Obama...that fucking dim-witted fool. He'll take any chance he can get to bash the U.S. By his idiotic rationale someone who speaks English, Italian and Spanish should be embarrassed if they travel to Poland and don't speak Polish. Most Americans' second language is Spanish obviously because we border a Spanish-speaking country. I love foreign languages, I took German and French in HS and college but I remember very little because no one here speaks those languages...nor do they need to.
Wait... foreign visitors make the efforts and are often taught at an early age to learn the international language of business when visiting the US but we expect people to know our language when we visit as tourists it their homeland?
You find this offensive, America? Remember your outrage about pressing 1 for English and 2 for Spanish. Hypocritical much? Man I love my country but folks of your sort are simply embarrassing. It's no surprise that the world is leaving us behind technologically.
americans dont know what that word means let alone what nation speaks that language or even know where to locate it on a map. america is psudo country.
@doctorw2 Your tone is degrading and misplaced. How can you generalize an entire country as you did? You are as bad as any American who fits the description that you have stated. J'etudie francais depuis 2 ans aux etats-unis. je sais qu'il y a beaucoup des gens qui ne parlent qu'anglais, mais tu n'a pas raison a dire quelque chose si mechante. A mon avis, Je suis d'accord que les americains peuvent etre un peu extreme, mais je pense qu'ils peuvent trouver la france sur la carte. Merci beaucoup.
@toutbon09 Yeah! I understood that. My high school French still works! Where I'm from, it's absolutely necessary to speak other languages, since the native language is only spoken by less than 300 thousand in our small island. So English, "Scandinavian" and some German/French are relatively common as second, third and fourth language.
@halfmonk Funny that you pick the foreign and supposedly easy targets whose English is obviously a second language and not your own spiteful man-child brethren such as one's self that speak in internet pidgin english dialect shamelessly when trying to emphasize a point in proper linguistics and you meanwhile conveniently ignore the poignant perspectives brought forth by one TheCaliCapitalist.
You chose the fruit that you felt was your level, which was quite low, and the epic fail is yours, son.
@machinesbreathe you think your use of jr college level vocabulary makes you sound intelligent? i communicate at a level that can be understood by the person i'm speaking to. as opposed to you being pointlessly verbose and also pretentious in a feeble attempt looking cerebral. and your imagination is a exaggerated as your sense of self importance.
WOW god forbid Americans learn how to speak more than english. God forbid he wants an intelligent nation with multiple languages. I was in high school with one african kid who speak, english and french as well as he knew whatever the local tribal language was and he was pretty bright. As well as girl who ace'd english french and spanish classes in high school because she spoke all three before coming to America.
don't think its just America with this general problem, most countries that have English as the first language do, like Canada, Ireland, England etc. With English you can generally get around in a way not possible with Czech, Portugese, German etc. Moreover, many Americans speak spanish, especially those from Meh-e-co, and more will by the looks of things in the future.
@bigbezet Hey, i think you misunderstood me, i was talking about the world generally; eg French is spoken by more people than Portugese, and in more countries, but French in itself is not sufficient to get by in England etc even though it is in Belgium, Switzerland, Cote D'ivoire etc. That is not to say that learning another language other than English is irrelevant, or unimportant; I dont believe that, i studied french in college, as part of my degree and im learning italian now.
@spader49 I'd say the U.S. is the worst though. Most people in Canada and English (not sure about Ireland) at least know one other language. A lot of Americans know a bit too but people aren't really encouraged to continue, or often they don't start until late in life. High school doesn't really count unless you're super dedicated and keep it up. Point is, when Americans go over to France, Germany, etc., we expect them to know how to speak English.
@xsbadger17 - People only learn and retain languages that they need. In Europe, if you drive for a few hours, it's possible to find yourself in a place where they speak another language. It's not like that in the U.S. You can drive for hours and hours and hours and still get by with English. Americans are not arrogant for not retaining the French, German, Spanish they learned in H.S., they simply have no use for it. How many Chinese do you think have any use for French or English?
@Nightowl4272 I realize that, but when Americans travel abroad, we expect everyone to know English and then freak out when someone comes to the U.S. and can't speak English. In fact, people cry "terrorist" when someone has an accent. I know it's difficult for Americans to remember another language when they don't use it, but if they travel at all, they need to at least make an effort.
@spader49 - Yours is the only comment I've read so far that makes a level-headed eyes-open point. People learn the languages that they need. I work in Poland often. In Poland, no one speaks French or Spanish, but they do speak a little German. Why? Because they border Germany and it's of practical use to them. But English is an even far greater value for them because, like you said, they can go just about anywhere and get by with it.
@AynRandFanJG I refuse to call this man President ! He's fed the American people a tractor trailer size load of lies and sadly many millions have believed him and will continue to do so and thus he figures he can just keep his bag of lies going. Can we have Carter back? Never thought there could be a worse one then him but the sorry sob tops even him !
Tout à fait d'accord avec toi. (tu fais encore quelques petites fautes, mais c'est cool ! ^^)
I am French, and we can say the same of our country. I learnt English for 15 years, but I can say that French are bad in languages in generally. Then thank you Mister Obama to make stereotypes which are false!
@lagueuze03 Ouais! C'est cool que nous avons d'accord. Tu parle bien anglais aussi. Mais il y a quelques petites erreurs ^^ ;) Merci pour ton commentaire.
It's not like Americans are particularly good at English either. For example, note the misspelling of embarrassment in the description. Not that it's a big deal, I'm just making a point.
he's right.. the whole world is learning american english.. but most americans don't know much of other languages aside from their own.. in the Philippines alone, there are over 70 dialects in the whole country, then add English.. Filipinos are super multi-lingual.. other Asian and european countries too.. you may wanna be fair to the whole world.. so the standards are fair as well.. :)
He's right. The people clapping fit that category. Can't even speak their own English. Every person should try to learn a second language since it opens doors, and helps you look at your own language objectively. English speakers should know that Spanish is VERY simple to learn at the conversational level. Fifteen minutes a day.
I'm perfectly fluent in English, Spanish, and French. But I'm a Cuban American woman. I also understand and can communicate to an extent in Italian and Portuguese. Speaking multiple languages has opened so many doors in my life. It’s great, I love learning about other cultures and languages. People treat you much better when you communicate in their languages while visiting their countries. They appreciate the effort and interest of willing foreigners.
