Subject: FAQ: Why don't I speak more German ?
From: German_Complainer@
Sender: German_Complainer@

Yes I've been here long enough to learn German, Yes I Can read
German easily enough. No, I don't read mostly German, Why do I think
English is often appropriate ? Is it just because I'm English &
lazy ?  It's an easy accusation, but only part of the reason:
Consider ...

  English is the industry's language (American actually ;-) (Equally
  I prefer an American keyboard as the BIOS & base OS expects, not
  a British keyboard with lost pipe, or even worse a, German keyboard
  where half my vital control character are shifted & missing).

    English is also partly a convenient filter to ensure I generally
    mix with more technically competent locals: Within a few months
    of arrival in '85, it was a German speaking Swiss, who pointed
    out to me that those who couldn't at least read English simply
    weren't so good technically ! (How could they cope with all the
    American computer manuals, books & commented source code ?!)

    Analogies 

	If you were a good tennis player, would you want to play
	in your free time with

          Other good players ?

	  Or with people who weren't comfortable holding the racquet
	  ?

	If you were an experienced computer consultant, would you
	want to spend your technical time with

          Other competent technologists,

	  or people who weren't comfortable reading in the industry's
	  base documentation language ?

      If you were the tennis pro at the club, you'd be prepared to
      work with whoever if you were paid, I guess ?

      Me too ! Pay me & I'm flexible.

      If you want free help, or just to discuss the technology, I
      generally (not always) default back to the industry's
      international language (It's horrible saying or hearing "Ich
      habe es ge-initialisiert" ;-)

  English will be the world language someday I expect, (Romano
  Prodi, (president of the EU commission) is quoted in Newsweek
  June 2004 as saying that, adding that it won't be the language
  of the English, but a changed rationalised English that foreigners
  standardise on) (Good: there certainly are inconsistencies that
  could & should be sacrificed to achieve a world language.)

    I read & negotiate German contracts, technical books, magazines,
    newspapers, & even novels, but I prefer original texts, not
    translations, often inferior.

  German is a more verbose language: (I know, having been responsible
  for installing translations of English & German in both directions
  in computer products, & taking account of a translators natural
  tendency to expand a bit in which ever direction they're going).

  I have very few computer text books in German on my shelves, those
  few were first written by Germans In German, & only later translated.

  Sure there are lots more German computer text books available
  now, but they're often literally thicker & heavier versions of
  an English original, or translated later, after the original
  English is on sale, usually "Me Too" later entries to the book
  market, selling to those who can't comfortably read the previously
  published internationaly known books in English. Makes sense for
  the author & buyer, but makes no sense for me to buy such usually
  entry level books: Can't even quote a page number of a German
  book to some international project member on a mail list in
  America, Russia, or Japan.

  Sometimes being able to read German is a positive advantage: my
  favourite computer magazine is CT Mag. Those who can only read
  English lose out not being able to read that.  There's nothing
  near as good in British magazine racks,

  Local events & business & mail lists of course run often/ mostly
  in local languages, so one reason to be reasonably fluent in both
  local & industry international languages.