THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3)

1. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, it can be rightly claimed that internet has revolutionised the world: you can
freely communicate with whoever you please, wherever that person is, in addition to
having nearly any kind of information just with a click. Many things have been created from
the last decade on and the ones which had the biggest effect are known by one noun:
social networks. It is currently so strange to see somebody who has never joined any
social network such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or simply used Internet. As I have
been a faithful customer for some years, I realise most of the information you find in the
social nets or while googling is in English. That is why this question came up to my mind: is
English taking the place of the mother tongue of European countries in internet? I found it
certainly interesting and I thought it would help me get to know loads of things society
generally doesn't care about. So, I decided to carry my research project out based on this
hypothesis and focusing my work on four different European countries: Spain, Germany,
Denmark and Italy.
In the theorical framework, I am going to develop several points about the Internet, the
English in each country I am working on and I am going to explain how the software I will
create (practical framework) works. As I have plainly said, in my practical framework I am
going to create a software which is capable of taking information from people of those four
countries and send it to a translator which will define which is the quantity of words that are
in English.

8
2.1 INTERNET USAGE
2.1.1 DENMARK
Denmark is one of the smallest countries in Europe: not only does it have just 5,569,077
inhabitants, but it also has only 43,093 square kilometres. Nonetheless, in terms of
Internet usage, it is one of the highest one; 5,270,018 out of 5,569,077 people → 94% use
Internet frequently.
This graphic is a certain evidence of the huge change in the use of internet between 1998-
2010. While in 1998 the percentage of the population who used Internet was really low
(roughly 30%), in 2010 it had completely changed: there were nearly 5 million people using
Internet which represents more than an 80% of the total population. As we know the
number of people who use Internet nowadays, it can be claimed that it has continued
increasing since 2010 (300,000 people more approximately use Internet).

9
Denmark has one of the highest broadband penetration rates in the world, the result of
excellent cable and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) infrastructure and continued
improvement of them. It has helped encourage people get both copper and fibre networks.
Fibre networks have a fast-growing footprint. As a result of this, a number of community
and metropolitan schemes have supplemented TDC's (Danish Telecommunications
Company) own commitments to build out fibre networks. At the beginning of 2015 TDC’s
network of vectored VDSL (Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line) lines will be able to
offer the government objective: 100Mb/s service by 2020.
Denmark is one of the most advanced countries in terms of internet usage due to, partly,
its excellent cable and DSL infrastructure. As I have said at the beginning, a 94% of the
population are using internet frequently (frequently understood as once a week) really
above the UE average of 70% and up from 88% in 2011 and 89% in 2012. In addition,
83% of the population are daily users (so just 11% of all people who use internet do not
use it daily) up from 78% in 2011 and 81% in 2012 and well above (as usual) the UE
average (59%). Focusing on mobile use of the internet, in Denmark 61% of individuals
have access to Internet via a mobile device. It is one of the highest in the UE with
Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK and it is again, fairly above the UE average (36%). Just
a piece of information before finishing, Denmark is, with regard to operational computer
skills, one of the top performers in Europe: 85% of citizens in Denmark have some level of
computer skills.

10
The economist intelligence unit e-readiness report for 2008 puts Denmark in the top 5 in
the world (in the previous four years Denmark was top). With high levels of availability of
technology and connectivity in schools, Denmark has had an important growth in the use
of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during exams. A new pilot in Denmark
is trying to design assessments that better reflect the skills required at university and work
and to focus on the complexity and sophistication of the exams instead of the quality and
speed of writing. The initiative is attempting to find the best way for pupils to get the skills
that require the 21st century. Moreover, The Ministry’s approach has been to make the
development as open and inclusive as possible. Annual conferences in particular subjects
are used to review and to engage teachers and the wider public.

11
2.1.2 ITALY
As recent statistics show, Italy has got 61,680,122 inhabitants. It is one of the largest
countries in Europe (although it is considerably smaller than Germany) and so it is the use
of Internet inside. In Italy, a reasonably big part of the society use Internet nowadays →
36,058,199 out of 61,680,122, which means a 58.5% (it is used by many more people in
Germany). New technologies, but in concrete Internet, have doubtlessly been increasing
the last few years.
Here there is a table that shows the relationship between the population and the use of the
Internet in Italy the last few years:
1
1
www.internetworldstats.com/eu/it.htm
2000 13,200,000 57,989,900 22.8 % ITU
2004 28,610,000 58,608,565 48.8 % ITU
2008 28,255,100 58,145,321 48.6 % Nielsen N//R
2010 30,026,400 58,090,681 51.7 % N-O

12
The table provides some interesting information: on the one hand, in the decade 2000-
2010 the percentage of the population that uses internet has increased quite a lot, having
a 22.8% in 2000 and a 51.7% in 2010 (it must clarified that nowadays it is different:
58.5%). On the other hand, between 2000 and 2004 the percentage duplicated but,
between 2004 and 2010 it did not barely change. Nevertheless, during the last four years
(2010-2014) there has been a considerably important change. It might be because Italy,
during those six years, was a bit stuck and did not try to get up-to-date technology but as
they have seen it could not continue being like this, they changed it completely and
brought in new technology attracting new customers. As you can see, I have not used a
table for the first country (Denmark) because unluckily, it does not exist. Though, the
information shown in both is very similar. The Italian broadband landscape differs from
other major European countries because of the absence of cable infrastructure. The
country’s dependence on DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) with no competitive cable
alternative was resulted in one of Europe’s lowest broadband penetration rates. Yet the
high degree of LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) has promoted considerable competition
within the DSL sector, and Italy reported the second largest net increase in broadband
lines in the EU in 2004 and 2005 (as table shows, but from that moment on, there will not
be many changes). Italy’s cities are also densely populated, with a high proportion of
people living in apartment blocks, and this has supported the growth of FttH (Fibre to the
home) services, which are among the best-established in Europe.

13
Italy does not stand out to be a good Internet performer so a 53% of the population uses
the Internet at least once a week, which is quite lower than the UE average of 70%.
Moreover, a 49% of Italians go online at least once a day which is also low in comparison
with the UE average of 59%. As for people who have never used the internet, they account
for 39% in 2012, almost double the UE average of 22%. Another interesting piece of
information is that new data on mobile use of the Internet shows that Italy is lagging behind
in this aspect: while an average of 36% of European citizens accessed Internet via a
mobile device in 2012, in Italy the rate is 16% (this rate in countries such as UK or Sweden
is between 63 to 70%). Nonetheless, Italian enterprises are in line with the
European average with regard to providing their staff with portable devices for accessing
Internet (47% in Italy, 48% as the EU average). Just to conclude with this section, the 56%
of the citizens in Italy have some level of computer skills, a rate still well below the average
for the EU of 67%.
This is a table that shows some specific information, which could help get an idea about
some things that people don't care about:
2
2
http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/digital_intelligence112009.htm

14
As you can see, again, I have not included a table like this in Denmark because it does not
exist either. Although I have looked for something that showed similar information, I have
not been able to find anything.
Italy lags behind most OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)
countries when it comes to equipment and usage of information and communication
technology (ICT) in school. For example, in 2011, only 30% of Italian students in 8th grade
used ICT as a regular instruction tool in science classes, compared to 48% on average in
an OECD country. In this context, the Ministry of Education launched in 2007 a National
Plan for Digital Schools (Piano Nazionale Scuola Digitale) to mainstream ICT in Italian
classrooms and use technology to innovate the Italian education, conducing to new
teaching practices, new models of school organization and new products and tools to
support quality teaching. The national plan includes four initiatives: a fund to equip
classrooms with interactive whiteboards, and three test bed projects in which pilot schools,
selected through open competitions, experiment ICT solutions. However, there is a
problem that conditions the whole project: the limited budget. Due to this, ICT equipment is
entering Italian classes rather slowly.

