I live in the UK and English is my 2nd language. I feel awkward when I speak in my 1st language with someone in public. I feel like people hear us and feel disgusted by our ''ugly'' language. I feel like everyone is racist and hate to hear people talk in other languages than English.
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I think most English people are quite ignorant of it, though, and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Urdu and Farsi even though they sound as different as French and German.
Plus it depends where you live. I'm from a big city in the north, which really helps. If you were living in a town in say, Norfolk, I could well believe that people would be judging you on your first language and I'm very sorry that this attitude exists. Given where it exists, it kind of proves it's down to fear and a lack of familiarity.
What is your first language, by the way? You don't have to say if you don't want to.
I think that one of the reasons of people being so racist is high crime rate. It got higher since more immigrants were coming to town. I also see a lot of drunk foreigners in the streets. I guess people are tired of drunk and violent foreigners, but they are being too prejudice.
I had a friend in my city who was Estonian and her experience of Manchester was wonderful. People were open and welcoming and interested in where she was from. She lives in Florida now and says people are equally nice (although she says nobody knows what the Baltic states are).
Yes, difficult economic times make people more racist. They start looking for someone to blame and it's always tempting for them to blame foreigners. I find it very strange in your case because I barely think of fellow Europeans as foreign.
Finally, I can assure you that not all English people are like those in small towns. I feel bad that you've not had a better welcome. Up here in Manchester, you would definitely be welcomed. :)
I know, since a lot of us ordinary Brits are limited to the English language, many of us have a kind of strange affinity for foreign languages. It's interesting to hear it.
Where I live in the UK at the moment, you very seldom hear any language other than English, so there's a novelty and an intrigue about it when I do hear another. In places where foreign languages are 10 a penny, like presumably where dappled dwells, I expect the novelty and intrigue wears off.
Anyway, you're actually being pretty presumptuous about people here in the UK if you think we're all racist. Racism is an aspect of virtually every society, but I'd suggest due to our history of integration it isn't a problem so entrenched in our culture to prove a significant issue in most areas of the UK. There are many countries far less tolerant of ethnic minorities. I think if you got to know most native English people here, you'd find in general we aren't xenophobic or racist :)
I LOVE foreign languages, but I do think there are a few who consider foreign lanugages bizarre. It's not your fault at all, it's their complete ignorance and/or lack of understanding for other people's backgrounds.