E-Bike Battery Destroys Apartment in Germany.

[flecc]

I am shocked that languages are still as unimportant for some Brits as they were when I was a kid.

Why are you shocked Andy, it's what I would expect, given the circumstances?

Britain had the largest most widespread empire the world has ever known, leading to the English language being so widely understood and used.

The English language is the largest in the world in the number of words it possesses and due to its adoption as a universal language in all areas of knowledge and science.

English is the dominant language of the internet and world wide web.

All other languages only have very limited application and usefulness.

Accordingly in the modern world there is very limited incentive for the English to be multilingual but every incentive for those only with other languages to adequately know the English language.

To illustrate. I once spent a year working in France and expanded my schoolboy French enough to get by. Since then during 55 years it's only been of any use on two occasions for a few days each time, so rather pointless. Conversely, any one with another mother tongue who has learnt English will have found it useful as much as daily ever since.

So there is no comparison between the two situations.
.

 

[Andy-Mat]

The reason people don't talk about which languages they speak is because this is a British forum, where we speak English. Most people would be able to figure that out. As well as modern languages, I can still remember a fair amount of Latin, for which I got grade A at O-level.

So they cannot/are not allowed to use their language skills while reading here? That seems a bit far fetched.....
Latin, is very useful when learning other languages by the way, it gives you a great "leg up", though I myself hated it at school. I have no recollection as to why today! I do not count it as one of my languages for that reason, nor do I count Chinese, that I learned when posted to Singapore, and I had a Chinese GF.
Also, I tend to think that reading some of the misspelled and poor grammatical entries here, that some are unable even to write correctly, what I assume is their first language.
But I could be wrong on that point, and they have a different first language other than English...
But I am no grammar Policeman, as long as its understandable, that's fine.
So me even "imagining" that there might possibly be a few German speakers/readers, was totally off target!!
How really sad!
Andy

 

[WheezyRider]

Why are you shocked Andy, it's what I would expect, given the circumstances?

Britain had the largest most widespread empire the world has ever known, leading to the English language being so widely understood and used.

The English language is the largest in the world in the number of words it possesses and due to its adoption as a universal language in all areas of knowledge and science.

English is the dominant language of the internet and world wide web.

All other languages only have very limited application and usefulness.

Accordingly in the modern world there is very limited incentive for the English to be multilingual but every incentive for those only with other languages to adequately know the English language.

To illustrate. I once spent a year working in France and expanded my schoolboy French enough to get by. Since then during 55 years it's only been of any use on two occasions for a few days each time, so rather pointless. Conversely, any one with another mother tongue who has learnt English will have found it useful as much as daily ever since.

So there is no comparison between the two situations.
.

That's all very well, but we don't have an empire any more and if we want people to buy from us (which we desperately need them to do), we need to talk their language. Between 2025 and 2030, China will be the most economically powerful country in the world, so we won't even be able to rely on the Americans to bail us out linguistically (even though we despise the corrupted form that they speak in any case ).

However, that's all I'm going to say on this.

Can we just bury the language issue now and get back to what actually happened in this case, an e-bike battery caught fire and burned down an apartment. WHY? That is what we want to establish.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Why are you shocked Andy, it's what I would expect, given the circumstances?

Britain had the largest most widespread empire the world has ever known, leading to the English language being so widely understood and used.

The English language is the largest in the world in the number of words it possesses and due to its adoption as a universal language in all areas of knowledge and science.

English is the dominant language of the internet and world wide web.

All other languages only have very limited application and usefulness.

Accordingly in the modern world there is very limited incentive for the English to be multilingual but every incentive for those only with other languages to adequately know the English language.

To illustrate. I once spent a year working in France and expanded my schoolboy French enough to get by. Since then during 55 years it's only been of any use on two occasions for a few days each time, so rather pointless. Conversely, any one with another mother tongue who has learnt English will have found it useful as much as daily ever since.

So there is no comparison between the two situations.
.