15
2.1.3 SPAIN
Spain is not a country which stands out to be one of the biggest nor one of the smallest.
Currently, it has got 47,737,941 inhabitants and 74.8% of them (which is 35,705,960
people) are frequent users or at least, have access to internet.
Here we can see a table, which shows the relationship between internet users and
population during 2000-2010:
3
3
http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/es.htm
2000 5,387,800 40,827,300 13.2 % ITU
2004 14,095,451 43,435,136 32.5 % Nielsen//NetRatings
2006 19,765,032 45,003,663 43.9 % Nielsen//NetRatings
2008 27,028,934 40,491,051 66.8 % Nielsen Online
2010 29,093,984 46,505,963 62.6 % Nielsen Online

16
We can see in the table that the percentage of users during the decade 2000-2010 has
substantially increased. Nevertheless, the population has barely changed: while in 2006
the population was higher than in 2008 (5 million people of difference), in 2008 the number
of people who used internet was around the 27 million (8 million people more). Paying
attention to the variation between 2008 and 2010, users raised but population even more
so the percentage of the population who used the internet was lower. The percentage of
users between 2000 and 2010 increased a 474% (13.2% until 62.6%). Spain is in a similar
situation as Italy because during the last four years (2010-2014) there has been a really
big change in Internet users. Although I have not got certified information which reclaims
this, it might be because of the lack of new technologies so people settled for the old ones.
Spain's broadband penetration is on a par with the EU average, though subscribers have
continued to contend with relatively high access prices and slow average data speeds.
Notwithstanding, the incumbent Movistar (formerly Telefónica) has launched 30Mb/s
services, while other companies provide 100Mb/s. But, depending on where you live you
cannot get those 100Mb/s nor the 30MB/s services and you have to settle for just having
6Mb/s or even 4Mb/s (paying the same as the ones who have 30MB/s). The regulator has,
in recent years, promoted fibre network sharing. In 2013 there was developed a pricing
structure for shared infrastructure. The strong growth in the number of fibre broadband
connections is beginning to tell on the sector’s dynamics.

17
In Spain, citizens use the Internet as often as the average European citizen. In 2012, 65%
of the population used internet regularly (at least once a week) above the 62% of 2011 and
under the US average of 70%. Talking about frequent users (daily users), the percentage
was (in 2012) 51% above the 48% of 2011 and under the UE average of 59%. Focusing on
the new data mobile use of the internet that in Spain access to Internet via mobile devices,
the percentage is 39% slightly higher than the UE average of 36%. On the other hand,
Spain is under the UE average in terms of enterprises giving their staff a mobile device
(45% < 49%). About digital competence, Spain has some peculiarities; while the 35% of
the population has high computer skills (above the 32% of UE average), medium and low
skills are fairly lower the UE average (21% < 25% - 11% < 16%).
There is a table with some significant information worthy of being shown:
4
4
http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/digital_intelligence012010.htm

18
For over a decade the Spanish Ministry of Education has been investing colossal amounts
of money into making sure new technologies were applied in schools as well as having
pupils connected to Internet. However, a study by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
for the Fundación Telefónica, has concluded that not even teachers know how to make the
best pedagogical use of computers and that pupils do not use them for any other purpose
than to look for information and play games. The authors of this study claimed that the
presence of computers in schools does not mean that their educative use has spread
automatically or that innovative teaching processes have been developed. According to
the study (it involved 800 primary and secondary schools) only one out of every eight
schools had more than 10 computers in their ordinary classrooms. Most of the teachers
questioned for the study said that they had adopted the use technology as a support to
normal teaching activities but they didn't have the skills to make the best use of computers.
The study by the UOC concluded that ‘the most important issue was the innovative use of
educative practices’ without which the use of technology would continue being limited and
investment in new facilities would not guarantee the best quality in education.

19
2.1.4 GERMANY
Germany has got 82,282,988 inhabitants. It's one of the largest countries in Europe and so
it is the use of internet inside. In Germany, a massive part of the society use Internet
nowadays → 68,296,919 out of 82,282,988 which means an 84%. New technologies, but
specifically Internet, have really been increasing in the last decade.
Here there is a table that shows the relationship between the population and the use of the
Internet in Germany the last few years:
5
5
http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/de.htm
2000 24,000,000 82,238,660 29.2 % ITU
2004 46,455,813 82,529,713 56.3 % Nielsen Net//Ratings
2009 61,973,100 82,329,758 75.3 % ITU
2010 65,123,800 82,282,988 79.1 % ITU

20
As the table clarifies, there has been an amazingly big growth in Internet users the first
decade of 2000. In 10 years’ time, the initial number of 24,000,000 has increased until the
2010 one: 65,123,800. It represents a growth of more than 40 million people.
Nevertheless, the population has barely changed during the last decade. So, what was 29,
2% in 2000, it's an 84% now.
Germany has the second largest broadband in Europe. The dominant DSL (Digital
Subscriber Line) platform is led by Telekom Deutschland which has invested in several
upgrades serving many urban areas. Although it continues to invest in fibre, financial and
market considerations have more recently encouraged the company to pursue DSL
vectoring technologies. This strategy is aimed at reaching the government and European
broadband targets by 2020. The greatly consolidated cable sector has invested in
extensive DOCSIS3.0 technologies, offering widespread 200Mb/s services which DSL
cannot yet match, and an expectation of developing commercial services offering up to
400Mb/s.
In addition, Germany is a good performer in terms of regular internet usage with above
average rates. 78% of the population are using the internet at least once a week above the
EU average of 70%. Frequent users (daily users of the internet) account for 65% of the
population above the EU average of 59%. Individuals who have never used the internet
accounted for 15%, well below the EU average of 22%. Moreover, new data on mobile use
of the internet shows that 31% of individuals in Germany accessed the internet via a
mobile device in 2014, below the EU average 36%. On the contrary, 52% of enterprises in
Germany provided their employees with portable devices to access the Internet in 2014,
above the EU average of 48%.

21
A piece of information just before finishing this section: In terms of operational computer
skills, Germany is an average to high player. 75% of citizens in Germany have some level
of computer skills. This rate is well above the average for the EU of 67%.
This is a table that shows some concrete information which could help get an idea about
some things which people don't care about:
7
7 http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2010/04/consumer_internet_behaviour_ge_1.php

22
In 1996, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research launched the initiative named
'Schools Online' together with the German telecoms firm, Deutche telekom. The aim was
to make sure that every German school (35,000 at the time) had access to Internet. 5
years later, this aim was already achieved: every school had access to Internet. But as it
turned out, simply installing computers and Internet at schools was not enough. The
teachers and students need to know how the technology works and can be used. And so
that became the project's next big mission in the 2000s. The teaching staff developed
online learning platforms and teacher training projects. They started with schools and later
incorporated kindergartens and professional training institutions, with special target groups
like girls and migrants. But, in 2012, 16 years later, the initiative was removed: no more
equipment nor technology would be installed in a future. One the one hand, the organizers
said they had achieved their goals and it was no longer necessary but on the other hand,
teachers say there is plenty left to be done and if nothing changes, they are going to be
stuck in the past with old-fashioned technology.

23
I found a graphic which shows the percentage of teenagers (12-19) which use the Internet,
6
In fifteen years’ time, there has been a huge change in terms of using Internet between
teenagers in Germany. While at the very well beginning just a 5% of them used it, now
there exists a 90% of use. This represents a 1800% of increase (amazing, but real).
Focusing on the difference between female and male, they both have a really similar
percentage since 2008. Before 2008, male had a slightly higher percentage than female.
As it is a very special table which shows some really precise information, it just exists for
Germany. Moreover, I have not found anything that gave similar information (for the other
countries).
6
www.mpfs.com

24
2.2 LEVEL OF ENGLISH
2.2.1 LEVEL OF ENGLISH IN DENMARK, GERMANY,
SPAIN AND ITALY
The world's largest ranking of English skills shows several things: obviously, it allows you
to know which are the best countries in terms of English skills but it also gives you the
opportunity to know exactly the level they have got. The general level of English of
European people is remarkably strong. Europe has got 19 of the top 22 countries in this
year’s index, as well as all of the world’s very high proficiency countries. Despite its
already strong English skills, Europe continues to improve. Since 2007, Europe’s average
proficiency level has risen 3.59 points. Many countries, including Austria, Belgium,
Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, have made proficiency gains consistent with this regional
average. The first country we can see in the ranking is Denmark. Denmark is in the first
position of the ranking with 69.30 points and is considered not only to be the one which
has got a better level of English in Europe, but also around the world. Germany, which is
the second country we can see in the ranking, is already in the 10th position. It is believed
to have a high level of English and has got 60.88 points. The third country we can see in
the ranking is Spain with 57.18 points; it is located in the 24th position and is thought to
have a moderate level of English (the same as European average). Finally, the fourth and
last country that we can see in the ranking is Italy with 52.8 points. However, Italy is still in
the moderate part (27th position) not far from Spain (as it has already been said, 24th). All
in all, despite the evident differences in the level of English between countries, it could be
widely claimed that none of the countries I am working on is considered to have a low level
of English and, as I have said at the beginning, they are improving a lot year after year.