@Jbo1996 I love people like you. I'm not crazy about Obama, but he is right on here. I am fairly gifted in math and physical sciences (masters in physics). I struggle with languages, but speak pretty good Spanish and German. I would love to visit Cuba some day.
i'm trying to learn french, it's harder to learn french than spanish. spanish is easier than it seems. well, at least i think so. i wonder if we are really able to learn foreign languages such as french, german only online, there are some friends of mine who learned french only by internet!!!!!
German and French are the two most common languages in Europe (aside from English of course). Speaking one of them can be a big advantage if you are to keep up foreign relations, especially if you're a business man.
I'm from Europe. I'm Danish and speak both Danish, English and German.
We Europeans speak "English, French and German" because we ARE English, French and German. We have 27 recognised languages - America speaks English - so it's natural we are going to speak more languages.
@matrix4022 Exactly!! He probably never stopped to think that the reason why they speak other languages, is because the languages that he's referring to "French, German, and English" are their native languages. He also completely messed up the grammatical structure of the sentence that he was trying to speak, so before he bashes his own people, he should take a long hard look at himself in the mirror. I bet that he can't even speak another language himself =) ... Je parle aussi français!!
@Tkdkid9 2 points. #1 politicians give many speeches within a given day, especially if you're president of a country (like the USA). It would be quite condescending---I would argue---for one to think that talking to your OWN countrymen about, what we all agree is relatively true, would be bashing. I would characterize it as intellectual curiosity... constructive criticism. #2 He cannot speak another language. That was his point, if one steps back to think... we need to learn one, as a whole.
@DookTube Just because he gives (gave) "x" number of speeches per day, doesn't give him reason to bash and criticize Americans, many of whom actually do speak a foreign language. I find his statement to be disrespectful of America, and offensive. It was by no means "constructive criticism" because of his facial expressions and body language. He himself cannot even speak another language, so why is he telling all of us to learn a language? Seems like a double standard to me...cont...
@DookTube Pourquoi est-il qu'il n'a pas parler en français à la journaliste "en France" dans cette video? ... Je ne comprend pas? C'est une bonne question, non???
"OBAMA ...AND THE FRENCH"
**Just thought that I would reply in french "that I've been learning for over 6+ years**
@matrix4022 He's not being hard on us... he's being intellectually curious about why it is that we (as a country) don't put more effort into learning other languages. He's acknowledging... through his own folly (the way he pronounced Merci beaucoup) that we should work on that (as a country), and as an American I agree. Learning another language opens your mind... to the world. Most people throughout Europe are vastly more multilingual, and we need recognize that as a country (we Americans).
i find the problem isnt with americans (and english-speaking canadians) not learning other languages, I find the problem is with americans being unwilling to be educated/open about the outside world in any way
@goldenchocolate It isn't necessarily Americans per se, but simply anyone who thinks their way is the best and only way. Being Canadian, I'm almost ashamed to say I can't speak French. I did just find myself a fabulous tutor, though, who believes in teaching the language the same way our children learn languages.
As a Spanish teacher in the US, I agree that our kids our far, far behind kids in other countries, in every subject. I've taught in Europe too. We can thank the teacher's union for our low performing children. BTW, Obama is a big supporter of the teacher's union. How do you say hypocrite in French?
Lol SugarMonkey528, 8-10 different languages? U.S.A being bigger? You have no idea what your talking about! Europe is 10.000.000 km2, U.S.A is only about 90% of that. And theres about 80 languages in Europe at the least, in the EU there's 23 official languages. Don't you know anything at all?
I lived in Amsterdam, Holland for 10 months when I was a kid and I had a friend there whose sister was 13 years old and spoke fluent English. Of course, pretty much everyone you ran into spoke fluent English. Everyone there was required to learn English in middle school. The United States is a joke. I'm saying this as an American. It baffles me how we are the richest country in the world and have the crappiest educational system of any developed nation. It's incredibly sad to me.
Americans are arrogant (and I am one of them). We care about no one but ourselves (if ourselves). We think the world must cater to us, and we even cringe when our president acknowledges such truths. The best country in the world should spread the love. Let's stop giving foreign countries money, franchises, music, and movies and start giving them some respect. Cuz respect is free, and we might like to start saving some of our money while we still have it :-)
@jonsan32 I don't know what Americans you are referring to. The characteristics you refer to are stereotypes. Not all Americans are as you say. And by the way, you get such people as you described everywhere in the world, not just the U.S.A.
@Cirmae True words. But our stereotypes are what people see, just as we see theirs. They don't come out of nowhere... So it's at least somewhat true, and at the very least something to pay attention to and perhaps correct... even if it's just out of respect for others. Like if your spouse critiques you, it would be rude to just ignore it. The world has critiqued us, and we should at least humor the notion that they aren't complete idiots for saying these things about us.
@Cirmae I've traveled a lot, and Obama is just saying a small fraction of what 90% of the whole world ALWAYS says about us. We don't care what they think, what they say, or how they say it. We just care about ourselves. And while I know that's not me, I still think we- as a nation- do need to work on that. Hell, so do other nations! Everyone needs to get better, and I don't mind the US setting the example.
@Cirmae If our President is agreeing to this stereotype there has to be a strong degree of truth to it; by doing this, he isalienating his own citizens with this stereotype, the people who actually vote for him to make sure he keeps his job. He wants to get reelected in 2012, he isn't going to call us all out, unless there is a strong point in doing so and unless said point is extremely accurate.
well.. it's true given the fact that English is the mayor language spoken and descendants from Europe adopted English. But there is quite a large immigration in this country, and so many of us can also go to Europe and speak a language of the Germanic or Romantic languages..
greetings to you from stockholm.. i meant to say english spoken in US... yeah i can imagin.. mandarin or cantonese surpass english.. interesting though i visited netherlands, denmark, norway and sweden. and here everyone speaks english.. if you talk to them...
[brainwashing alert] I think this youtube vid is especially directed at those who never get out of the country. Best look at the stars at night...and remember how dumb it is to restrict oneself to a tiny bit of land mass, and especially to think that's the best and only thing around. hoho :-) that's called jingoistic reductionism = braindeath.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I just returned from a 2-week trip to France where the people were warm and welcoming. When I tried to speak French, they wanted to speak English. All of them! They love America. Kids told nme "I live for America!" "I want to go there some day, we love America." And they said it in English. America is hated only by Obama.
