Well, we're talking about North Africa, not the Middle East. Sure, they're close to each other geographically, but the political realities are different. Further, the direct foreign investment of this sort of "infrastructure" could be beneficial. The influx of money should raise the standard of living those countries and it might encourage a different sort of economic growth than what we've seen in economies fueled by petrodollars.
I completely agree. Spain is investing quite a bit in Morocco lately, for it is very close geographically and the costs are quite low. Not as low as in China but again, it's easier to work with people who at least uses the same alphabet as you do. In Morocco they speak French but many people speak Spanish too. It seems that we will finally have the kind of mutually beneficial relationship with them as other countries have managed to have with their former colonies. We are only a century behind or so.
Unlike some other "educated" countries, the people of Morocco have realized that some people in other countries speak different languages, and that you can't overcome this by simply talking at them with an increased volume and decreased speed.
And how many languages do you speak fluently? Honestly that is one of the more annoying things I hear from people. I only speak English and I can understand a little Spanish but many of my friends speak more than one language. What most people in Europe don't understand is that the majority of people in North America speak one of two languages. Spanish and English. You have a smaller group that speak French and a few other very small groups that speak other languages. I know a good number of North Americans
Great. Maybe if we Americans try REALLY hard, we can become as inefficient as the Europeans who require multiple languages to travel a few hundred miles.
I can get on any highway in America and drive for MONTHS, stopping every few hours to talk to locals. It is very unlikely that I would ever need anything other than English to communicate fluently. Now I could take a few man-months out of my life to learn Yiddish, but not knowing any Yiddish speaking people with which to converse, WHY THE HELL WOULD I?
Being required to know multiple languages is not something to be proud of. It is simply a poor solution to a systemic problem.
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Unlike some other "educated" countries, the people of Morocco have realized that some people in other countries speak different languages, and that you can't overcome this by simply talking at them with an increased volume and decreased speed.
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And how many languages do you speak fluently?
Honestly that is one of the more annoying things I hear from people. I only speak English and I can understand a little Spanish but many of my friends speak more than one language. What most people in Europe don't understand is that the majority of people in North America speak one of two languages. Spanish and English. You have a smaller group that speak French and a few other very small groups that speak other languages.
I know a good number of North Americans
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Most Europeans learn multiple languages over their native language and English.
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Great. Maybe if we Americans try REALLY hard, we can become as inefficient as the Europeans who require multiple languages to travel a few hundred miles.
I can get on any highway in America and drive for MONTHS, stopping every few hours to talk to locals. It is very unlikely that I would ever need anything other than English to communicate fluently. Now I could take a few man-months out of my life to learn Yiddish, but not knowing any Yiddish speaking people with which to converse, WHY THE HELL WOULD I?
Being required to know multiple languages is not something to be proud of. It is simply a poor solution to a systemic problem.