25
Although Spain is currently in the 24th position, it was quite worse some years ago: Spain
has been one of the three countries that has improved the most during the last years. It
has been thanks to the fact that the Spanish government has defined English as one of
seven basic skills, alongside Spanish and math.
2.2.2 LEVEL OF ENGLISH IN EUROPE BY AGE
As the educational system has been changing over the years, all of the generations have
had different kinds of lessons. One of the points that has changed the most is languages.
The generation of our parents and grandparents instead of studying English at schools,
they studied French which means that their level of English is feasible to be lower.
However, our parents have been directly affected by the huge explosion of English and in
some cases (mainly the ones who have had to learn it for business reasons) have
acquired a definitely good level. It cannot be said the same thing about the older seniors.
The older you are the harder it is to learn a language but the truth is that just a few people
older than 55 years old rarely speak English fluently enough. I have found a graphic (which
cannot be attached due to website restriction for security reasons) that shows this clearly:
people from 18 to 44 have got a fairly similar level of English whilst people from 45 and
above, their level becomes lower and lower.

26
2.2.3 LEVEL OF ENGLISH IN EUROPE BY GENDER
In the last point it was explained and commented the level of English by age, the different
generations. In this one, I am going to define which is the gender which speaks the best
the language. Unluckily, we live in a sexist society in which people have got stuck in their
minds the mistaken image of the traditional family: the man who is the one who has to
bring the money home and the woman who is the one who has to take care of the children
and carry through all the tough housework. Withal, and as a graphic from EF shows,
females have got a better level of English not only in Europe but, also around the world. It
is true that the difference is not very wide, but the results are clear: Women speak English
better than men.

27
2.2.4 EUROPEAN MAP: LEVEL OF ENGLISH
7
This map of Europe posted by Jakub Marian indicates which is the percentage of people in
each European country that is able to hold a conversation in English or in other words, has
got a good enough level to make themselves clear. I am going to focus in the four
countries I am working on: firstly, as usual, we find Denmark with the second highest
percentage of all Europe (without including the English speaking countries). The 86% of
the Danish people are able to maintain a conversation in English. Secondly, we find
Germany with a 56%. It is not a bad percentage in comparison with all the European
countries. Thirdly, there positions Italy with a 34%. It is already one of the worst
percentage in the continent. Finally, there is Spain with a terrible 22% which is the worst of
the whole Europe.
7
http://jakubmarian.com/map-of-the-percentage-of-people-speaking-english-in-the-eu-by-country/

28
2.3 OPERATION OF REQUIRED TOOLS AND
PROGRAMMES
2.3.1 TWITTER
Twitter is a social network which was created and launched during 2006. Messages can be
read or written and have got a limited length: 140 characters. Currently, it has got more
than 500 million users 284 of which are understood as active users.
2.3.1.1 TWITTER4J
Twitter4J is an unofficial Java library for the twitter API. By using it, it is fairly easy to
integrate a Java application with a twitter service.
2.3.2 APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (API)
API is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. It expresses
a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types and
determines functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations.
Basically, API provide the building blocks to finally have a good software application.

29
2.3.3 JAVA
Java is a computer programming language which is used all over the world. One of its
more noted characteristics is the fact that allows application developers to, what they call,
WORA (write once, run anyway) because once you have written the code on one platform,
you can use it in any platforms.
2.3.4 JAVASCRIPT OBJECT NOTATION (JSON)
JavaScript Object Notation is a norm or requirement format that uses text readable by
humans in order to transmit data objects consisting of a fundamental sequence of symbols
given meaning by specific acts of interpretation in computing systems and applications. Its
main use is to transmit data between a server and a web application.
2.3.5 GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Google translate is the service of automatic translation of Google. Currently, it supports 90
languages. Although its translations are not perfect, it is able to translate texts in a notable
way. There have been created three versions: the one for the computer which is integrated
in some browsers, the Android version and also, the iOS one.

30
2.3.6 JAVA VIRTUAL MACHINE (JVM)
It is also named JRE (Java Runtime Environment). It is a computing machine with the
difference that it is found online; it is abstract. Despite being abstract, it has got nearly the
same functionalities as a physical computer on the grounds that it can execute any
programmes which are compiled into Java bytecode.
2.3.6.1 JAVA BYTECODE
The Java bytecode is basically the pack of instructions of the JVM. Every bytecode has got
one (or two) bytes that correspond one instruction.
2.3.7 ECLIPSE
Eclipse is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Eclipse gives you a space where
you can develop your application. It is mainly written in Java, but as it has got several plug-
in's it can also be used with different programming languages such as Ada, ABAP or
Fortran.

31
2.3.8 CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing is a computing terminology that is given for the place where to store and
access data and programs over the Internet instead of people’s computer hard drive.
Clouds can be classified as public, private or hybrid (which is a mix of both).
8
2.3.9 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR
The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is what is generally known as web address. So, a
URL is fundamentally a reference of a place for people who look in Internet (ex: a web
page).
8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

33
3.1 CREATING AND DESIGNING A FACEBOOK
APPLICATION
3.1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
When I finally found the right hypothesis for the project, I started wondering about what I
was going to do in both frameworks, but specially in the practical one. The practical
framework was a real concern on the grounds that I had to find the way to come up with a
clear answer for my hypothesis. At that time, I thought: if I am interested in knowing if
English is replacing the mother tongue of several countries, I have to focus on something
that people from those countries use nearly daily. And what do people use more than their
social networks? Absolutely nothing. So, taking the social networks as the base I would
work on, I had to become knowledgeable about which one is the most used globally. The
answer was easy: Facebook. Not only is Facebook the most common and used social
network, but it also gives you the opportunity to create an application which is essential to
acquire the information I am looking for. Afterwards, I began to think which was the best
way to accomplish my initial thoughts.

34
3.1.2 PROCESS OF THE PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK
First of all, I realised that to be able to read what people say in their profiles, I needed to
have access to their profiles which meant that people had to give the permission for it,
regardless if it were a friend’s request or an application request. It is not a surprise
because security reasons have to be fairly strict; on the hand, they are protecting the users
and on the other, they are protecting the business model of Facebook.
In order to read people’s profiles there were basically 2 options, either go and read those
profiles with my own eyes and analyse their content one by one (which would have been
extremely slow) or, identify if there was a more efficient way of doing it.
Investigating the topic I realised that Facebook, apparently as other Social Networks out
there, are open not only to share content with real people, but also with software
applications that can read content and information to add value to target customers.
This openness to other software is materialised in what it is called an Application
Programing Interface, or API. In the specific case of Facebook they call it Graph API.
According to Facebook, and they might be right, everything is connected to a big social
graph: I am connected to the things I like, to my songs, to my pictures, to my friends, to the
things my friends like, and so on… That explains why they call it Graph API. Facebook
Graph API allows software to access content on people’s Facebook profiles and actually
do something with it, and this is exactly what I need.

35
So as to get to those profiles, I decided to create an application which, as I have said
previously, is going to be essential. This application is going to carry out everything needed
to get the required information. Nonetheless, before creating the application, I have to
create a Facebook page because that is where the application is going to be kept. I named
this Facebook account “social network language research”. Once created, I could set up
the application which will be called ELR app (English Language Research application).
This is the capture of how the Facebook account looks like:
If users accept it, the application will be able to read people's profiles. First step then would
be done, read automatically the content of those pages.