Singing songs about mother country and painting the dilapidated state of the fatherland in brushstrokes of clumsy, embarrassing glory was the purvey of the Neocons. You tell me of Communism and how its reek now runs through American politics.
PARIS (Reuters Life!) French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.
i speak french as well as english(and irish) and a lot of people in ireland do, but when you are english speaking its hard to motivate yourself to learn a new language, remember there is more of a need amongst young people to know english because of this americanisation. in germany you won't find working class kids who are bilingual.
you know what second languages are hard to learn but i think third and fourth become easier, if you have developed your second language well. Just my opinion
(I speak French, Spanish, Portuguese and English fluently, and bit of Italian and German.)
English suffered massive changes though its history, allowing it to evolve to a very modern, simple, effective language. It's the simplest I know: nothing wrong with that, except for that being one of the reasons for anglophones to have such trouble with foreign languages...
Having a really complex, primitive, irregular, phonetically huge first language sure helps (european portuguese).
I don't see how you can think English simple, especially because you cite Portuguese, which does have regularity in pronunciation, and a far more truncated vocabulary than the English language, which has--by far-- the largest in the world. English also has more sounds for vowels and consonants than any other language as well; it is an IPA nightmare. Add to that the fact that it is a composite of Germanic and Romance languages, and you get something quite complex as a final product.
You could be right (you're not, just look at Finnish) but even if English has one of the biggest vocabularies, English speakers in average use one of the smallest range of words of the world. The words exist, but are never used. About English having more sounds for vowels and consonants than any other language: I understand your passion about the language, but you shouldn't be proud of such ignorance. Complex history, yes, but simple end-product.
I'm told by some of my friends who have english as a second language that it's easy because of the lack of [feminine/masculine] forms of words. Like, conjugation and those sorts of things are much simpler.
I dont know though, I grew up speaking it so it seems easy to me anyways =P
Ha! I doubt you personally did much to help in WWII. And it's also a pretty irrelevant comment. "Its ok for us to be ignorant to other peoples cultures, because we helped out in WWII"!! Priceless....
Well, my grandfather survived the Bataan death march. I come from a lineage of those who proudly served this country. Anyways, I've been to Europe and most people there don't know a single word of English. Obama is articulate no doubt. I'm not surprised at how so many people swoon at his ranting. He's a lawyer for crying out loud. I'm just not superficial when it comes to those with whom I cast my vote. Beauty is fleeting and charm deceptive. But I'm willing to give this guy a chance.
I'm from East Europe, so I would have preffered to speak German than beeing 50 years under Soviet occupation and stupid Comunist Dictature which trust me was much worst than any other form of dictature.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This is going to be the next Pres. of the US? Americans unite! - just as we did at 9/11 - against this terrorist and make him prove he is American! For the love of Pete, this guy can't produce a Birth Certificate. What he did produce is not an official certificate - I am looking at 3 different BC's, as I type this, they all include, on the front of the certificate, the signature of the Sec. of Health and State Registrar. There are problems here folks - do your homework b4 election day!
Nope, not at all! I have a problem with the person who is going to be President of the Country I love, and he can't provide a Birth Certificate! I would have the same problems if he spoke Chinese, Tagalog, German, Spanish,French or any other language. Likewise, I would recall the same problem regardless of the color of his skin and ethnic background.
For goodness sake the world language is, guess what? ENGLISH! We don't have to learn French or German or Russian etc, they all speak our language. If we want to become learned scholars in the art of language then we can study the various languages to understand how the spoken and written word was formulated. But for basic day to day communication we have a universal language: English, and that's all we need. I've been to 4 countries and haven't met anyone who couldn't speak English.
Hahahahahahaha! You are so funny! I've only been to: France, Belgium, Germany and Spain and I didn't meet anyone while there that couldn't speak English.
What a bunch of stupid comments. What he's saying is that we should be learning other languages since we're in an age of globalization. We want to be competitive in the world and to do so we much keep up with the times.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
i am so *&**^ tired of Obama i cannot hardly stand it. he is the most arrogant idiot i have ever listened to. he hates America, he hates white people (proven), etc... the funny thing is, the leftist news and the bumbling idiots that are following and going to vote for the messiah, think he is an incredible speaker... please people, he says uhh uh uhh uhh so gosh darn (expletive removed) much i cant even believe it. He is a stupid half black half white, 100% muslim, arrogant hate monger.
I used to like Obama. I don't feature the idea of a presidential candidate that insults the education and intelligence of the American people and laughs about it. We, the people, are not a joke. This is a pattern with Obama and his ideologues. He is very correct when he claimed to be a citizen of the world. So go out there into the world Mr. Obama, and watch, while an American citizen and a man who loves his country named John McCain becomes the next president.
you wanna be lied to because you dont like the truth ! you want to be told " good job" even when you screw up. ... well it doesnt work like that if you want to excel in life ! accept criticisme
Oh shut up and get get off your knees. His words was just to get on the knees for Europe. There is no reason we need to speak an European language and WHICH language would it be? German, French, Italian, or what because either way your not going to know one of those damn languages and why the hell would we need to when english is the international language. There is no reason plain and simple. Its unwarranted criticism plain and simple.
@Mkeegs79 Agreed, why do we need those damn European languages anyway?! Oh wait....English is from..?....uhhh....I guess we should start learning Navajo! LOL
Seriously, you are so retarded. It's not about kneeling to Europeans, it's about being an educated person. It's proven bilinguals have communication, cultural and cognitive benefits, and get better jobs. Europeans don't try and act intellectually superior than us to be snobby, they just are. We live in a bubble!
Actually, it seems this has come back to haunt Obama. I mean, if you're going to Berlin to make a speech and talk to the German people, then shouldn't you be speaking German?
@gumako You can't possibly know EVERY language. We at least know he speaks English and Bahasa. Just because he mentioned German, doesn't mean he should know it. He's just mentioning languages that would probably be more practical than Bahasa LOL.
English is the international language of finance. It's no wonder people from other countries speak "our language" Europe is much smaller than the US (sq. miles) yet has eight to ten different languages.
