EmilGil said:
A not very subtle gesture against those of us who already expressed our wish to participate in the meeting without knowing Spanish...
I guess we'll have to deutsch gesprechen if the Euromeet 2008 ends up in Berlin as it seems. What's wrong with using English in an international forum like this?
Ladies and Señores,
Let us lighten up, eh? I'm sure all will be welcome in any RFF meeting wherever it is held, and that the common language will be spoken so all may communicate and feel comfortable.
To those in Europa I can only say that here in the EEUU (that's Spanish for United Estates), Big Hermano (Brother) has, from time to time, attempted to regulate which language may be spoken. Some of our RFF frères (that's FRENCH for brothers) in Europa might be shocked to learn of an initiative here in USA called "English Only". Most of y'all over on "that side of the pond" speak lots of them "foreign"
😀 languages in addition to your "native" language so a movement to legislate which tongue can be used in the workplace might seem a bit bizarre to y'all. If I'm off track here, please do let me know (avísenme).
However, please do understand that a plea to "Speak English" here in the EEUU has connotations beyond a simple request to communicate in a manner that all can understand. If you are curious, search the web for "English Only". I for one, got a kick out of seeing someone post in Catalá, a very beautiful language. I did not consider it an attempt at exclusion. I also enjoy seeing those occasional posts in Norwegian or Tagalog though I have no idea what is said!
Consider yourselves lucky (maybe not) that no one has started posting in the language of the post-modern age: Spanglish!
Hasta la victoria.....