36
Second step then should be to store and analyse that text on their profiles and be able to
determine, ideally using another software, the language that was used in that text. The
next task then was to identify if there existed an already created software purposely
designed to do just that. Nothing reads more in Internet than Google because its work is
based on researching all the web pages of the world. Therefore, it is the best source for
what we are looking for. Performing a search in Google sounds as a good way of
identifying if that software was available to use. Google Translate appeared to be the best
choice. Can Google Translate be accessed through my software? Searching in Google for:
“Google Translate API”, I found a page where there was a sample code (that is a sample
software programme) that shows how to use Google Translate API in several languages.
Since the programming language of Facebook is Java, the sample code I found had to be
in the same language.
With those two tools, I was ready to set off. With the whole pack of information received,
on the one hand, by the application and, on the other, by the theorical framework
(including surveys and interviews), I will be in great position to draw conclusions and
consequently, answer my hypothesis. It has to be said that creating a Facebook
application is something very easy but what is really tough is designing it. To be able to do
this, I will need to learn some computing skills.

37
Once it is done the basic set up of the application, we need to get an environment where
the software will be created. As Word is a tool to write documents, there exists another
concept called IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that helps creating software.
Due to its free and easy accessibility, I chose ECLIPSE.
Eclipse needs some other gadgets to work, we have to download the JRE (Java Runtime
Environment) that is a combination of different utilities that allows the execution of Java
programmes. This is basically formed by JVM (Java Virtual Machine) an abstract
computing machine that can execute any computer programme compiled into Java
bytecode.
Seeing that Facebook is a Web based application, and as I mentioned before, customers
will have to give their explicit permission to accept my application to access their profiles,
the application I will be creating will have to be available online as well. So forth, my
Facebook Application will have to be available somewhere on a server in Internet. There

38
are several Application Servers that can actually run a Java application. Looking around I
decided to use JBoss AS 7.
But, the downloading time was not over yet. It was necessary to download some libraries
to be able to parse with Facebook API. Once they are already implemented in our IDE
(Eclipse) and due to the fact that, as I have said in the introduction, it is a difficult task, we
have to look for a tutorial to learn how to implement a research of a Facebook wall.
This tutorial explains which is the essential piece to take the information from people’s
Facebook wall, the read_stream. So, once we know it, we go directly to the Permissions
Facebook Login to make sure that we have free access to acquire the information we are
interested in. This is what the website says:

39
As the image shows, it is NOT possible to read the posts in a person’s new feed or the
posts of their profile. It is certain there is the option to send an e-mail so as Facebook can
review the application but, as a result of the poor expectations that Facebook accepts it, I
took the decision not to have Facebook as the social network where to run my application.
I started wondering which would be the best alternative and finally I thought of Twitter. One
of the biggest current existing social networks which has had a huge impact all over the
world. Obviously, the first thing to do was to check whether it was possible, in this case, to
read people’s tweets, without needing to ask for any kind of permissions. Luckily in this
case it is available. Tweets are in general readable for all the community, therefore, it does
not exist the necessity to ask for permission. And in addition, there is an API capable of
doing it automatically. I realised it was notably easier than doing it with Facebook because
with a simple code, it was possible to receive tweets from whichever country I felt
necessary.

40
As a result of not needing to ask for permission, I could run my software on any computer
connected to Internet and retrieve thousands of tweets, read them, analyse them, and
extract counters and statistics that would be the key inputs to my research.
Searching for sample code that shown how to read tweets from a Java application was as
easy as searching for sample code to show how to use Google Translate API to detect the
language. The remaining and roughest task was to put both software applications to work
together.

41
3.1.2.1 STEPS
For every step, there will be a picture with one or several highlighted lines in blue. These
are the specific lines which explain the process.
3.1.2.1.1 STEP 1
The first thing to do is to find an original code that, in this case, it has been created by
Yosuke Yamamoto and will be modified by me through this process. I am making use of an
original code with specific modifications designed by me because otherwise it would have
been impossible to generate one from ground zero. Once we have already carried it out, it
is time to download Twitter4J, that is the library of Twitter which will help us access Twitter
queries and results.

42
3.1.2.1.2 STEP 2
Having the code and library ready, it is necessary to add an httpClient. The httpClient is a
tool that will allow us to request Internet pages as if we would be in a web browser such as
Google or Mozilla. This step is mandatory; the application could not work properly without
this tool. It is somehow our connector to Internet.

43
3.1.2.1.3 STEP 3
Twitter as well as Twitter4J, exposes the possibility of doing queries to retrieve Tweets
centred on given coordinates. This will be key to search for content generated by the
community on any given country.
Straight away, we create a matrix that can hold all our countries and the configuration for
each of them. The four values are these: the first one, the country. The second and third
ones are the longitude and latitude respectively of, roughly, the centre of the country. The
fourth and final value is the radius, which is configured in kilometres, but it could have
been defined with any of the existing distance measuring systems (e.g. miles). Therefore,
it will be possible to track the tweets from the given location to its respective radius’ limit
with which I tried to encompass the whole country.

44
3.1.2.1.4 STEP 4
Once we have written down the values for the matrix, we have to define which is going to
be their functioning. In order to do this, since the software will be working with one country
at a time, we set a variable named selectedCountry that will choose the country we are
working with on the matrix at any given time. As we will see in the next step, the number
that accompanies the variable (for instance, in the image is 0) represents one of the four
countries. Right below this, there are the four values that integrate the matrix with a word
(in the case of the longitude, latitude and radius it is double) and when you write double,
you are saying that you accept the value is given with decimals. Instead, as in the case of
selectedCountry, int only accepts integer numbers.

45
3.1.2.1.5 STEP 5
The next movement is to define a piece named map that is responsible for taking answers
from our users from each country. This map is built with a HashMap and an ArrayList. A
HashMap is a container that holds a set of two different values: one is the language and
the other the tweets in that language, which we will store in ArrayList. An ArrayList is a
sorted container that can work to hold a list of things. We will use it to hold tweets. This
map is given four different elements (one for each country). Later on, we have to create
the query, in other words, the question we want to send to Twitter. Now, we have to load
the values of the matrix in variables in consideration of creating Twitter queries.

46
3.1.2.1.6 STEP 6
By means of queries, we inform Twitter of the question we want to post. First, we set the
GeoCode (longitude and latitude) and determine that the radius is in kilometres.
Afterwards, in another parameter of the same query, we tell Twitter we want to receive the
recent tweets written in each of the countries by setting the ResultType as recent. The last
thing achieved in this part is to define the query with the number of tweets (100) we want
to receive each time it searches.

47
3.1.2.1.7 STEP 7
In this step, we put a piece named for that will be in charge of going through all the tweets
retrieved from Twitter. Just for counting Tweets retrieved we create a numTweets variable
that will account for it. To carry this through, we use ++ to increase the value of
numTweets, so that we increase it for each processed unit (just putting one ‘+’ is not
enough). Just to end up with this, we tell the system to print (on the programming screen)
the information we are interested in: on the one hand, the text of the tweet and on the
other, the country, one language and the respective number of tweets that have been
found with that language. Those lines appearing on the screen with partial results are very
useful to see if the software is doing what it is supposed to be doing. That code is
commented out (deactivated) once everything works properly.

48
3.1.2.1.8 STEP 8
Having completed the last step, it is compulsorily to define the two values we want to store
in the HashMap. Right after, we ask the system to print it our again.

49
3.1.2.1.9 STEP 9
What has been written here is essential. Since we might find all types of languages used in
Twitter, we have to create new lists of messages in our Hashmap every time we identify a
language for the first time.
Then, we instruct the application to look for an exisiting ArrayList (in the language in which
the tweet has been written). When the application receives the answers from the users
adds these answers to the ArrayList. But, in case that an ArrayList for that country has not
been created yet, one new ArrayList for that language is generated. Finally, the possible
answers in that language are added.

50
3.1.2.1.10 STEP 10
The only instruction I am giving with this step is that the System prints (again, on the
screen) the final results: the country, the language and the number of tweets that have
been traced in that language.