Imagine if you couldn't travel from Texas to Ohio and speak the same language. English is the link connecting them all.
But what about those families who DO have schizophrenia, dementia, and paranoia, are you attacking those families. Wow. That's the root of racism and sexism, pointing out things people are BORN with.
Obama...that fucking dim-witted fool. He'll take any chance he can get to bash the U.S. By his idiotic rationale someone who speaks English, Italian and Spanish should be embarrassed if they travel to Poland and don't speak Polish. Most Americans' second language is Spanish obviously because we border a Spanish-speaking country. I love foreign languages, I took German and French in HS and college but I remember very little because no one here speaks those languages...nor do they need to.
Nightowl4272 1 month ago
Wait... foreign visitors make the efforts and are often taught at an early age to learn the international language of business when visiting the US but we expect people to know our language when we visit as tourists it their homeland?
You find this offensive, America? Remember your outrage about pressing 1 for English and 2 for Spanish. Hypocritical much? Man I love my country but folks of your sort are simply embarrassing. It's no surprise that the world is leaving us behind technologically.
machinesbreathe 1 month ago
So when did Obama decide to become a stand-up?
MetalCamelChannel 3 months ago 3
thank God for us Brits in 1760's otherwise the USA would be speaking French
LordGeorgeRodney 3 months ago
americans dont know what that word means let alone what nation speaks that language or even know where to locate it on a map. america is psudo country.
doctorw2 4 months ago
@doctorw2 Your tone is degrading and misplaced. How can you generalize an entire country as you did? You are as bad as any American who fits the description that you have stated. J'etudie francais depuis 2 ans aux etats-unis. je sais qu'il y a beaucoup des gens qui ne parlent qu'anglais, mais tu n'a pas raison a dire quelque chose si mechante. A mon avis, Je suis d'accord que les americains peuvent etre un peu extreme, mais je pense qu'ils peuvent trouver la france sur la carte. Merci beaucoup.
toutbon09 3 months ago 2
@toutbon09 Yeah! I understood that. My high school French still works! Where I'm from, it's absolutely necessary to speak other languages, since the native language is only spoken by less than 300 thousand in our small island. So English, "Scandinavian" and some German/French are relatively common as second, third and fourth language.
Just wanted to share that with you.
drengurinn 3 months ago
@doctorw2 ha ha ha. since you can't even spell the word "pseudo" correctly, your comment is an epic fail.
halfmonk 2 months ago
@halfmonk hahaha a grammar nazi who gives a toss if you think my comment fails twatter!
doctorw2 2 months ago
@doctorw2 this comment also comes as no surprise. completely juvenile non-response.
halfmonk 2 months ago
@doctorw2 another epic fail. adolescent and sophomoric.
halfmonk 1 month ago
@halfmonk Funny that you pick the foreign and supposedly easy targets whose English is obviously a second language and not your own spiteful man-child brethren such as one's self that speak in internet pidgin english dialect shamelessly when trying to emphasize a point in proper linguistics and you meanwhile conveniently ignore the poignant perspectives brought forth by one TheCaliCapitalist.
You chose the fruit that you felt was your level, which was quite low, and the epic fail is yours, son.
machinesbreathe 1 month ago
Comment removed
halfmonk 1 month ago
Comment removed
halfmonk 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@machinesbreathe you think your use of jr college level vocabulary makes you sound intelligent? i communicate at a level that can be understood by the person i'm speaking to. as opposed to you being pointlessly verbose and also pretentious in a feeble attempt looking cerebral. and your imagination is a exaggerated as your sense of self importance.
halfmonk 1 month ago
It's sad that I found this video after searching for the meaning of "merci beaucoup."
TimThomason 4 months ago
It would be nice since he loves to talk about growing up overseas, if he spoke a foreign language. He best start learning to speak spanish.
sagie9 4 months ago
Ooh that Obama! He makes me so mad! How dare he have opinions that are different than my own!
MySushiBear 5 months ago
Impeach this sucker O B O M B M A , just GTFO of the White House sir and please just shut up don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
arrest the rest of the Federal Reserve crooks while you the free people are at it. Might as well throw Bush in prison with them.
Go Ron Go . We don't have much time left people I pray it is not too late may God Bless you all.
johnnycmajor 5 months ago
WOW god forbid Americans learn how to speak more than english. God forbid he wants an intelligent nation with multiple languages. I was in high school with one african kid who speak, english and french as well as he knew whatever the local tribal language was and he was pretty bright. As well as girl who ace'd english french and spanish classes in high school because she spoke all three before coming to America.
TheCaliCapitalist 5 months ago
Pretty sure not many Americans can even say that much
Zeroi 6 months ago
don't think its just America with this general problem, most countries that have English as the first language do, like Canada, Ireland, England etc. With English you can generally get around in a way not possible with Czech, Portugese, German etc. Moreover, many Americans speak spanish, especially those from Meh-e-co, and more will by the looks of things in the future.
spader49 6 months ago
@spader49 Uhmm, Portugese is spoken by over 300 million people in 8 countries...
bigbezet 5 months ago
@bigbezet Hey, i think you misunderstood me, i was talking about the world generally; eg French is spoken by more people than Portugese, and in more countries, but French in itself is not sufficient to get by in England etc even though it is in Belgium, Switzerland, Cote D'ivoire etc. That is not to say that learning another language other than English is irrelevant, or unimportant; I dont believe that, i studied french in college, as part of my degree and im learning italian now.
spader49 5 months ago
@spader49 I'd say the U.S. is the worst though. Most people in Canada and English (not sure about Ireland) at least know one other language. A lot of Americans know a bit too but people aren't really encouraged to continue, or often they don't start until late in life. High school doesn't really count unless you're super dedicated and keep it up. Point is, when Americans go over to France, Germany, etc., we expect them to know how to speak English.
xsbadger17 5 months ago
@xsbadger17 Not much to disagree with there at all.
spader49 5 months ago
@xsbadger17 - People only learn and retain languages that they need. In Europe, if you drive for a few hours, it's possible to find yourself in a place where they speak another language. It's not like that in the U.S. You can drive for hours and hours and hours and still get by with English. Americans are not arrogant for not retaining the French, German, Spanish they learned in H.S., they simply have no use for it. How many Chinese do you think have any use for French or English?
