Hør dog hvad de siger - Note-to-Self: Trials & Errors

English is at the top. […] The fact that I speak English is as important to me as being
able to see and hear, both in work and in my spare time. It is incredibly important. It is
probably what I am most happy I learnt in school. [Inf11, 22.27].
If you haven’t learnt English on a pretty high level, there are a lot of educations you
can’t follow. Many English textbooks are being used, at least in the natural sciences.
[Inf19, 9.40].
We see how English is considered as de facto a prerequisite for Danes, at the very least if the
Danes want some sort of higher education. The state of affairs as presented by the informants
must be considered one where Denmark is in essence a bilingual society. This is not to say
that the informants do not see problems with some people’s lacking competence in English,
but the problem is written off as one that must be addressed through better education, not
through limiting the contact with English.
When we turn to the other international languages, we see the same rationality as in judging
the languages ‘importance’: IF the languages are deemed ‘large’ and IF the speakers of the
language are deemed not to speak English, then we might consider giving it a place in the
educational system. However, notice how asking for affective attitudinal components rather
than cognitive (Bohner 2001) (i.e. asking what they would prefer rather than what they belie-
ve) raises a strikingly more ‘ethical’ tone in the replies. I.e. it is possible to argue not just that
e.g. Germans speak English, but also that they must speak English.
The Germans must learn to speak English like everyone else, and then we will speak
English with them [Inf24, 14.10].
I think it is a waste for us to learn French just because some country can’t get their act
together and learn English – and they are getting better […]. As a small country we
can’t attempt to speak seven languages just because they can’t be bothered to speak one
[Inf24, 14.15].
We notice an appeal for social justice. Germany and France are big and powerful countries;
they should take upon them the burden to speak the language of the others. Denmark as a
smaller and less powerful country can not be expected to take upon it to use more than one
foreign language 56 . And the argument continues for South America.
I can see the logic in learning Spanish because there are so many people and they are
so poorly educated, so we could benefit from speaking that [Spanish] [Inf24, 14.40].
56 No one argues that this principle should also apply to Englishmen or Americans. My sense is that it would be
considered utterly ridiculous to come up with that proposal. This does not undermine the effect of the principle,
rather it adds to the claim that different measures are applied to different species.
210