51
3.1.2.1.11 STEP 11
In this step, we are ordering the application to move to the next country after sleeping for 1
minute. And, if the selected country is equal to 4 (which is not related to any of the
countries) moves directly to the beginning, 0. The reason why we preferred it to wait for a
minute for each search was because Google Translate servers clog when the number of
requests is excessively high in a short time frame.

52
3.1.2.1.12 STEP 12
By the end of the process, we need to print the final results so that we see on the screen
for each country which were the counts for each language. We do that by going through
the HashMap and printing country name, language name and number of tweets in that
country. To simplify the interpretation of the results, we will print it in sorted order, where
each country will print first the most used language on that country.
In order to sort the results, first we will count them, then we will add them to a list and
finally we will sort that list using a sort function.

53
3.1.2.1.13 STEP 13
We have created a function to detect the language for any given text. We will use Google
API to retrieve that information.The process is performed by a code. This we need to find
in the Internet, as it is nearly impossible to create such a code by myself.
The first step of this function is to prepare the Query for Google. Our API Key (by the way,
it is confidential) and the text that we want to translate are put together to be sent to
Google. We instruct our httpClient to retrieve JSON objects (so that we can extract results
from Google Answer).
Once we execute the Google query, the first information we need to know is whether
Google processed the request properly, which we will learn if we get a code 200; any other
code will mean there has been a problem.

54
3.1.2.1.14 STEP 14
This is the last and indispensable step to finally design the application in the way I had first
thought. We use a JSON object to extract the language from the Google answer (because
it is encoded, it is not the name of the language); we have already got the answer from
Google and we already know the language code for that given text. And that is it.

55
3.1.3 RESULTS
3.1.3.1 SPAIN
Spain es' 5238
Spain en' 726
Spain pt' 69
Spain gl' 44
Spain ca' 35
Spain fr' 32
Spain it' 25
Spain pl' 22
Spain de' 18
Spain sk' 18
Spain tl' 17
Spain zh-CN' 13
Spain id' 12
Spain eu' 10
Spain zh-TW' 9
Spain mi' 7
Spain sl' 7
Spain sw' 7
Spain cs' 6
Spain lt' 5
Spain mg' 5
Spain nl' 5
Spain af' 4
Spain ceb' 4
Spain da' 4
Spain hmn' 4
Spain la' 4
Spain mt' 4
Spain so' 4
Spain vi' 4
In Spain there have been tracked a total
number of 6417 tweets. It is worth saying that
one of the characteristics is that there is a
wide range of languages in use: 56. However,
their use is absolutely irregular, the most used,
the Spanish, represents an 82% whilst the
second one, English, just represents an 11%
and the 7% remaining is divided into the
incredible number of 54 languages. The top 10
languages detected are (from third to ten):
Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, French, Italian,
Poland, German and Slovak.

56
Spain yo' 4
Spain az' 3
Spain cy' 3
Spain et' 3
Spain ha' 3
Spain ht' 3
Spain ig' 3
Spain no' 3
Spain ny' 3
Spain ro' 3
Spain sq' 3
Spain bs' 2
Spain fi' 2
Spain jw' 2
Spain lv' 2
Spain st' 2
Spain tr' 2
Spain uz' 2
Spain eo' 1
Spain ga' 1
Spain is' 1
Spain ms' 1
Spain su' 1
Spain sv' 1
Spain zu' 1

57
3.1.3.2 GERMANY
Germany de' 3326
Germany en' 2563
Germany tr' 444
Germany zh-CN' 145
Germany nl' 138
Germany es' 93
Germany hu' 58
Germany fr' 55
Germany pt' 50
Germany no' 44
Germany id' 28
Germany it' 26
Germany ms' 26
Germany cs' 22
Germany tl' 22
Germany ha' 19
Germany pl' 16
Germany ca' 15
Germany zh-TW' 14
Germany ht' 12
Germany mi' 12
Germany eo' 11
Germany af' 10
Germany la' 10
Germany bs' 9
Germany hr' 9
Germany ro' 9
Germany sw' 9
Germany uz' 9
Germany az' 8
Germany fi' 8
Germany vi' 8
Germany sv' 6
Germany jw' 2
Germany eu' 1
In Germany there have been trailed a total number
of 7237 tweets. In comparison with Spain, the
amount of languages that are used is fairly lower.
But, Germany has got a much more noticeable use
of the English. Although it is true that the language
used the most is German (which represents a
46%), English is close behind with a powerful 36%.
In addition and as an important difference with
Spain, there is one more language that plays a
relevant role, Turkish. It is this way due to the
increasing immigration in Germany. The languages
that complete the top 10 are the following ones:
Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, Hungarian, French,
Portuguese and Norwegian.

58
3.1.3.3 DENMARK
Denmark en' 3086
Denmark da' 2671
Denmark zh-TW' 387
Denmark zh-CN' 263
Denmark no' 259
Denmark de' 204
Denmark fr' 132
Denmark es' 130
Denmark id' 97
Denmark yo' 66
Denmark cs' 61
Denmark pt' 54
Denmark sq' 39
Denmark pl' 38
Denmark ceb' 16
In Denmark there have been tracked 7503
tweets. It is the only country of the four I am
working on, that the language that is more used
is not its mother tongue; English, with a 41% is
the most used language in Denmark. In the
second position, as it seems obvious, is Danish
with an important influence of a 36%. Similar to
Germany, There are a few more languages
which have a more or less significant use:
Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese, Norwegian and
German. The same reason as Germany can be
claimed in order to explain why these foreign
languages have such an impact: immigration.
The languages which complete the top 10 are:
French, Spanish, Indonesian and Yoruba (a
Nigerian language).

59
3.1.3.4 ITALY
Italy it' 4097
Italy en' 1585
Italy es' 132
Italy fr' 80
Italy zh-CN' 71
Italy pt' 54
Italy tl' 51
Italy de' 32
Italy id' 17
Italy la' 16
Italy ig' 14
Italy fi' 13
Italy gl' 13
Italy ro' 10
Italy zh-TW' 10
Italy hu' 8
Italy sk' 8
Italy bs' 6
Italy cy' 6
Italy ha' 6
Italy hmn' 6
Italy nl' 6
Italy zu' 6
Italy ca' 5
Italy da' 5
Italy lt' 5
Italy tr' 5
Italy yo' 5
Italy ga' 4
Italy is' 4
Italy no' 4
In Italy there have been trailed 6318 tweets.
Italy is in a similar position than Spain on the
grounds that there are also many languages
used (49) and English, also like in Germany, is
the second most used language. Nevertheless,
the percentage of tweets in English is fairly high
and definitely higher than Spain: 25%.
Obviously, Italian is in the first position as the
most used language with a total of 65%. It
cannot be said that there is a third significant
language in Italy but there are a few that stand
out such as French or Spanish. The countries
which complete the top 10 are the following
ones: Spanish, French, Chinese, Portuguese,
Tagalog (first language of Philippines), German,
Indonesian and Latin.