Nightowl4272 1 month ago
@Nightowl4272 I realize that, but when Americans travel abroad, we expect everyone to know English and then freak out when someone comes to the U.S. and can't speak English. In fact, people cry "terrorist" when someone has an accent. I know it's difficult for Americans to remember another language when they don't use it, but if they travel at all, they need to at least make an effort.
xsbadger17 1 month ago
@spader49 - Yours is the only comment I've read so far that makes a level-headed eyes-open point. People learn the languages that they need. I work in Poland often. In Poland, no one speaks French or Spanish, but they do speak a little German. Why? Because they border Germany and it's of practical use to them. But English is an even far greater value for them because, like you said, they can go just about anywhere and get by with it.
Nightowl4272 1 month ago
Equally embarrassing is that we voted this clown into office. George W. Bush's third term.
AynRandFanJG 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@AynRandFanJG I refuse to call this man President ! He's fed the American people a tractor trailer size load of lies and sadly many millions have believed him and will continue to do so and thus he figures he can just keep his bag of lies going. Can we have Carter back? Never thought there could be a worse one then him but the sorry sob tops even him !
onstageagain 6 months ago
@AynRandFanJG all heil bush
tigerbait134 6 months ago
As an airline pilot....he's completely right. It's so sad.
Salukipilot4590 7 months ago
Merci monsieur obama pour détruire ce grand pays!! - par la voie...je fait parler français!! J'ai étudié cette langue pour approximativement 6+ ans
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
@Tkdkid9 WE ARE CHANGE . ORG / INFOWARS . COM Informe toi !
2012near 7 months ago
@2012near WHAT?
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Tkdkid9 Go to: WE ARE CHANGE . ORG / INFOWARS . COM Ok ?
2012near 7 months ago
@Tkdkid9
Tout à fait d'accord avec toi. (tu fais encore quelques petites fautes, mais c'est cool ! ^^)
I am French, and we can say the same of our country. I learnt English for 15 years, but I can say that French are bad in languages in generally. Then thank you Mister Obama to make stereotypes which are false!
lagueuze03 7 months ago
@lagueuze03 Ouais! C'est cool que nous avons d'accord. Tu parle bien anglais aussi. Mais il y a quelques petites erreurs ^^ ;) Merci pour ton commentaire.
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
It's not like Americans are particularly good at English either. For example, note the misspelling of embarrassment in the description. Not that it's a big deal, I'm just making a point.
lapopofighting 7 months ago
its cause americans have their head too far up their ass
certise 7 months ago
he's right.. the whole world is learning american english.. but most americans don't know much of other languages aside from their own.. in the Philippines alone, there are over 70 dialects in the whole country, then add English.. Filipinos are super multi-lingual.. other Asian and european countries too.. you may wanna be fair to the whole world.. so the standards are fair as well.. :)
aicxmedina 8 months ago
He's right. The people clapping fit that category. Can't even speak their own English. Every person should try to learn a second language since it opens doors, and helps you look at your own language objectively. English speakers should know that Spanish is VERY simple to learn at the conversational level. Fifteen minutes a day.
cesar1963able 9 months ago
he's riiiiight!!!
LottLottie 11 months ago
I'm perfectly fluent in English, Spanish, and French. But I'm a Cuban American woman. I also understand and can communicate to an extent in Italian and Portuguese. Speaking multiple languages has opened so many doors in my life. It’s great, I love learning about other cultures and languages. People treat you much better when you communicate in their languages while visiting their countries. They appreciate the effort and interest of willing foreigners.
Jbo1996 11 months ago 2
@Jbo1996 I love people like you. I'm not crazy about Obama, but he is right on here. I am fairly gifted in math and physical sciences (masters in physics). I struggle with languages, but speak pretty good Spanish and German. I would love to visit Cuba some day.
cesar1963able 9 months ago
OMG he didn't even say it right LOL
IMoonLights 1 year ago
i'm trying to learn french, it's harder to learn french than spanish. spanish is easier than it seems. well, at least i think so. i wonder if we are really able to learn foreign languages such as french, german only online, there are some friends of mine who learned french only by internet!!!!!
stump010 1 year ago
He's got a point.
German and French are the two most common languages in Europe (aside from English of course). Speaking one of them can be a big advantage if you are to keep up foreign relations, especially if you're a business man.
I'm from Europe. I'm Danish and speak both Danish, English and German.
So he's got a point.
CheezeDipper 1 year ago
We Europeans speak "English, French and German" because we ARE English, French and German. We have 27 recognised languages - America speaks English - so it's natural we are going to speak more languages.
Stop being so hard on your own people, Obama.
matrix4022 1 year ago 4
@matrix4022 Exactly!! He probably never stopped to think that the reason why they speak other languages, is because the languages that he's referring to "French, German, and English" are their native languages. He also completely messed up the grammatical structure of the sentence that he was trying to speak, so before he bashes his own people, he should take a long hard look at himself in the mirror. I bet that he can't even speak another language himself =) ... Je parle aussi français!!
Tkdkid9 1 year ago
@Tkdkid9 2 points. #1 politicians give many speeches within a given day, especially if you're president of a country (like the USA). It would be quite condescending---I would argue---for one to think that talking to your OWN countrymen about, what we all agree is relatively true, would be bashing. I would characterize it as intellectual curiosity... constructive criticism. #2 He cannot speak another language. That was his point, if one steps back to think... we need to learn one, as a whole.
DookTube 7 months ago
@DookTube Just because he gives (gave) "x" number of speeches per day, doesn't give him reason to bash and criticize Americans, many of whom actually do speak a foreign language. I find his statement to be disrespectful of America, and offensive. It was by no means "constructive criticism" because of his facial expressions and body language. He himself cannot even speak another language, so why is he telling all of us to learn a language? Seems like a double standard to me...cont...
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
Comment removed
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@DookTube Pourquoi est-il qu'il n'a pas parler en français à la journaliste "en France" dans cette video? ... Je ne comprend pas? C'est une bonne question, non???
