When I was in the hospital last week it was obvious.
It was like an invisible gap (translation: space) between the generations.
Those who were younger than 40 could communicate with me.
While those who were over 40 had difficulty.
Not 100%, but close.
Have you noticed this English age gap, too?
Greetings From My Newest City
I am a travelling teacher.
For the last few months, I was working and skiing in the town of Bansko, Bulgaria.
Then I had an accident and spent a week in the hospital.
Now I’m out, but I can’t imagine catching a plane; it’s hard enough to go to the bathroom.
So we’ll see where, and when, I go next…
The Invisible English Age Gap
One evening at the hospital, one of the nurses was helping me order food on an app. (Is hospital food good anywhere in the world?)
As he was showing me which buttons to press (it was all in Bulgarian), I asked him about his English.
He said his English was better than his colleagues’ because he had studied it in school, while they had studied Russian.
“What about the internet?” I asked.
“That also helped,” he said.
What do you think?
Schools or the internet or something else?
What’s the main reason the younger generation has better English?
Hit the “comment” button, let me know, and we’ll continue this discussion tomorrow.
You may have noticed that in Bulgaria you can find easily people, willing to speak English. While as in France, Spain… they just pretend they “don’t speak English”. To answer the question, Internet is the main reason where everyone can write freely without being afraid that someone checks for grammar mistakes.
I wanted very much that my daughter to know very well English, because I suffered a lot because I learned other languages in the school.
The younger generation grew up with English, earlier and through more channels met with English. For example: they met in their early age english at school/in kindergarten or at home watched tales on tv, played the online game, used mobile and internet etc.
The young generation people speak a better English because they studied it in school as a first foreign language when they were children and because the internet and the cartoons.
Thanks for sharing incidents of your life. I’m over 40 too and when l was teenager and young adult l had russian or german language in my schools. This time every school teaches English their students. That’s the reason why l’m sure the young generation often speaks English better than people over 40. Greetings.
all young children know English from watching cartoons. My niece spoke for the first time in English instead of her mother tongue. Today he is 5 years old and when he plays with the dolls he speaks in beautiful English. She is a bilingual child from watching cartoons in English.
My niece lives in Bulgaria
The main reason is that an older generation can’t see any bigger sense in learning English if they won’t be able to utilize it at work, speeding up their carrier etc. Their professional life is often close to the final phase and they don’t really believe they can reach a level of English that could be helpful for them. Touristic motivation only (to improve English) is too less at this age. Internet opportunity recognition has nothing to do with it.
Young people are looking a lot of films and serious on Tv, stresming this on the internet. They are learning english very young than older people,
I started learning English at school in 13 years old. It was only 2 years. Then I had 4 years gap because learning German and Russian. And then only 2 years English on university 😞. Next sometimes private courses.
My children’s have learnt English still from 4th year of life. That’s the reason why young people are better in English. Plus internet, of course.
Greetings 💚. Where you are Mr Vig, which city?
I think that the younger generation is more comfortable in English because everything around them is in English. I mean, their proximity is actually the internet, the TV, YouTube, and stuff like this, and all of this is in English.
Internet is the right tendency, I think.
Hi, I think the reason is young people had English language all around them, TV, music, internet, PC games, a lot of English speakers as travelers or people who relocated to the country and magazines, books. I hope I will make progress in communication.
I also know some English from school and private classes.
That was the basis of my nowadays English language.
This language is here and everywhere, all around me.
Dear Mr. Vig, as you surely know, Bulgaria was before 1990-ies one of the closest satellite state of the USSR and, beside that, both languages (Bulgarian and Russian) belongs to the same language family – the Slavic one. One learned obligatorily Russian in the schools, whereas English was one of the free elected foreign languages (together with German, French, Spanish, Italian). There were of course special English language high schools, but it was very difficult to be enrolled in. Not everyone could do it. Since the 1990s many new opportunities arose to learn English, to travel or work abroad incl. in the USA or in the UK, and so to practice this language. That’s why the young generation can better do English in its majority. Not to forget is also the role of the internet that offers great conveniences. Wish you all the best! Valery
I also think that internet is the main reason younger generation has better English. Internet can give you what you need… interactive video lessons, text lessons if you preffer, chat and video conversations opportunities, also films and videos on different topics. Cartoons really help kids learn English earlier…
I thing the younger use English anytime. When they are in internet /that is most of the day/, when younger listen music, watch TV and etc.
Because youngers used to listen English music an watch movies in English since when they were kids, whereas olders had a trouble to listening and learning English.
Hi,
I´m exactly the older generation you met at hospital…Yes, it´s big problem between generations. I see, in my country (Estonia) the border goes somewhere around 50 years. So, next time in Tallinn, welcome! (Not at hospital!)
Nowadays young people have no ideas what´s about we talking. Seems, they born with English. But I didn´t have that choise, unfortunately. My choise were German and Russian. So I´m struggled with English now. Who knows how long…
I think that for the ability to speak English, it is not only the difference in generations that matters but also the differences in the native language, cultural influence, and traditions.
If the native language, for example, Bulgarian, is based on the Cyrillic alphabet, not the Latin alphabet, and the construction of sentences is radically different in the native language and English, then learning English requires more effort.
Furthermore, a country’s cultural influence and traditions are also significant factors. If they favor the English language, many more people will aspire to learn and speak it better.
On the other hand, access to the Internet and YouTube helps a lot in learning English. Because the generation younger than 40 is usually very good with new technologies and spends a lot of time on the Internet, this generation learns and knows English to a greater extent than people over 40 years old.
The younger generation understand that knowing English is very important to comunicate all over the world, and even for the internet, so they do the best to practice what ever is it. They watch T.V they watch ytube and take courses.
I think that the internet is the main reason who help the younger generation to have better English . Because the internet is the daily habit of the younger without to be boring. Very often they used English words and enjoy with it in facebook or in instagram. Additional another reason who help the youth is the English songs . Specially the American songs are popular and the younger people are singing and hearing them on the radio and the night club. Also they are watching american films in NETFLIX
I forgot to mention the teenager they communicate playing playstation each other in English
Goodmornig. I think tha younger people are better in english due to English songs they listen to and the English movies they watch.
Well, I grew up in communist country in 80′. In Poland there stayed soldiers of Russian Army
We were learning only Russian😫
Then in 90′ we were started learning English in school. It was too late for teenagers to know English as native
Young people have more facilities to learn English. They can travel more than we used to do. The internet helps them more.
This problem depends of the education systems in different countries. Even I make part of the generation after 50 years old, I was lucky to study English at school. It’s true that the school methods learning a foreign language were not the best because of the lack of conversation, but I have learned a lot and when the internet has appeared that has helped me a lot to understand all the informations. Added to that, the voices of the actors TV films never have been doubled. That was another big plus to not forget what I learned and get other informations regarding the English language and help me understand more.
The reason that younger people speeak better English is that now people are travelling a lot and also the communication is easier through internet. Plus, for many people it is now necessary the knowledge of English because in some works you need to communicate with people of other countries and the most common way for that is in English.
Young generation has daily contact with English, in online games, YouTube, music, Netflix and other channels, social media etc.