I have live abroad from the UK, for the greater part of my life, and have sadly been in the situation where "furriners" from the UK and the USA, visiting a foreign country, with their loud voices, and total misuse of cheap alcohol, completely miss what the locals REALLY think about them.
The locals talking with a smile, about such people, right next to them about their lack of manners! (don't forget manners are local and Geographic, and even good English manners may still cause offense in some countries!)
I have been on holiday with my own family, we speak German with each other, (except when a visitor only has English), and heard loud English voices discussing us, not rudely but obviously thinking that we don't speak English. To which I greet them in my best Oxford English (still), and ask them how they are enjoying themselves.......They always go red and you can see them thinking "Did I say anything rude?" But it causes them to talk very quietly after that!
My whole family speaks impeccable English and German, both my daughters work for international parts of one a company and the other a German Bank, where Business English is a requirement.
Maybe I am spoiled and simply hoping for a better impression of what is still my home country and the population there in General....
My Bad!
Andy

 

[Amoto65]

Am I the apparently the only one here who can read and speak German, now that is worrying , the standards of modern education.........surely there are a few others with a proper education with languages as well?
German is actually my 4th language if you count Engli

So they cannot/are not allowed to use their language skills while reading here? That seems a bit far fetched.....
Latin, is very useful when learning other languages by the way, it gives you a great "leg up", though I myself hated it at school. I have no recollection as to why today! I do not count it as one of my languages for that reason, nor do I count Chinese, that I learned when posted to Singapore, and I had a Chinese GF.
Also, I tend to think that reading some of the misspelled and poor grammatical entries here, that some are unable even to write correctly, what I assume is their first language.
But I could be wrong on that point, and they have a different first language other than English...
But I am no grammar Policeman, as long as its understandable, that's fine.
So me even "imagining" that there might possibly be a few German speakers/readers, was totally off target!!
How really sad!

Yawn .

 

[vfr400]

I have live abroad from the UK, for the greater part of my life, and have sadly been in the situation where "furriners" from the UK and the USA, visiting a foreign country, with their loud voices, and total misuse of cheap alcohol, completely miss what the locals REALLY think about them.
The locals talking with a smile, about such people, right next to them about their lack of manners! (don't forget manners are local and Geographic, and even good English manners may still cause offense in some countries!)
I have been on holiday with my own family, we speak German with each other, (except when a visitor only has English), and heard loud English voices discussing us, not rudely but obviously thinking that we don't speak English. To which I greet them in my best Oxford English (still), and ask them how they are enjoying themselves.......They always go red and you can see them thinking "Did I say anything rude?" But it causes them to talk very quietly after that!
My whole family speaks impeccable English and German, both my daughters work for international parts of one a company and the other a German Bank, where Business English is a requirement.
Maybe I am spoiled and simply hoping for a better impression of what is still my home country and the population there in General....
My Bad!
Andy

Well done for bringing multiculturalism to the forum and diversity of language. if only more people would follow your lead to speak Double-Dutch, admin could probably get one of the many diversity grants available at the moment.

I have another good idea. Rather than sitting back and complaining about the lack of diversity of language on the forum, why don't you start making all your posts in German or any other foreign language you choose?

 

[Amoto65]

I have another good idea. Rather than sitting back and complaining about the lack of diversity of language on the forum, why don't you start making all your posts in German or any other foreign language you choose?

And don't forget to mention the word Bosch at every opportunity....

 

[flecc]

That's all very well, but we don't have an empire any more and if we want people to buy from us (which we desperately need them to do), we need to talk their language. Between 2025 and 2030, China will be the most economically powerful country in the world, so we won't even be able to rely on the Americans to bail us out linguistically (even though we despise the corrupted form that they speak in any case ).

Not so, countries all over the world buy from China without knowing either Chinese language. That's because the Chinese use English in business to sell to the world, making that knowledge available for us to use to sell. The Germans sell there successfully and sure as hell don't do so using the German language. Like us they'll often either be using English or employing someone with Chinese fluency to do so.

And the US Americans don't speak corrupted English, we do far more often

Can we just bury the language issue now and get back to what actually happened in this case, an e-bike battery caught fire and burned down an apartment. WHY? That is what we want to establish.

No chance, it was a newspaper report, no basis for establishing anything.
.

