ncooper:
MisterStrood:
Geoffo:
I don’t have a problem with the ‘Foreign’ drivers If they live In the country where they’re working, as they are contributing to that economy.And respect the Country culture and tradition
What, you mean like the British do when they go to live abroad
Regards,
Nick
Err yes some of us fit into the local life, maybe you are basing your views on English tourists? 
welshboyinspain:
Err yes some of us fit into the local life, maybe you are basing your views on English tourists?
This subject always reminds me of John Porter, Welshman who lives in Poland since 1976, has second Polish wife, played in many Polish bands and still struggles to speak Polish… He records all his songs in English, even if they are for Polish market and with Polish artists…
Yet when I don’t like to sing in English, because I feel that I am hurting this beautiful language, my British friends always complaining “you live here 5 years, you should speak and sign as it was your own language by now” 
orys:
welshboyinspain:
Err yes some of us fit into the local life, maybe you are basing your views on English tourists?This subject always reminds me of John Porter, Welshman who lives in Poland since 1976, has second Polish wife, played in many Polish bands and still struggles to speak Polish… He records all his songs in English, even if they are for Polish market and with Polish artists…
Yet when I don’t like to sing in English, because I feel that I am hurting this beautiful language, my British friends always complaining “you live here 5 years, you should speak and sign as it was your own language by now”
I don’t get why some folk are like that, yes If you live in the country for long enough you should have a basic understanding of that language but why should you forget where your from.
gogzy:
I don’t get why some folk are like that, yes If you live in the country for long enough you should have a basic understanding of that language but why should you forget where your from.
Off course you should remember where are you from, but you should also put some effort to learn the language of the country you live in, it’s culture etc.
I started from scratch, but I hope that my English one day will be as good, that only my accent (I heard it’s impossible to rid of one’s accent, but from the other hand, some people, already say I picked some Scottish accent) will give away that I am not native speaker…
Some Britons I know here in Glasgow, who spend max few monhts in Poland and some of them have Polish partners speak much better English than some English or Irish (or German, for that matter) people I know, who live in Poland for years or decades…
orys:
gogzy:
I don’t get why some folk are like that, yes If you live in the country for long enough you should have a basic understanding of that language but why should you forget where your from.Off course you should remember where are you from, but you should also put some effort to learn the language of the country you live in, it’s culture etc.
I started from scratch, but I hope that my English one day will be as good, that only my accent (I heard it’s impossible to rid of one’s accent, but from the other hand, some people, already say I picked some Scottish accent) will give away that I am not native speaker…
Some Britons I know here in Glasgow, who spend max few monhts in Poland and some of them have Polish partners speak much better English than some English or Irish (or German, for that matter) people I know, who live in Poland for years or decades…
I lived and worked in Holland and Belgium for five years and I couldn’t say that I speak Vlaams or Dutch.
I can tip, load and get a tanker cleaned. I can order a meal and get directions in any major European language but I couldn’t have a conversation about the weather in any of them.
The reason was that I lived in my truck on my own so I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It’s not quite the same as renting or buying a place and laying roots in a Foreign Country.
W
AlexWignall:
The reason was that I lived in my truck on my own so I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It’s not quite the same as renting or buying a place and laying roots in a Foreign Country.W
Yeah, you were a kind of outsider. But if you want to live, engage in the society, benefit from it, and provide something from you, I think knowledge of the culture and language is a must.
I am readying british papers, books, listen to British music, scottish folk especially, go to the gigs and other events and try to learn as much as possible (trucknet is also a great way to get to understand this country, I learned here a lot).
But I still don’t want to sign in English, because my accent spoils the songs. Melody of language is much more important in music than in speech. The only exeption I sign in English are Gogol Bordello songs:
you can guess why 
AlexWignall:
orys:
gogzy:
I don’t get why some folk are like that, yes If you live in the country for long enough you should have a basic understanding of that language but why should you forget where your from.Off course you should remember where are you from, but you should also put some effort to learn the language of the country you live in, it’s culture etc.
I started from scratch, but I hope that my English one day will be as good, that only my accent (I heard it’s impossible to rid of one’s accent, but from the other hand, some people, already say I picked some Scottish accent) will give away that I am not native speaker…
Some Britons I know here in Glasgow, who spend max few monhts in Poland and some of them have Polish partners speak much better English than some English or Irish (or German, for that matter) people I know, who live in Poland for years or decades…
I lived and worked in Holland and Belgium for five years and I couldn’t say that I speak Vlaams or Dutch.
I can tip, load and get a tanker cleaned. I can order a meal and get directions in any major European language but I couldn’t have a conversation about the weather in any of them.
