English Language in Eastern Europe

Posted by Amanda Kendle Sep 24, 2006

We've talked about Eastern Europe language fun before, but this week I read an interesting paragraph in a Rick Steves guidebook that clarified the situation even more for me. His thinking goes like this:

Residents of big, powerful Western countries, like Germany or France, might think that foreigners should learn their language. But Eastern Europeans are as practical as Westerners are stubborn. They realize it's unreasonable to expect an American to learn Hungarian (with only 12 million speakers worldwide), Croatian (5 million), or Slovene (2 million). When only a few million people on the planet speak your language, it's essential to find a common language with the rest of the world - so they learn English early and well.

Makes sense, doesn't it? Considering that until the fall of the Iron Curtain, few students learn English in school, the level of English ability in Eastern Europe is incredibly high. And for my part, I'm grateful for this attitude when I'm traveling. Of course, I still believe it's not only useful but also polite to learn some basic phrases of the local language - good morning, thank you, and numbers are the most helpful - but after six months of Slovak lessons, I realised it would take a lifetime to master one of these difficult Slavic languages.

Speaking of the Rick Steves guidebook, stay tuned for a review next week of Rick Steves' "Best of Eastern Europe" title.