 

[Fat Rat]

It was an old retired couple. The newspapers covered it a few days earlier and I missed it then. But its all on the web. Also, it was not the only one either.....
I translated their words, and apparently it did blow out windows, so probably it was burning for a period and eventually the last cells, all went up together.
But I am guessing.
I shall see if a fire department statement is made.
Am I the apparently the only one here who can read and speak German, now that is worrying , the standards of modern education.........surely there are a few others with a proper education with languages as well?
German is actually my 4th language if you count English as a first, school French, Royal Navy Portuguese and I moved to Germany at around 34 years old, past my best at learning languages if the truth be known.....
German is considered to be one of the most complicated European languages, which puts some people off of course.....
3 Ways of saying "you" for example in the present tense.
3 different forms of "the", are a short indication.....
But I did (dream) that a few could read the link I sent! WRONG!!
Andy

Patronising prick

 

[WheezyRider]

Not so, countries all over the world buy from China without knowing either Chinese language. That's because the Chinese use English in business to sell to the world, making that knowledge available for us to use to sell. The Germans sell there successfully and sure as hell don't do so using the German language. Like us they'll often either be using English or employing someone with Chinese fluency to do so.

And the US Americans don't speak corrupted English, we do far more often



No chance, it was a newspaper report, no basis for establishing anything.
.

You are missing the point I was trying to make. If we are buying from someone, they will fall over themselves to speak our language. If we are trying to sell our products to someone who doesn't speak our language and we assume they will just have to listen to us and learn our language, how successful do you think we will be if there are many competitors around who don't have that attitude?

My tongue in cheek comments about American English are about our attitudes, not the standard of their English

Anyway, if we are not going to learn any more about the original point for discussion, ie, why an ebike battery caused a fire, the moderators may as well lock this thread.

 

[flecc]

You are missing the point I was trying to make. If we are buying from someone, they will fall over themselves to speak our language. If we are trying to sell our products to someone who doesn't speak our language and we assume they will just have to listen to us and learn our language, how successful do you think we will be if there are many competitors around who don't have that attitude?

I understood your point perfectly, but disagree, the others do have the same attitude as us. As I said, do the Germans sell to the Chinese in the German language? No of course they don't. From around the world we all do the same, use our very few fluent Chinese speakers to do that or employ a Chinese person with fluency in English to do that.

We don't need to teach our 66 millions to speak Chinese, we all just use the very few who have lived there long enough to have sufficient fluency to sell well. School and college level in any language isn't remotely good enough since selling requires native subtlety at least to be successful.

I gave up any hope of learning what truly happened to that battery once I'd seen it was a newspaper report promoted by a member who has an obsession about battery fires.
.

 

[joelectric]

And don't forget to mention the word Bosch at every opportunity....

der Punkt des Versagens

 

[Andy-Mat]

Yawn .

You may have done too much of that when you were at school......Possibly!

 

[flecc]

der Punkt des Versagens

The point of failure.

You see I don't need to learn German, I have the internet.
.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Not so, countries all over the world buy from China without knowing either Chinese language. That's because the Chinese use English in business to sell to the world, making that knowledge available for us to use to sell. The Germans sell there successfully and sure as hell don't do so using the German language. Like us they'll often either be using English or employing someone with Chinese fluency to do so.

And the US Americans don't speak corrupted English, we do far more often



No chance, it was a newspaper report, no basis for establishing anything.
.

Germany generally uses sales people fluent in the language of the land where they are to sell, in my experience.
Its simple good sales manners as any top salesperson knows.
Most do have English as a second language from school time.
In Germany, my children had English in School from age 9. Today, some kindergartens have a sort of English starter time, though its not everywhere. But the first school year has had English for quite some time I am told, so that's starting at age 6.
In smaller countries, Sweden, Denmark and the like, the films are all shown in the original language, as its too costly for them to re-dub a film, but with with Swedish sub titles, which seems to promote them to speaking several languages without strong accents! Certainly English and German in my experience.

Andy

 

[Andy-Mat]

The point of failure.

You see I don't need to learn German, I have the internet.
.

Which is useless if you want to have a proper conversation......it quickly annoys both parties, having to get the sentences in and out of a smartphone.....or similar. Plus, they are getting better, but they often get things wrong!
For instance, tell a German that you want to give him a gift, and he may well run away screaming, if he understands English poorly!
But if its all you've got, then be my guest!