The reason was that I lived in my truck on my own so I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It’s not quite the same as renting or buying a place and laying roots in a Foreign Country.
W
It is how the job was Alex, we can ask for a tanker to be cleaned to our satisfaction. I can list all the valves & parts in their language and know the difference between a hot dry tanker and a cold wet one. Order food and beer in the language of choice often taken for a native, but as you say, if someone asks an unexpected question about football or the weather, the reply is an embarrased, “sorry I am English”
I always made a point of sticking with the German, Dutch or French rather than the drunkards who had crossed over on the same ferry as me, it was much easier to do with a German registered lorry
welshboyinspain:
What, you mean like the British do when they go to live abroad
Regards,
NickErr yes some of us fit into the local life, maybe you are basing your views on English tourists?
No, on the English who have their own radio station,shops etc on the South Coast of Spain.
I know there are some who integrate, I met one English resident who had his own trucks and was fluent in Spanish.
When I was 18, I worked in Germany for six months with Germans.
By the time I left, I could speak enough to hold a proper conversation and win an argument occasionally.
On the other hand, I was on a regular Spanish run for longer and because, as was said above, I was living in a truck, I struggled to master more than a few sentences. 
Regards,
Nick
Wheel Nut:
AlexWignall:
orys:
gogzy:
I don’t get why some folk are like that, yes If you live in the country for long enough you should have a basic understanding of that language but why should you forget where your from.Off course you should remember where are you from, but you should also put some effort to learn the language of the country you live in, it’s culture etc.
I started from scratch, but I hope that my English one day will be as good, that only my accent (I heard it’s impossible to rid of one’s accent, but from the other hand, some people, already say I picked some Scottish accent) will give away that I am not native speaker…
Some Britons I know here in Glasgow, who spend max few monhts in Poland and some of them have Polish partners speak much better English than some English or Irish (or German, for that matter) people I know, who live in Poland for years or decades…
I lived and worked in Holland and Belgium for five years and I couldn’t say that I speak Vlaams or Dutch.
I can tip, load and get a tanker cleaned. I can order a meal and get directions in any major European language but I couldn’t have a conversation about the weather in any of them.
The reason was that I lived in my truck on my own so I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It’s not quite the same as renting or buying a place and laying roots in a Foreign Country.
W
It is how the job was Alex, we can ask for a tanker to be cleaned to our satisfaction. I can list all the valves & parts in their language and know the difference between a hot dry tanker and a cold wet one. Order food and beer in the language of choice often taken for a native, but as you say, if someone asks an unexpected question about football or the weather, the reply is an embarrased, “sorry I am English”
I always made a point of sticking with the German, Dutch or French rather than the drunkards who had crossed over on the same ferry as me, it was much easier to do with a German registered lorry
I have said this before but the best disguise to avoid rowdy brits in Autohofs was a clean shirt and jeans.
I always found it quite funny when a couple of brits would rock up at a nice cafe like De Poppe with rigger boots on. Order big glasses of local beer and get wrecked as fruitbats on a Tuesday night.
I didn’t mean to be an outsider Orys but as Wheel Nut said it was the nature of the job. My colleagues at Evergem were increadably kind. One of the wives even tried to fix me up with a girlfriend so I might settle down.
I nearly did settle in Belgium and if I had, I would of done my best to intergrate like you’re doing Orys. If that is what other Foreign drivers are trying to do I can’t see the harm in it.
W
ncooper:
welshboyinspain:
What, you mean like the British do when they go to live abroad
Regards,
NickErr yes some of us fit into the local life, maybe you are basing your views on English tourists?
No, on the English who have their own radio station,shops etc on the South Coast of Spain.
I know there are some who integrate, I met one English resident who had his own trucks and was fluent in Spanish.
When I was 18, I worked in Germany for six months with Germans.
By the time I left, I could speak enough to hold a proper conversation and win an argument occasionally.
On the other hand, I was on a regular Spanish run for longer and because, as was said above, I was living in a truck, I struggled to master more than a few sentences.Regards,
Nick
I know what you mean there are plenty around here 
the point i was trying to make was the amount who come to spain on holiday then everyday eat english breakfast, drink carling or john smiths and read the sun or daliy mail 
why not go to blackpool for all that??
as for the local brits around here they are an embaressment, i know people who haved lived here nigh on 15 years and still can’t speak the language 
AlexWignall:
I nearly did settle in Belgium and if I had, I would of done my best to intergrate like you’re doing Orys. If that is what other Foreign drivers are trying to do I can’t see the harm in it.W
I know quite a few British drivers living over here In Belgium that have settled here, learn’t the lingo & married local Women.