Town Councillor Balhorn,
you have given us most brilliant beer to-night. This is no beer of
here, it must be real Munich. It tastes famous. Prosit!"
"I thank you, Mr. Court Councillor. In the place, gentlemen, of
with-anger-discussing Free Trade, let us all drink some Munich
beer. Discussion is good, but beer with content is better."
Now I put it to you--could any one picture fifteen English
business men in Manchester, Liverpool, or Leeds doing anything so
sensible as to meet once a week amongst themselves, to acquire
proficiency and fluency in French, Spanish, or German, all of
which languages they must presumably require at times for the
purposes of their business. Every one knows that it is
unthinkable. No Englishman could be bothered to take the trouble.
Why is it that English people have this extraordinary reluctance
to learn any foreign language? It is certainly not from want of
natural ability to do so, though this natural aptitude may be
discounted by the difficulty most English people experience in
keeping their minds concentrated. I venture to assert
unhesitatingly that, with the exception of Dutch and Russian
people, English folk learn foreign languages with greater ease
than any other nationality.
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