 

[Andy-Mat]

You are missing the point I was trying to make. If we are buying from someone, they will fall over themselves to speak our language. If we are trying to sell our products to someone who doesn't speak our language and we assume they will just have to listen to us and learn our language, how successful do you think we will be if there are many competitors around who don't have that attitude?

My tongue in cheek comments about American English are about our attitudes, not the standard of their English

Anyway, if we are not going to learn any more about the original point for discussion, ie, why an ebike battery caused a fire, the moderators may as well lock this thread.

Did I ever tell you why when an American company , tried to sell Vick Vapour rub in Germany (don't ask me when), they could not give it away, till someone rewrote the name for them!?
English speaking sales people in a foreign land causing offense!

 

[flecc]

Germany generally uses sales people fluent in the language of the land where they are to sell, in my experience.
Its simple good sales manners as any top salesperson knows.
Most do have English as a second language from school time.
In Germany, my children had English in School from age 9. Today, some kindergartens have a sort of English starter time, though its not everywhere. But the first school year has had English for quite some time I am told, so that's starting at age 6.
In smaller countries, Sweden, Denmark and the like, the films are all shown in the original language, as its too costly for them to re-dub a film, but with with Swedish sub titles, which seems to promote them to speaking several languages without strong accents! Certainly English and German in my experience.

Andy

Exactly Andy, it's common sense to use those sufficiently fluent due to having lived in the location as you have with Germany.

However, given that English is the de facto universal language, I look at this issue logically. Which makes more sense?

1) Those not native English speakers completing their learning the one additional language of English.

or

2) We native English speakers each learning all of the world's other 300 languages of people who already know lots of English.
.

 

[WheezyRider]

I understood your point perfectly, but disagree, the others do have the same attitude as us. As I said, do the Germans sell to the Chinese in the German language? No of course they don't. From around the world we all do the same, use our very few fluent Chinese speakers to do that or employ a Chinese person with fluency in English to do that.

We don't need to teach our 66 millions to speak Chinese, we all just use the very few who have lived there long enough to have sufficient fluency to sell well. School and college level in any language isn't remotely good enough since selling requires native subtlety at least to be successful.

I gave up any hope of learning what truly happened to that battery once I'd seen it was a newspaper report promoted by a member who has an obsession about battery fires.
.

I understood your point perfectly, but disagree, the others do have the same attitude as us. As I said, do the Germans sell to the Chinese in the German language? No of course they don't. From around the world we all do the same, use our very few fluent Chinese speakers to do that or employ a Chinese person with fluency in English to do that.

We don't need to teach our 66 millions to speak Chinese, we all just use the very few who have lived there long enough to have sufficient fluency to sell well. School and college level in any language isn't remotely good enough since selling requires native subtlety at least to be successful.

I gave up any hope of learning what truly happened to that battery once I'd seen it was a newspaper report promoted by a member who has an obsession about battery fires.
.

I'm not talking about everyone in the UK being fluent in Mandarin, it's about the available talent pool to be able to call upon and ours in the UK (in terms of foreign language speakers) I would say is much smaller than that of other countries which we have to compete against.

I agree, Andy does have concerns about the safety of battery packs, which probably err towards unnecessary, given the millions upon millions of packs around and the low number of incidents. However, this is why we should seek to get to the bottom of what happened so that we can say definitively: "this pack had come from a dodgy unbranded supplier in China", or "this pack had been dropped and was damaged", or "the wrong kind of charger was used to charge it", or "it had been left on a room heater for hours"...

Andy makes some comment that could be taken the wrong way, which could be politely sorted out, but instead we descend into a downward spiral ending up where people are goading each other and insults get thrown around.

Not edifying of this forum.

 

[WheezyRider]

Did I ever tell you why when an American company , tried to sell Vick Vapour rub in Germany (don't ask me when), they could not give it away, till someone rewrote the name for them!?
English speaking sales people in a foreign land causing offense!

Yes, I knew about that one

Always made me smile walking down the whiskey aisle in the supermarkets in Germany and seeing "Irish Mist" for sale. The company probably were wondering why it wasn't selling very well...