60
In conclusion, this is going to be absolutely essential to take conclusions. As I said at the
beginning, it is the key of my project because it is real and current information about the
issue.
Italy sv' 4
Italy az' 3
Italy eu' 3
Italy mg' 3
Italy mt' 3
Italy sl' 3
Italy cs' 2
Italy lv' 2
Italy ny' 2
Italy pl' 2
Italy st' 2
Italy su' 2
Italy vi' 2
Italy eo' 1
Italy ht' 1
Italy ms' 1
Italy sq' 1

61
3.2 SURVEY: THE USE OF THE ENGLISH
3.2.1 SAMPLE OF THE SURVEY
It is a brief survey that I have prepared for my research project. I would sincerely
appreciate that you answered these questions.
Country
 Spain
 Germany
 Denmark
 Italy
1. Age
 14-16
 17-18
 19-25
2. Hours of study of English a week
 2 hours
 3 hours
 4 hours
 5 hours
 6 or more hours

62
3. Do you study English after school?
 Yes
 No
4. Use of English in your daily life
 I don't use it
 Just a bit
 Quite
 A lot
4.2 Use of English in your study/work
 I don't use it
 Just a bit
 Quite
 A lot
4.3 Use of English in your social networks
 I don't use it
 Just a bit
 Quite
 A lot
5. Is this sentence true: English is more used now than some years ago in
social networks.
 Yes

63
 No
6. Choose the field where you use English the most
 Home
 School
 Social networks/Internet
7. In your opinion, level of English in Germany
 Bad
 Average
 Good
 Very good
7.2 In your opinion, level of English in Italy
 Bad
 Average
 Good
 Very good
7.3 In your opinion, level of English in Spain
 Bad
 Average
 Good
 Very good
7.4 In your opinion, level of English in Denmark
 Bad

64
 Average
 Good
 Very good
8. Is this sentence true: more hours are needed to study English at schools.
 Yes
 No
9. Is this sentence true: social networks have made you use English more
often.
 Yes
 No
In case the answer is YES
 Just a bit
 Quite
 A lot
10. Write four of the words/expressions you have learnt while using your
social networks

65
3.2.2 COMMENTS OF THE SURVEY
This is the survey that I have passed to more than 230 people for two complete days. I
posted it in my Facebook wall so my Facebook friends could answer it. I thought it would
be the best way to have the survey answered by more people due to my vast number of
Facebook friends I have got: 1756. The reason why I made it was that I was interested in
knowing teens' opinion about several issues. All the information that I have got will be
useful to acquire deeper reasons to answer my hypothesis. I am going to say what people
have answered with their corresponding percentages an later on, comment and compare
the results.
Country
As the sample shows, there are only four options in this question. There are just four
countries (Germany, Italy, Denmark, Spain) because these are the countries I am working
on (in the theorical and practical framework) so the survey was only given to people from
there. However, it became a rather complicated task to receive answers from all countries
on the grounds that, as I live in Spain, I have had many more people from Spain
answering than from the other three countries. These are the results:
· Germany → 24 → 10.39%
· Denmark → 28 → 12.12%
· Italy → 14 → 6.06%
· Spain → 165 → 71.43%

66
Age
These are the three possible answers (14 – 16, 17 – 18, 19 – 25) because, I focused my
research in a range of age that is most likely to use Internet. In addition, as I am seventeen
years old I have more contact with people my age than older people. Nevertheless, I have
also contemplated one last option (19 – 25) because I estimated I would have some
people answering and I believed it would be interesting to be aware of the differences
between one group and the other. These are the final numbers:
· 14 – 16 → 120 → 51.94%
· 17 – 18 → 95 → 41.12%
· 19 – 25 → 16 → 6.93%
Hours of study of English a week
There were five options in this question (2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours, 6 or more
hours). I did not give an option with 0 or 1 hour because English is a compulsory subject at
school, whatever you are studying. The information inferred from this question is going to
be truly important when the practical framework is completed. The reason is to verify if the
people who study more hours of English, so people who are likely to interact with the
language more, use the English more in social networks than people who might not study
as many hours. Here you can see the percentages:
· 2 hours → 46 → 19.91%
· 3 hours → 73 → 31.6 %
· 4 hours → 55 → 23.8%
· 5 hours → 27 → 11.69%

67
· 6 or more hours → 30 → 13%
The three more chosen options have been 2, 3 and 4 hours. As it is mandatory to study 2
or 3 hours of English at schools, all the people who have fallen for one of these two
options, do NOT study English outside their schools. However, the people who have
chosen the other three options are keen on studying English after school too, mainly the
ones who have said to study 6 or more hours.
Do you study English after school?
This total question is inevitably related to the previous one. The main intention was to
check whether the information that I had received in the previous one seemed realistic
after knowing the answer for this. As I have briefly explained in the previous question, all
the people who study 2 or 3 hours will answer would, theoretically, answer NO in this
question. The ones that said 4 hours could answer both options. But, the people who claim
to study 5 or 6 or more hours will definitely answer YES. Please note the final count of the
numbers:
· Yes → 100 → 43.29%
· No → 131 → 56.71%
On the one hand, we can see that the people who, according to question two, would have
necessarily answered NO represents 51.5% which is fairly near to the 56,71%. The 5.21%
that is missing would be accounted for who study 4 hours. On the other hand, the people
who, according to question two, would have answered YES represents 24.69% which is
not far at all from the 43,29% taking into account that the 18,6% missing would be for the
remaining number of the ones who study 4 hours. In conclusion, it checks out.

68
Use of English in your daily life
The four possible answers given for this question (I don’t use it, Just a bit, Quite, A lot)
have been written in order to realise which is the real impact English has got in teenagers’
life. These are the final numbers:
· I don't use it → 31 → 13.42%
· Just a bit → 114 → 49.35%
· Quite → 55 → 23.81%
· A lot → 31 → 13.42%
As the results reflect, the majority of the people, 73.16%, use it just a bit or quite in their
daily life. Nonetheless, there is a reasonably large percentage of people, 26.84%, who
said that they don't use it or use it a lot. As a coincidence, it is exactly the same figure that
of those who don't use it and use it a lot.
Use of English in your study/work
This question shares answers with the previous one. It is deserving saying that the survey
has been answered basically by teenagers, the majority of whom are still studying.
Therefore, generally the answers will be focused on study, not work. The results are the
following:
· I don't use it → 26 → 11.25%
· Just a bit → 106 → 45.89%
· Quite → 63 → 27.27%
· A lot → 36 → 15.58%

69
The results in this question are definitely quite similar than the ones in the previous
question; there is a 73,16% of the people who use English just a bit or quite in their
study/work in contrast to the 26,84% of people who don't use it or use it a lot. Even though
the final result of the addition of percentages is the same, the distribution of the answers is
not: The answer I don’t use it has been chosen 31 times in the first whilst in the second 26.
Just a bit has been the option people have chosen the most because in the first question it
has been chosen 114 times and in the second, 106. For Quite the distribution has also
been irregular as it has been elected by 55 people in the first in contrast to 63 in the
second. Finally, the last and possible answer, A lot has been clicked by 31 people in the
first question but 36 in the second.
Use of English in your social networks
I, once again, use the same structure. It is certainly the most important one because the
project is focused on social networks. Nonetheless, the last two were also very important
on the grounds that those results will be a definitive element to bring to any conclusions.
Here you can see the final numbers:
· I don't use it → 28 → 12.12%
· Just a bit → 63 → 27.27%
· Quite → 73 → 31.6%
· A lot → 67 → 29%
The results are different than the last two. There is only one of the choices which has a low
percentage: I don't use it (12.12%). So, the remaining is divided into Just a bit (27.27%),
Quite (31.6%) and A lot (29%). It is clear that a huge majority of people (88.88%) use it
with a determined regularity having more than 60% of the people using it quite or a lot.

70
There are several conclusions: first of all, as the number of people who don't use English
is really similar in the three fields, it can be stated that people who do not use English in
one of the aspects of their life, don't use it for anyone. The second and most important
conclusion is that, in people's opinion, social networks is clearly the place where they use
English the most.
Is this sentence true: English is more used now than some years ago
Firstly it might seem an evident question but as the answers show, not everyone has got
the same opinion. These are the percentages:
· Yes → 205 → 88.74%
· No → 26 → 11.26%
Choose the field where you use English the most
The answers for this question were a tough choice, but I finally decided to put these three
options: Home, School, Social networks/Internet. The first answer would be for all those
people who are used to speak in English with their relatives, which entails a real command
of the language. If you choose the second, it means that the place where you use English
the most is in class with your teacher or classmates. Choosing the third, you must be using
Google or Social Networks on a regular basis. Here you can see the final count of the
numbers:
· Home → 11 → 4.76%
· School → 86 → 37.23%
· Social networks/ internet → 134 → 58.01%

71
As this question is related to the three ones that asked for the use of English in social
networks, school and daily life, we can see that the results reclaim the conclusion we had
already got: Socials networks/internet is the place where people use English the most.
However, the school is a place where a great percentage of people (37.23%) use English
which means that people in English lessons try to make the effort to talk in English with the
teacher and classmates. Finally, the people who use English the most at home is a little
percentage (4.76%).
Level of English in Germany
This question has got four possible answers (Bad, Average, Good, Very good). The aim of
this question (and the next three) is to be enlightened about people’s impression of how is
the level of English in each of these four countries: Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark. It
is going to be a helpful peace of information in order to better answer my hypothesis.
Please note the percentages:
· Bad → 14 → 6.06%
· Average → 52 → 22.51%
· Good → 103 → 44.59%
· Very good → 62 → 26.84%
As the results demonstrate, what most of the people believe is that the level of English in
Germany is good (44.59%). Simultaneously, there are several people who believe it is very
good (26.84%) and average (22.51%). There is one thing that is quite clear: nearly no one
believes that the level of English in Germany is bad (6.06%).