"OBAMA ...AND THE FRENCH"
**Just thought that I would reply in french "that I've been learning for over 6+ years**
Tkdkid9 7 months ago
@matrix4022 He's not being hard on us... he's being intellectually curious about why it is that we (as a country) don't put more effort into learning other languages. He's acknowledging... through his own folly (the way he pronounced Merci beaucoup) that we should work on that (as a country), and as an American I agree. Learning another language opens your mind... to the world. Most people throughout Europe are vastly more multilingual, and we need recognize that as a country (we Americans).
DookTube 7 months ago
And the way to solve this is to continue cut funding for school programs. Clearly.
jjafari 1 year ago
well fuck off, americans.
MStalcar 1 year ago 2
I think expecting Americans to even understand "merci, beaucoup" is a bit of a stretch.
GaeaRage 1 year ago 13
i find the problem isnt with americans (and english-speaking canadians) not learning other languages, I find the problem is with americans being unwilling to be educated/open about the outside world in any way
goldenchocolate 1 year ago 13
Comment removed
shaynaj1980 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@goldenchocolate It isn't necessarily Americans per se, but simply anyone who thinks their way is the best and only way. Being Canadian, I'm almost ashamed to say I can't speak French. I did just find myself a fabulous tutor, though, who believes in teaching the language the same way our children learn languages.
shaynaj1980 1 year ago
I'm willing to bet I wouldn't be half-bad over in Britain. Does that count?
squintdrummerjosh 1 year ago
He is right!!!!
jaundist 1 year ago
it's gona strike back to ourseves, so guys we better start learning foreign before they eat us up!!!! LOOK at the GErman cars- EVERYWHERE!!!
stickom 1 year ago
As a Spanish teacher in the US, I agree that our kids our far, far behind kids in other countries, in every subject. I've taught in Europe too. We can thank the teacher's union for our low performing children. BTW, Obama is a big supporter of the teacher's union. How do you say hypocrite in French?
civilization57 1 year ago
@civilization57 hope I'm being helpful... it sounds as if you're saying Spanish is your idioma materna.
"our far, far behind..." should be "are far, far behind." Es lo mismo sonido, a veces, pero el deletreo empieza con la letra "a".
DookTube 7 months ago
Lol SugarMonkey528, 8-10 different languages? U.S.A being bigger? You have no idea what your talking about! Europe is 10.000.000 km2, U.S.A is only about 90% of that. And theres about 80 languages in Europe at the least, in the EU there's 23 official languages. Don't you know anything at all?
Gandhiji87 1 year ago
I lived in Amsterdam, Holland for 10 months when I was a kid and I had a friend there whose sister was 13 years old and spoke fluent English. Of course, pretty much everyone you ran into spoke fluent English. Everyone there was required to learn English in middle school. The United States is a joke. I'm saying this as an American. It baffles me how we are the richest country in the world and have the crappiest educational system of any developed nation. It's incredibly sad to me.
FM897 1 year ago
Americans are arrogant (and I am one of them). We care about no one but ourselves (if ourselves). We think the world must cater to us, and we even cringe when our president acknowledges such truths. The best country in the world should spread the love. Let's stop giving foreign countries money, franchises, music, and movies and start giving them some respect. Cuz respect is free, and we might like to start saving some of our money while we still have it :-)
jonsan32 1 year ago
@jonsan32 I don't know what Americans you are referring to. The characteristics you refer to are stereotypes. Not all Americans are as you say. And by the way, you get such people as you described everywhere in the world, not just the U.S.A.
Cirmae 1 year ago
@Cirmae True words. But our stereotypes are what people see, just as we see theirs. They don't come out of nowhere... So it's at least somewhat true, and at the very least something to pay attention to and perhaps correct... even if it's just out of respect for others. Like if your spouse critiques you, it would be rude to just ignore it. The world has critiqued us, and we should at least humor the notion that they aren't complete idiots for saying these things about us.
jonsan32 1 year ago
@Cirmae I've traveled a lot, and Obama is just saying a small fraction of what 90% of the whole world ALWAYS says about us. We don't care what they think, what they say, or how they say it. We just care about ourselves. And while I know that's not me, I still think we- as a nation- do need to work on that. Hell, so do other nations! Everyone needs to get better, and I don't mind the US setting the example.
jonsan32 1 year ago
@Cirmae If our President is agreeing to this stereotype there has to be a strong degree of truth to it; by doing this, he isalienating his own citizens with this stereotype, the people who actually vote for him to make sure he keeps his job. He wants to get reelected in 2012, he isn't going to call us all out, unless there is a strong point in doing so and unless said point is extremely accurate.
RockingStandUpDude 1 year ago
Why is he pointing to the right when he says "it's embarassing"?
aeroflying 2 years ago
Now is this man a comedian or a president?
RainJetSprinklers 2 years ago
You're right... he is a joke!!
RascalKyng 2 years ago
I like how the description of this clip says "speack foreign languages". Speack. I like it.
crimsonflax 2 years ago 9
LOL! I know more than Merci Beaucoup xD
MimiMuslima 2 years ago
@MimiMuslima That makes me proud
JihadiTV 2 years ago 2
哈哈！！
我可以说和写中文。
jumko 2 years ago
except for the immigrants - thank god for opening the borders, too bad no one took the time to learn from it. merci, gracias, obligado, arigato
JonahPasion 2 years ago
@JonahPasion = obrigado... con "r"
DookTube 7 months ago
lol @ all the people on here who can't even write properly in English.
wintahdude 2 years ago 3
@wintahdude --- like using @ instead of spelling "at," properly. Why do we dishonor ourselves in the same sentence, hmmm?
DookTube 7 months ago
well.. it's true given the fact that English is the mayor language spoken and descendants from Europe adopted English. But there is quite a large immigration in this country, and so many of us can also go to Europe and speak a language of the Germanic or Romantic languages..
juan1974mendez 2 years ago
@juan1974mendez english isn't the most spoken language in the world.
In fact, the most spoken language in the world is spoken by twice as many people as English.
;)
kriptonis 2 years ago
greetings to you from stockholm.. i meant to say english spoken in US... yeah i can imagin.. mandarin or cantonese surpass english.. interesting though i visited netherlands, denmark, norway and sweden. and here everyone speaks english.. if you talk to them...
juan1974mendez 2 years ago 2
his so right!
racheal1234 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
dum-bama is a disgrace.
