{"id":3330,"date":"2015-01-06T23:17:41","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T23:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=3330"},"modified":"2015-01-06T23:17:41","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T23:17:41","slug":"londoners-should-be-able-to-speak-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/londoners-should-be-able-to-speak-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Londoners should be able to speak English"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Boris\"<\/a>Londoners should be able to speak English, Boris Johnson said on Tuesday. The Mayor said it was a \u201cgreat shame\u201d that people living in the capital, including some who have been here for decades, could not use the \u201ccommon language of this city and this country\u201d.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a huge wasted opportunity for them,\u201d he told LBC radio.
\n\u201cEverybody in London, everybody who comes to work in our economy, should be able to speak English.\u201d
\nHe stressed this applied in particular to people working in public services such as the NHS, education and town halls.
\n\u201cI\u2019m amazed by reports that people cannot make themselves understood in English in this country to people working in the NHS. That is completely wrong,\u201d he added.
\nHe urged NHS managers to \u201ctake steps\u201d to ensure that NHS doctors and nurses from abroad can speak English sufficiently well to communicate with patients.
\nThe Mayor emphasised that his belief that people in the UK should be able to speak English was not meant in a \u201cpunitive sense\u201d,\u00a0 with people facing penalties for failing to learn the language.
\nFamilies who could not speak English, though, were not able to participate fully in the London economy, he said.
\n\u201cWe went through a long period in Britain of having kind of multi-culti Balkanisation of society,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cWe thought it was a very good idea to teach kids in their own language in primary school classes. It\u2019s a disastrous approach. They should be learning in English.\u201d
\nHe described as \u201ccomplete nonsense\u201d that official documents in Britain should be translated into many languages.
\nUrging people with \u201crusty\u201d English to take a course to improve their speaking skills, he stressed it is not a difficult language, with many short words and simple grammar.
\nMr Johnson\u2019s comments came after Ukip leader Nigel Farage claimed there is a problem with foreign GPs not speaking good English despite all NHS doctors having to pass a language test.<\/p>\n

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