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English.

Not often that we hear old English. Do you remember the times when people used the expression?  Woe is me? Meaning of course that all is not well in their small part of life. Once on holiday in Kent I overheard two people talking about the times we are living in. We have it a lot better than our Fathers. The second voice, Did we really though they too went through the world war one. Things must have been hard for them, as well you know.

Now I have lost my train of thought what did I mean by Old English? All languages are altered in some way by each oncoming generation. If our great, great, grandparents came back to this Earth would they be able to understand what today’s generation is speaking about. I doubt it. Since those days so much has happened in this world in which we live. New things are being discovered every day, new words have to be found and used by all of us.

Have you ever listened to very young babies as they start to copy their parents speaking habits? Oh! Yes every small mistake will be copied by the very young. As a parent you might not have noticed it with your own children but as you listen to other peoples children it will come to you. The same occurs with the elderly. Speaking is also a matter of being able to hear well, if you cannot hear well you cannot get the finer points of speech as spoken from person to person. I am not a nosy person but I must admit that sometimes when in a café or restaurant I do eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. Inwardly I smile to myself when I hear some of the words used as part of the English Language. If you do take part in this small game I play better keep a smile on your face. It is very hard to make a fuss when someone has a smile on their face. Mind you a smile not a grin, there is a difference you know.

A plea for those people born in another land, People some of whom are in Great Britain for the first time. Many have been learning English at school others have picked up a smattering of English from British Tourists, Give them a chance, laughing or grinning certainly does not help. Correcting each mistaken word does not help either. Wait until you understand what is wanted, then repeat the same question or telling in your best English. Smile and take your leave. Give the stranger the feeling that it was a pleasure to be of assistance. Or better put yourself in his or her place. You are in his or her Country and you ask one of the local inhabitants in his or her own language for the way or where you can buy something to eat. If you make yourself understood then that is another one of the small satisfactions of being abroad. You have made yourself understood all of that time spent in learning your foreign language was not wasted time. Who knows you might make a lifelong friend, I myself have a few foreign friends, mainly because I keep an open mind. Also I listen carefully and always try to be helpful, whenever I hear that someone is having difficulty in a language that is not theirs from birth on.