LanceBeckman 2 years ago
Good one.
scoopsdujour 2 years ago
Comment removed
silentsoliloquy82 2 years ago
Comment removed
silentsoliloquy82 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Speaking of embarrassing, Mr. Obama.... In six months, you've taken the greatest country in the world and flushed it down the toilet of Communism.
tk409 2 years ago
R u retarded? it was not the greatest country in the world. i think it was pretty much screwed before obama came into power.
darkspiral94 2 years ago 11
@darkspiral94 what do you mean? it's still screwed. XD
Cirmae 1 year ago
[brainwashing alert] I think this youtube vid is especially directed at those who never get out of the country. Best look at the stars at night...and remember how dumb it is to restrict oneself to a tiny bit of land mass, and especially to think that's the best and only thing around. hoho :-) that's called jingoistic reductionism = braindeath.
earthacademy 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I just returned from a 2-week trip to France where the people were warm and welcoming. When I tried to speak French, they wanted to speak English. All of them! They love America. Kids told nme "I live for America!" "I want to go there some day, we love America." And they said it in English. America is hated only by Obama.
tk409 2 years ago
Bite one.
scoopsdujour 2 years ago
Singing songs about mother country and painting the dilapidated state of the fatherland in brushstrokes of clumsy, embarrassing glory was the purvey of the Neocons. You tell me of Communism and how its reek now runs through American politics.
baal660 2 years ago
Thu Jul 9, 6:06 am ET
PARIS (Reuters Life!) French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.
sbennettyt 2 years ago
i speak french as well as english(and irish) and a lot of people in ireland do, but when you are english speaking its hard to motivate yourself to learn a new language, remember there is more of a need amongst young people to know english because of this americanisation. in germany you won't find working class kids who are bilingual.
eireboy17 2 years ago
you know what second languages are hard to learn but i think third and fourth become easier, if you have developed your second language well. Just my opinion
0702290 2 years ago
Ah Obama, If you weren't President, you would've been amazing as a stand-up comedian xD
I agree with you, Every American should know at least two languages!
A ver si se les abre el cerebro un poquito. ; )
Mangotropolis 2 years ago
English is the easiest language on earth.....
alejandrockalejo 2 years ago
until you try to learn the phrasal verbs and the complicated words and adjectives
kaikovich 2 years ago 2
...not. Syntax rules for English are one of the hardest around
chinnychin 2 years ago 2
hahaha. yeah right. Try having French as your first language and then learning English.
xcoupdegrace 2 years ago
completely wrong
SnoPe4 2 years ago
Completely right!
(I speak French, Spanish, Portuguese and English fluently, and bit of Italian and German.)
English suffered massive changes though its history, allowing it to evolve to a very modern, simple, effective language. It's the simplest I know: nothing wrong with that, except for that being one of the reasons for anglophones to have such trouble with foreign languages...
Having a really complex, primitive, irregular, phonetically huge first language sure helps (european portuguese).
tiagodovale 2 years ago
I think spanish is the hardest one. It's the language with most verb tenses on the world
OGsergio06 2 years ago
You think wrong, Sergio:
Spanish has 17 verb tenses and around 25 (twenty-five) irregular verbs;
Portuguese has 18 verb tenses and over 1000 (a thousand) irregular verbs.
tiagodovale 2 years ago
I don't see how you can think English simple, especially because you cite Portuguese, which does have regularity in pronunciation, and a far more truncated vocabulary than the English language, which has--by far-- the largest in the world. English also has more sounds for vowels and consonants than any other language as well; it is an IPA nightmare. Add to that the fact that it is a composite of Germanic and Romance languages, and you get something quite complex as a final product.
baal660 2 years ago
You could be right (you're not, just look at Finnish) but even if English has one of the biggest vocabularies, English speakers in average use one of the smallest range of words of the world. The words exist, but are never used. About English having more sounds for vowels and consonants than any other language: I understand your passion about the language, but you shouldn't be proud of such ignorance. Complex history, yes, but simple end-product.
tiagodovale 2 years ago 2
I'm told by some of my friends who have english as a second language that it's easy because of the lack of [feminine/masculine] forms of words. Like, conjugation and those sorts of things are much simpler.
I dont know though, I grew up speaking it so it seems easy to me anyways =P
LilBromide 2 years ago
"Cinco de Cuatro"? Merci beaucoup.
devinelines 2 years ago
Well, he's right...
TheHumanApple 2 years ago 43
He said nothing wrong but then FOX is well know for being biased.
queercat 2 years ago 5
this dude is amazing. It's refreshing to have someone represent the actual diversity in the US
delbarakfarhangdoost 2 years ago 4
I think the merci beaucoup mispronunciation was deliberate wasn't it? It appeared to be in context with the rest of the clip.
sneakerfishsam 3 years ago 4
Español?
ni por ahí...
davidcovo 3 years ago
Well some Americans may not like him saying that but he speaks the truth.
MalaiVur 3 years ago 19
This has been flagged as spam show
Arrogant prick...If not us, all of Europe would be speaking Deutsch...France included! Bonne chance, Mr. Pres. elect
mothball50 3 years ago
Ha! I doubt you personally did much to help in WWII. And it's also a pretty irrelevant comment. "Its ok for us to be ignorant to other peoples cultures, because we helped out in WWII"!! Priceless....
Bottsniff 3 years ago
Well, my grandfather survived the Bataan death march. I come from a lineage of those who proudly served this country. Anyways, I've been to Europe and most people there don't know a single word of English. Obama is articulate no doubt. I'm not surprised at how so many people swoon at his ranting. He's a lawyer for crying out loud. I'm just not superficial when it comes to those with whom I cast my vote. Beauty is fleeting and charm deceptive. But I'm willing to give this guy a chance.
mothball50 3 years ago
I'm from East Europe, so I would have preffered to speak German than beeing 50 years under Soviet occupation and stupid Comunist Dictature which trust me was much worst than any other form of dictature.
falticeni 3 years ago
Allz weez can say is....? You can get away with that in Ebonics I guess.
iuliusCamillus 3 years ago
Haha quel tueur !
Merci Beaucoup
OBAMA 2008 !!!
roumanov7180 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Hey Barry come up and visit us here in Quebec some day and try to speak french to us. You'll need to say more that "Merci Beaucoup". Hypocrite.....
