The Brexit referendum thread: potential consequences for GB, EU and the Brits in CH

[Belgianmum]

Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. English language, English literature, geography, French and Latin at o’ level for me plus music outside school.

Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and general studies at An level plus music.

[Urs Max]

	Quote:
	Dunno if you are quoting Bojo here or not, but his health secretary, Matt Hancock had this to say: Pressed on whether it was 50,000 “new” nurses, he replied: “It’s 50,000 more nurses. A large part of that will be new nurses entering, but also there’s been significant pressures on nurses in recent years and more are leaving the profession than I want to see. “The number of nurses in the NHS will be 50,000 more than it is today – that is the commitment, we’re going to meet that commitment, I’m absolutely determined about it.” So 50,000 more than it is today, which means you cannot include any leaving nurses (until they've left) towards that figure.

I'm referring to the Hancock clip/Twitter post that was linked (by SG I believe). Which is also what Rufus is also reacting to.

He may have said that, but he doesn't say it in that clip. Hence my question and her making a fool of herself.

	Quote:	Urs Max
	I'm referring to the Hancock clip/Twigtter post that was linked (by SG I believe). Which is also what Rufus is also reacting to. He may have said that, but he doesn't say it in that clip. Hence my question and her making a fool of herself.

Oh dear, did I? If you say so. I don't think I did but if it makes you feel bigger better.How hostile of you

[Blueangel]

	Quote:
	Why stunned?

Because my school would only allow you to drop history or geography. You couldn't drop both.

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	Blueangel
	Because my school would only allow you to drop history or geography. You couldn't drop both.

I don’t think you could at mine either.

	Quote:	Urs Max
	I'm referring to the Hancock clip/Twitter post that was linked (by SG I believe). Which is also what Rufus is also reacting to. He may have said that, but he doesn't say it in that clip. Hence my question and her making a fool of herself.

You should be more polite.

How many new leaves will you turn over in 2020? Do leaves that you didn’t quite turn over in 2019 count towards it?

	Quote:	Blueangel
	Because my school would only allow you to drop history or geography. You couldn't drop both.

As I said, they classed it as a humanity. This is... 27 years ago. I was a pretty good music student. Plus I wanted both languages.

[greenmount]

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	My wife wanted to improve her French so on Netflix we started watching all films with French Subtitles for 6 months, now the films are in French usually with English subtitles, exposure is now possible for Brits that have any interest in a foreign language.

Why would they have much interest in foreign languages? Everywhere they'd go, literally everywhere, they'd find someone speaking their language.

	Quote:	greenmount
	Why would they have much interest in foreign languages? Everywhere they'd go, literally everywhere, they'd find someone speaking their language.

It's the difference between existing somewhere and living somewhere.

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:
	It's the difference between existing somewhere and living somewhere.

Exactly, when I bought a flat in France 20 years ago my French was good enough to deal with the Notary in French without a translator, we are buying a bigger place & my wife wants to understand what she is signing.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	greenmount
	Why would they have much interest in foreign languages? Everywhere they'd go, literally everywhere, they'd find someone speaking their language.

Human interest I would have thought. English has been the first language in Ireland for about 70 years now, but most people I know who go to Europe regularly for holidays etc sign up for classes, they just want to get to know people and understand what is going on.

Perhaps it makes a difference in Ireland that you are exposed to a second language early on, I don’t know. I wonder if the attitude to language learning in Wales is very different to England...

[marton]

	Quote:	Blueangel
	I studied French at school from age 8-13 and German from 11-13. Dropped both in my 3rd year options at high school because they clashed with Biology and Chemistry on the timetable, and I needed the sciences for my (then) career choice. Went back to both and started Italian at night class in my early 20s. I find that German has changed considerably since I first studied it from 1976-78.

Probably the language has not changed so fast but in UK they use such ancient textbooks that if you visited the foreign country they would laugh at your vocabulary.

I had the experience that I spent some weeks in Germany before my "O" level German exam; I got the highest marks in my area in the oral exam but failed the written. With what I know now I should have challenged the result; I assume I was using words that did not exist in the syllabus vocabulary; my exam was probably marked by people who did not have current German knowledge but just a model answer to compare?

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	marton
	Probably the language has not changed so fast but in UK they use such ancient textbooks that if you visited the foreign country they would laugh at your vocabulary.

I would imagine that the teaching profession has moved on since then... certain the books I see with my nephews in Ireland are the typical A1, A2 up to C1 used every where else for learning a foreign language.

Put certainly in the past schools did not teach you how to live in the language.

[John William]

Meanwhile here's Jacob Rees-Mogg with his three demands from the ERG for the New Year.

[justpassingby]

To all the non-believers here, something to cheer you up:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/12...ouse-uk-latest

Bring on the roaring twenties

[marton]

	Quote:
	Britain has been unnecessarily damaged by Brexit and “more will follow”, the vice-president of the European commission has written in a “love letter” to the British people in which he promises a warm welcome back should attitudes change.

Source

A ray of hope!

[marton]

	Quote:	justpassingby
	To all the non-believers here, something to cheer you up: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/12...ouse-uk-latest Bring on the roaring twenties

From the same report

	Quote:
	INDIA OVERTAKES BRITAIN AND FRANCE TO BECOME WORLD’S FIFTH LARGEST ECONOMY India becomes the world’s third-largest economy by 2032.

[Jim2007]

	Quote:	justpassingby
	To all the non-believers here, something to cheer you up: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/12...ouse-uk-latest Bring on the roaring twenties

So you know the great new deal that Trump did with Canada, yes that one - the one Congress has not ratified and that Donald no longer mentions....

One should never underestimate the Granny factor.... particularly an Italian one with Irish grandchildren! And this report does not even consider the possibility.

[John William]

	Quote:	Jim2007
	So you know the great new deal that Trump did with Canada, yes that one - the one Congress has not ratified and that Donald no longer mentions.... One should never underestimate the Granny factor.... particularly an Italian one with Irish grandchildren! And this report does not even consider the possibility.

With Brexit Britain and Britain's place in the world according to Rees-Mogg and those adherents of the
ERG, its the Nanny factor that has to be taken into consideration.

[Urs Max]

	Quote:	justpassingby
	To all the non-believers here, something to cheer you up: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/12...ouse-uk-latest Bring on the roaring twenties

In trade deals, the bigger party sets the terms, the UK is the obvious junior partner. That doesn't bode well for a deal that benefits the UK, in fact it sounds very much like the wishful "thinking" around Brexit itself. And of course, what's good for a country doesn't benefit the population equally; expect the bottom half of the British population to get shafted. Northern Ireland may turn out to be lucky with the border in the Irish Sea as that must keep them outside of such a deal.

Besides, and this is only indirectly related to a UK-US FTA though it does affect trade with all other WTO members, there's no working way to get WTO disputes resolved any longer. Given that the WTO Appelate Body is now completely dysfunctional, thanks to no other country than the US of course, the WTO dispute settlement in the prescribed way is no longer available. The US have proven time and time again that they don't really mind breaking those deals whenever it suits them. See the current trade war, for example (which is expected to arrive in our theatre sometime next year btw).