Bit sad really… 
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It is a bit sad and lazy. my friend in Holland is taking classes. I used to work 3 days a month in Warsaw, I know 2 words in Polish. Please & thank-you but the team was English speaking because that was the model.
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Wikipedia puts English above Mandarin and claims 5th for French!
What is noticeable in both lists is the number of speakers for whom English is a 2nd tongue dwarfs the number of native speakers (and vice versa for Mandarin)
Can’t say as I’m surprised. Born and spent most of my childhood in various parts of Gloucestershire, and considered myself fortunate and privileged to be able to learn both German and French. Certainly wasn’t a majority of kids even back then.
Very interesting.
That’s probably true. But then most of the world don’t have English as their first language. I wonder how many English speakers can speak a second language.
I think the ‘we speak X so there’s no need to learn other languages’ attitude some people have is shameful, for the sake of politeness or even simply for mental exercise everyone should speak/read another language, what it is doesn’t really matter.
Anyone can learn languages, it is just a question of putting your mind to it and not being too up yourself.
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But some have a flair for it and some struggle.
Chap I knew at university speaks fluent French, German and Dutch and passable Spanish and Italian - another guy I encountered when working in the defence sector was a true polymath, not only a brilliant mathematician but spoke 16 languages including Russian (sadly he was firmly on the autistic spectrum which, together with the fact that intellectually he stood head and shoulders above what was already a very bright group, lead to the slightly unkind observation that he could speak 16 languages but not communicate in any of them).
Whereas I struggle to acquire even one language beyond my mother tongue with any degree of fluency.
It depends on the criteria by which you judge your performance: if you can communicate, understand when spoken to simply and read eg a newspaper, then you are doing fine.
Nobody expects a learner of a 2nd/3rd/4th or nth language to sound like a native speaker or to have a vast vocabulary.
If you are comparing proficiency in a language learnt in school or by yourself with a sophisticated grasp of your native language then obviously you will be disappointed and probably over-critical.
What riles (particularly) educated people most about communicating in another language is they think they sound half-witted, which is where the needing not to be up yourself comes in.
Some may find learning languages harder than others but everyone is capable of doing it.
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The problem is what language should UK kids be taught? With English being the most widely used language (not most spoken) the previous choices of French or German are not relevant now, I’d go for Spanish. Whatever, I think it’s important that children continue to learn another language.
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Oh <deity>> yes. 
It doesn’t help that I’m not quite at the point of thinking in French or having the “French way” of saying something at my fingertips - I’m still at he “think in English, translate on the fly” stage. I recognise that if I can get over that barrier things will be a lot easier.
One of the tricks that might help if you are stuck is to put things in a different way.
Simplify it.
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Paul, my own experience matches yours very closely, and Véronique’s pithy observation on being up oneself strikes a vibrant chord chez moi.
So I reckon your own epiphany is nigh. There comes a sudden unexpected shift to a new level of competent assuredness, not necessarly huge, but one which will please you, and which seems to be irreversible. You may think it will disappear, some fluke of happenstance, but it won’t. But it may sometimes seem inaccessible, that’s where the up-oneself issue needs to be remembered. Just relax and “go with the buoyant flow”.
Jane’s advice on simplifying also very sound, dodge the lumpy polysyllabic abstract nouns and talk simples. 
Altogether a very helpful thread! 
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That’s one of the reasons I’m trying to boost the vocab - it’s all very well thinking of a different way to say things but if you can’t translate that either………
I can’t recall whether you’ve tried duolingo? I’ve found it very good at reinforcing simple and frequently met constructions, and building vocabulary. It also trains the ear and the muscles used in articulating French vowels particularly.
Recapping on my last comment, one turning point for me was the instant when I realised that French people weren’t speaking a foreign language!
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All the way through - it has a very odd and eclectic selection of vocab and situations though.
Agreed. Grimly resolute about ironing out English English in favour of North American vocabulary and constructions. 
Well in my opinon, the level of schooling has gone down the drains in the UK, the dear ittle kiddywinkies get stressed at the very thought of going to school. The luvvies of this world get stressed out over the kids. Jeez what a turmoil. How i long for some decent schooling, with respect and discipline.
When I was at school in the 1940s and 1950s respect grew out of the fairness, responsible methods of child-management including tolerance of diversity; genuiine liking of and respect for kids qua kids as learning, developing and curious beings; intelligent and humane sanctions on behaviour that challenged community norms.
And well planned lessons across a wide humanistic and forward-looking curriculum, including sport, gymnastics and the arts, with music and drama. It was an all-boys grammar: prefects, scool uniforms, daily act of worship with sung psalms, prayers for HM the King etc.
Some masters were war-damaged ex-officers with severe neuroses, poor anger-control and no aptutude for teaching. But they usually had bad degrees from good universities. One had a clean bullet hole through his pinna (outer ear).
Their idea of gaining boys’ respect was boxing our ears, banging our heads against the blackboard face first, unwarranted bullying, intimidation, arbitrary punishment. T
They had only sullen respect and attracted a lot of well-deserved and well-planned vengeance. Boys can be very, very cruel.
In those days schools were not centrally-controlled and a politician’s plaything. That’s why schools are in decline now. They’ve been wrenched from professional hands. The parents aren’t to blame, nor the kids. Same is true of the economy, it’s been handed on a plate to “economists” and “financiers”. What a ruinous mess!
The beauty of English is that it’s a language in a state of continual evolution. Because only approximately 20% of people who use English as their mother tongue live in the British Isles, it’s inevitable EE will gradually cede place to the English from overseas.
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