MerryMary07 3 years ago
more than*...typo
MerryMary07 3 years ago
Tu as raison MerryMary. You've got it right.
Je serais curieux de savoir quelle langue étrangère il parle. Je suis sûr qu'il n'en connaît aucune.
robinmasters80 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This is going to be the next Pres. of the US? Americans unite! - just as we did at 9/11 - against this terrorist and make him prove he is American! For the love of Pete, this guy can't produce a Birth Certificate. What he did produce is not an official certificate - I am looking at 3 different BC's, as I type this, they all include, on the front of the certificate, the signature of the Sec. of Health and State Registrar. There are problems here folks - do your homework b4 election day!
maestroinwest 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I bet he can speak Arabic - Fluently! Additionally, he didn't even pronounce Merci Beau-coup correctly! The emphasis was on the wrong syllable.
maestroinwest 3 years ago
so what if he speaks arabic? do you have a problem with arabs?
unaversallafter 3 years ago 3
Nope, not at all! I have a problem with the person who is going to be President of the Country I love, and he can't provide a Birth Certificate! I would have the same problems if he spoke Chinese, Tagalog, German, Spanish,French or any other language. Likewise, I would recall the same problem regardless of the color of his skin and ethnic background.
maestroinwest 3 years ago
so what were you getting at when you said "i bet he can speak arabic fluently!" ?
unaversallafter 3 years ago
My point is that he studied it in school as a child.
maestroinwest 3 years ago
For goodness sake the world language is, guess what? ENGLISH! We don't have to learn French or German or Russian etc, they all speak our language. If we want to become learned scholars in the art of language then we can study the various languages to understand how the spoken and written word was formulated. But for basic day to day communication we have a universal language: English, and that's all we need. I've been to 4 countries and haven't met anyone who couldn't speak English.
RacFos 3 years ago
you've probably been to Australia, England, Ireland and Canada, this is why you haven't met anyone who couldn't speak English :))))))))))))
falticeni 3 years ago
Hahahahahahaha! You are so funny! I've only been to: France, Belgium, Germany and Spain and I didn't meet anyone while there that couldn't speak English.
RacFos 3 years ago
What a bunch of stupid comments. What he's saying is that we should be learning other languages since we're in an age of globalization. We want to be competitive in the world and to do so we much keep up with the times.
ashleyisasweatervest 3 years ago 8
This comment has received too many negative votes show
i am so *&**^ tired of Obama i cannot hardly stand it. he is the most arrogant idiot i have ever listened to. he hates America, he hates white people (proven), etc... the funny thing is, the leftist news and the bumbling idiots that are following and going to vote for the messiah, think he is an incredible speaker... please people, he says uhh uh uhh uhh so gosh darn (expletive removed) much i cant even believe it. He is a stupid half black half white, 100% muslim, arrogant hate monger.
edgejoel1971 3 years ago
I used to like Obama. I don't feature the idea of a presidential candidate that insults the education and intelligence of the American people and laughs about it. We, the people, are not a joke. This is a pattern with Obama and his ideologues. He is very correct when he claimed to be a citizen of the world. So go out there into the world Mr. Obama, and watch, while an American citizen and a man who loves his country named John McCain becomes the next president.
acemenom 3 years ago
Obama is embarassed to be an American. Think about it.
yahasiff 3 years ago 4
I agree.
WaffleBakingStar 3 years ago
"All wees can say" Very articulate. Maybe he needs to learn English himself.
BlueEyez44 3 years ago
A presidential candidate stereotyping ALL americans. That is offensive.
Mkeegs79 3 years ago 9
you wanna be lied to because you dont like the truth ! you want to be told " good job" even when you screw up. ... well it doesnt work like that if you want to excel in life ! accept criticisme
galaxy1o1 1 year ago 2
@galaxy1o1
Oh shut up and get get off your knees. His words was just to get on the knees for Europe. There is no reason we need to speak an European language and WHICH language would it be? German, French, Italian, or what because either way your not going to know one of those damn languages and why the hell would we need to when english is the international language. There is no reason plain and simple. Its unwarranted criticism plain and simple.
Who cares now. That was ages ago.
Mkeegs79 1 year ago
@Mkeegs79 Agreed, why do we need those damn European languages anyway?! Oh wait....English is from..?....uhhh....I guess we should start learning Navajo! LOL
Seriously, you are so retarded. It's not about kneeling to Europeans, it's about being an educated person. It's proven bilinguals have communication, cultural and cognitive benefits, and get better jobs. Europeans don't try and act intellectually superior than us to be snobby, they just are. We live in a bubble!
jitensha 1 year ago
@Mkeegs79 Thanks for giving everyone an example of why we Americans are looked down upon. (sigh) eres chafa.
DookTube 7 months ago
Thank you for giving us a perfect example for why we Americans are looked down upon (with regard to open minds) [sigh]. eres chafa
DookTube 7 months ago
Actually, it seems this has come back to haunt Obama. I mean, if you're going to Berlin to make a speech and talk to the German people, then shouldn't you be speaking German?
gumako 3 years ago 12
@gumako You can't possibly know EVERY language. We at least know he speaks English and Bahasa. Just because he mentioned German, doesn't mean he should know it. He's just mentioning languages that would probably be more practical than Bahasa LOL.
jitensha 1 year ago
Right about what?
English is the international language of finance. It's no wonder people from other countries speak "our language" Europe is much smaller than the US (sq. miles) yet has eight to ten different languages.
Imagine if you couldn't travel from Texas to Ohio and speak the same language. English is the link connecting them all.
SugarMonkey528 3 years ago 10
@SugarMonkey528
you're clueless. USA is just one of our colonies
nymfo12 1 year ago
President Obama is right.Educate yourself!
ILUVFUNKEYS345 3 years ago
He should educate himself. Like speak German when you're addressing anti-American Germans at Berlin.
WaffleBakingStar 3 years ago 2
I understand schizophrenia,dementia and Paranoia run in your family
ILUVFUNKEYS345 3 years ago
Nope, but diabetes and SMA does.
But what about those families who DO have schizophrenia, dementia, and paranoia, are you attacking those families. Wow. That's the root of racism and sexism, pointing out things people are BORN with.
Anyway, what was Obama right on? The surge?
WaffleBakingStar 3 years ago