saying one thing, but upon further examination mean something very different. I often need to consult our in house Irishman to "translate" native speakers' English into International English so that we can really understand what the native speaker is really saying.

Wny can't native speakers just write more clearly like Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians?

Okay, I asked our in house German to translate that into local English, but he just smiles at me and doesn't seem to understand what I'm asking. Would it be too much trouble if I asked you if you could possibly beat about the bush a little more? :)

Becuase most English speakers expect non-native speakers to have native-like understanding, including all the idiomatic forms as well. It's probably an unconscious thing.

<sarcasm>
Well, the same goes for just about any language. Why can't native Germans write more like Anglo-Germans? Anglo-Germans write German more clearly and don't use idiomatic expressions. They also don't bother with all the der/die/das business. I think that all native Germans should have to learn to write in a way that is easy for English speakers to understand, and not use the confusing gibberish and idiomatic phrases that they like to.
</sarcasm>

<<I work for an international company and when we get emails from native speakers we often have a hard time understanding exactly what they are trying to say.>>

You're joking, right?? If you have a hard time understanding it's because you're not a native speaker and therefore your English skills are not up to the same level as a native speaker. It's not unusual for a non-native speaker to have difficulty understanding the vocabulary of a native speaker. You haven't learned enough words yet! You don't understad the idioms yet. You can improve with practice but it takes time. To expect native speakers of any language to communicate in the broken, simplified english of a person who is a student of that language (whether French, Swedish or German) would be silly. If you're serious about this post you probably haven't thought it through.

<<I often need to consult our in house Irishman to "translate" native speakers' English into International English so that we can really understand what the native speaker is really saying.>>

Yes, that makes sense. Your Irish friend has to "dumb it down" for you. As a point of reference, "dumb it down" is another way of saying, "simplify". "Simplify" is another way of saying "reduce it to terms that are simpler".

If you expect native speakers to reduce their communication with you to "me Tarzan, you Jane" language, you'd be advocating an approach that would rob you of useful language development. Embrace those difficult emails and learn from them. Whining about how difficult they are to understand will only delay your progress.

International English = Basic English = language used by 6y.o. native speakers

Idiomatic expressions /like 'once in a blue moon'/ enrich the language, if you don't understand it, get a good dictionary. They ain't expensive ya know?

It's because most non-native speaker speak English badly, whereas native speakers speak it well. It's not the natives who have the problem but rather it's YOU, you need to practice more. I can't believe you're trying to blame them for your shortcomings.

Let's make it more radical. Why don't native English speakers learn foreign languages to speak, say to the Guest, his mother tongue?

Basically, you're saying that we should speak English like a foreigner speaks it, wrongly. Maybe we should just learn their language, I would be happy to. Or, Esparanto... (that's a joke)

There perhaps should be a clear international standard for English so as to reduce ambiguity in meaning. This has already been done out of necessity in Aerospace English where all words have very precise meanings. You can't "X is close" because this is not permitted, as close can also mean to shut something, so you have to say "X is near".

But with English being the international lingua franca it must be easy!

Give me a break

Englische Sprache - einfache Sprache!
Beim Englischn muss man sich NUR "SPO" merken.

Es ist ja kein Wunder, dass die diese Sprache von den Amis übernommen wurde, sonst hätten diese Bekloppten gar nichts zu melden.

<<There perhaps should be a clear international standard for English so as to reduce ambiguity in meaning. This has already been done out of necessity in Aerospace English where all words have very precise meanings. You can't "X is close" because this is not permitted, as close can also mean to shut something, so you have to say "X is near". >>

Yes, but we're not all air traffic controllers. The verbal exchanges they have are brief and to the point and can be highly standardized because they are only going to speak on a limited number of topics that pertain to getting planes to land in the right place without crashing into each other. They can afford to have a small list of stock phrases that pertain to their official transmissions. But giving instructions over the radio is not the same as engaging in real-life day-to-day conversation.

Foreign doctors working in the US need to master all the nuances of the American English, this is especially true of specialties that involve a lot of talking, like family medicine or psychiatry. You may say it's not that important in pathology since dead people can't talk LOL.

But even a doctor trained in Germany working in Switzerland needs to master Swiss German since most patients in Switzerland would use Swiss German with their doctor and not Written German. When you're in pain, or hurt, you can care less about the standard language, be it your own or the one used in the ex-motherland.