72
Level of English in Italy
This question has got exactly the same structure than the previous one. The only
difference is that it is focused on a different country: Italy. The final count is the following:
· Bad → 60 → 25.97%
· Average → 113 → 48.92%
· Good → 56 → 24.24%
· Very good → 2 → 0.87%
As the results show, what most of the people believe is that the level of English in Italy is
Average (48.92%), not bad nor good. Moreover, there are some people who think it is bad
(25.97%) and good (24.24%). As a shocking datum, only two people (0.87%) believe that
the level of English in Italy is very good.
Level of English in Spain
The structure has not varied in this question either. This time, it is related to Spain. It must
be said that nearly all the Spanish people who have answered the survey are from
Catalonia. These are the results:
· Bad → 119 → 51.52%
· Average → 74 → 32.03%
· Good → 35 → 15.15%
· Very good → 3 → 1.3%
As the results show, what most of the people believe is that the level of English in Spain is
Bad (51.52%). Furthermore, there is a hefty amount of people who believe that it is

73
Average (32.03%) and a not smaller amount who reckon it is Good (15.15%). In the same
way as Italy, nearly no-one thinks the level is Very good (1.3%).
Level of English in Denmark
Structure has not had any kind of change. In this question, it is Denmark the country.
These are the final numbers:
· Bad → 4 → 1.73%
· Average → 30 → 12.99%
· Good → 86 → 37.23%
· Very good → 111 → 48.05%
In contrast to Spain and Italy, what most of the people believe is that the level of English is
very good or good (85.28%). There is also a section of the people who reckon it is average
(12.99%) and finally, only 1.73% of the people who have answered consider the level of
English in Denmark bad.
As a general conclusion, it can be rightly affirmed that, according to people’s opinion, the
country which has got a better level of English is Denmark followed by Germany, Italy and
in the last position, Spain.

74
Is this sentence true: more hours are needed to study English at schools.
This is another total question which has got a really simple aim: to know if students feel
they should have a better level of English, so their school should impart more hours in
order to make it happen. Please note the final percentages:
· Yes → 191 → 82.68%
· No → 40 → 17.32%
The conclusion could not be more obvious: people do think more hours are needed to
study English at schools.
Is this sentence true: social networks have made you use English more often.
Again, this is another total question which is fundamental to know which impact the social
networks have related to the use of English. The results are the following:
· Yes → 204 → 88.31%
· No → 27 → 11.69%
The conclusion is easy again: people are convinced that social networks have been a very
good resource to help them use English more often.
In case the answer is YES (88.31%)
This is a part of the last question because not only did I want to know whether they thought
the sentence was true or not, but also in what extent. Therefore, it has got the same
structure than some of the previous questions with the obvious difference that in this one, I
don’t use it is not a possible answer.

75
These are the final results:
· Just a bit → 32 → 15.69%
· Quite → 94 → 46.08%
· A lot → 78 → 38.23%
As the results show, the majority of the people who have answered believe social networks
have made them use it quite or a lot more often (84.31%). However, there is a tiny
percentage (15.69%) of people who think it has made them use it just a bit more often.
Write four of the words/expressions you have learnt while using the social networks
This is the last question and it is radically different than the other ones. Its structure is free;
it is the person who answers the one who decides what to write. As this is an open
question, I have received many miscellaneous answers so I have made a list of the
words/expressions which have appeared the most. Nevertheless, there were also several
people who didn't answer this question (111 → 48.05%) because they haven’t learnt any
words/expressions or because they were lazy about this question that requires some
thinking. The list is the following one:
- LOL (laugh out loud) → 11 times
- OMG (oh my god) → 10 times
- BTW (by the way) → 9 times
- IDK (I don't know) → 7 times
- WTF (what the fuck) → 7 times
- Share → 7 times

76
- OK → 6 times
- LMAO (laughing my ass off) → 6 times
- TBH (to be honest) → 5 times
- BAE (before anything else) → 4 times
- Mad → 3 times
- What does the fox say? → 2 times
- w/ (with) → 2 times
- TBT (the best thing) → 2 times
- ASAP (as soon as possible) → 2 times
- AKA (also known as) → 2 times
- GL (good luck) → 2 times

77
3.3 INTERVIEW
3.3.1 SAMPLE OF THE INTERVIEW
1. Age
2. Country of origin
3. Country of residence
4. Which business are you working for? Which is your position?
5. How many languages do you speak? Which are them?
6. If you had children, would you encourage them to study English? Why?
7. What social networks do you usually read and write? Tell me which languages you use
in each of them.
8. Do you agree with the fact that social networks have generally helped people improve
their level of English? Explain why.

78
9. Do you usually travel around Europe? In case you do and as far as you are concerned,
which of the following countries have the highest level of English?
Germany, Denmark, Italy and Spain.
10. The communication in business is something really important. Do you reckon generally
the level of English is good enough to have fluent conversations and understand each
other perfectly? If you think it is not, could you tell me any solutions to change this
situation?
11. Please state the importance you give to possess good English language skills in order
to hire someone:
· Very important
· Important
· Fair
· Not relevant
12. How likely would you hire/buy services from a sales business developer with a poor
level of English?
· I wouldn't hire/buy services
· I would rarely hire/buy services
· I would probably hire/buy services
· I would definitely hire/buy services

79
13. Do you believe people learn English thanks to the social networks? In case you do, do
you reckon the type of English that is learnt in social networks is useful in people's daily
life?
14. Last question, do you consider that English is replacing the mother tongue of
European countries in social networks/internet?
3.3.2 COMMENTS OF THE INTERVIEW
This is the interview that I have prepared in order to know professionals' opinion about
some concrete issues I am interested in. It was not an easy task to find the suitable people
to answer it. Firstly, they could not be from any English speaking country on the grounds
that I want people who have had to study English on their own. However, there is an
exception (Julian Harris) because, due to his job, his opinion could be really useful.
Secondly, it is relevant they have got an international profile on account of travelling is
thought as the best method to become acquainted with different countries and languages.
In addition, and as the last condition, I considered as really important that all the people
who would answer the interview were from different countries or, at least, were living in
different countries. The final intention with the interview is to have another base which
helps me find a more accurate answer for the hypothesis of my research project. This
interview has been answered by five people whose answers and comments will be duly
commented and contrasted by me to be able to draw useful conclusions for my project.

80
Age
Four of the five people who have answered the interview are from the same generation.
The corresponding ages are: 32 Max Peiró, 42 Jaume Portell, 43 Julian Harris, 45 Augusto
Modigliani and 48 Yuka Ghesquiere.
Country of origin
Two of the interviewed people are from Spain (Jaume and Max) but as it was a condition,
they do not live in the same country. Regarding to the other three people, one is from
Japan (Yuka), the other is from Italy (Augusto) and the last one is from New Zealand
(Julian)
Country of residence
Two of the people who have been interviewed live in the same country they were born
(Augusto and Jaume). However, the other three live in different countries than the ones
they were born; this is the case of Yuka (who lives in Spain) Max (who lives in China) and
Julian (who lives in UK).
Which business are you working for? Which is your position?
As it was another important request, all the people work in fairly different fields. Beginning
with Jaume, he works in Beabloo and is the CEO (Chief Engineering Officer). Max works in
Beabloo China and also holds the CEO (Chief Engineering officer) position. Yuka works in
the Localization/ Language service industry – Localization specialist as a translator and
interpreter. Augusto works in the Communication and Media field in a senior position.
Finally, Julian works in Google as a product manager. It apparently seems that Max and
Jaume have got the same task but that is definitely not true: on the one hand, Jaume

81
focuses more on IT and digital marketing and on the other hand, Max concentrates on the
software of the business.
How many languages do you speak? Which are them?
As it is obvious (the main condition was to be able to speak in English or it was impossible
to answer the questions), everyone named English as one of the languages they speak.
Max, in addition, specified that his level is professional. The person who speaks more
languages is Max with six languages: Catalan and Spanish as mother tongue, English, as I
have said before, with a professional level, Portuguese and French with an intermediate
level and Chinese with a basic level. The second who speaks more languages is Yuka with
a total of four: Japanese, English, Spanish and French. But, this second position is shared
with Jaume who also speaks four languages: Catalan, Spanish, English and Italian. Finally,
in the last position being the two people who speak less languages we find Augusto and
Julian: English and Italian; English and Spanish.
If you had children, would you encourage them to study English? Why?
Despite being different answers, they all agreed in one aspect: they would encourage their
children to study English. Jaume says that knowing English you are able to do business
with half of the world whilst Max adds that it should be studied as first language at school
on the grounds that it is key to develop oneself without boundaries (both professionally
and personally) in this globalized era. Augusto and Yuka give really similar answers
contending that, presently, it is the most useful language; the one that you need to
communicate with people from around the world. Finally, Julian makes clear that, as he is
currently living in UK, his children have learnt English natively and adds that if they had to
learn a second language it would be Chinese.

82
What social networks do you usually read and write? Tell me which languages you
use in each of them.
As a coincidence, Facebook is used by all of them. Max uses Facebook and Wechat and
in both of them, the only language he uses is English. In contrast, Yuka uses Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter. In the first one, she uses all the languages she speaks: English,
Spanish, Japanese and French. In the second one, she uses English and Spanish and in
the last one, she uses only English and Japanese. Differently from Yuka and similar to
Max, stand Jaume and Augusto who use two social networks basically: Jaume reads
Facebook and Twitter but does not write in any and Augusto claims to use Facebook
(English and Italian) and LinkedIn (English). Julian is the only one who only uses
Facebook (English); he adds he stopped using twitter in 2008 and he does not clarify why.
Do you agree with the fact that social networks have generally helped people
improve their level of English? Explain why.
Although they all are in similar positions, they have got several differences. The only one
who positions herself in one extreme is Yuka, who believes that social networks have not
helped people improve their level of English at all. Contrary, the four remaining reckon that
it has helped a little bit. Jaume adds that the presence of English in Social Networks
makes obvious how useful the knowledge of that language is and how many people you
can communicate with if you learn it and, that as far as he is concerned, the level is not
good. Max argues that social networks are helpful on the grounds that they let you reach
out beyond your regular friends network, which is usually locally-based. Julian contends
that one the one hand, social networks have connected people from around the world (not
only native English speakers) so in some cases he agrees but, on the other hand, he

83
believes that the communication with other people just leads to reinforcement of non-
English spelling and grammatical phrasing.
Do you usually travel around Europe? In case you do and as far as you are
concerned, which of the following countries have the highest level of English?
The five interviewed people jibbed in travelling often around Europe. Max, Jaume and
Julian believe the country which has the highest level of English is Denmark whilst
Augusto reckons the level in Denmark and Germany is equally good and the level in Spain
and Italy is equally bad. Finally, Yuka contends that the country with the best level of
English is Holland, but particularly in this list, Germany. Julian and Yuka gave the same
reason for their choices: movies are displayed in their original version and so forth, their
original language.
The communication in business is something really important. Do you reckon
generally the level of English is good enough to have fluent conversations and
understand each other perfectly? If you think it is not, could you tell me any
solutions to change this situation?
There have been really different and interesting answers for this question. Max answers
shortly claiming that the level is generally good and adding that a great piece of advice
would be to avoid literal translations from your mother tongue. Jaume explains that the
level of English is not sufficiently good yet to have fluent conversations and gave several
options in pursuance of changing this situation. One of the options is to give more English
exposure in public education. Yuka, due to her profession and a course she attended in

84
Harvard, has a distinct point of view: she explains it all depends on who you are speaking
with because you have to interpret differently the words said by people from different
countries. It is like this because of the cultural background and she is absolutely certain
that it is essential to know the cultural background of the person you are speaking with to
communicate effectively. Julian claims that it depends on the country and adds that, aiming
his attention at Europe, the more north you go, the easier it is, as they have generally
learnt English better. Finally, Augusto says the question was not very clear.
Please state the importance you give to possess good English language skills in
order to hire someone
In this question there were four possible answers: Very important, important, fair and not
relevant. Jaume and Max believe it is very important, Augusto thinks it is just important and
Yuka says that it is not relevant on the grounds that she might be looking for someone who
speaks a different language which is not English. Finally, Julian does not give an answer
and contends that in business it is definitely required but, for instance, in blue collar work it
is unnecessary.
How likely would you hire/buy services from a sales business developer with a poor
level of English?
Exactly as the question before, it had four possible answers: I wouldn't hire/buy services,
I would rarely hire/buy services, I would probably hire/buy services and I would definitely
hire/buy services. Again, Max and Jaume choose the same answer: they would rarely
hire/buy services. Augusto argues that it depends if he understands the person, Yuka adds
that it depends on the target market specifying that, for Catalonia, she would rather hire
somebody that speaks Spanish and Catalan than someone who speaks Spanish and

85
English and finally, Julian explains that sometimes it does not matter (in the same line as
the question before) but for business, it comes down to the nature of the services.
Do you believe people learn English thanks to the social networks? In case you do,
do you reckon the type of English that is learnt in social networks is useful in
people's daily life?
The answers were different again, but more or less on the same line. Jaume and Julian
say roughly the same: you might learn some vocabulary but it is not really useful in real
life. Max explains that social networks are a useful tool to practice the English but, without
any kind of doubts, they cannot be the only tool. Yuka, again, claims that it depends on the
person and gives the example that her mum uses social networks and is not learning
English because of that. Augusto only wrote that he does not think so.
Last question, do you consider that English is replacing the mother tongue of
Three of the five people came to the conclusion that it is not replacing the mother tongue
of European countries in social networks/internet. Inside this group, Jaume adds that it is
the people who choose the language according to who are supposed to talk to and since
local community is not fluent in English, and will not be for a long while, there is no
replacement. Yuka explains that in Japan there was an intention to do it and in her opinion,
it failed. In opposite to these three, there stands Max who claims that probably yes. And
Julian explained that, regarding English inside non-English countries, from what he has
seen inside where he works, the language fluidly change from English to native once all
speakers are native.

86
It is very interesting the fact that people whose realities are fairly different (country of origin
and residence, profession) have got disparate perspective about all the points the
interviewed has asked about. I am fairly certain it is going to be a beneficial support in
order to better answer my hypothesis.

87
4. CONCLUSIONS
There are many conclusions that can be drawn with this project. But, first of all, I am going
to answer the hypothesis of the project: “Is English taking the place of the mother
tongue of European countries in internet?” The answer is a partial yes. Let me explain
using a sports metaphor: all through the project I have seen that these four countries could
be placed in two different leagues: in the first, one finds Denmark (leader) and Germany
and in the second, Italy and Spain. The more information I acquired, the clearer this
statement became. It can be said that in the first league, English has a real influence in the
countries but in the second, the influence is fairly relative and even nearly insignificant in
some of the cases. Everything is in concordance: the country which has the highest
percentage of people using internet (due to its excellent cable and DSL infrastructure) and
the highest level of English is the country which has been tracked more tweets in English.
So, comparing and contrasting the information got in both theorical and practical
frameworks, I can affirm that Denmark is the only country where English is taking the place
of its mother tongue. Germany is borderline to that respect. Even though the most used
language is German, English is in second position and fairly near. Instead, in Italy, the
English is far from taking the place of Italian in internet because, despite being a
reasonably large percentage of tweets in English, the difference is important. And finally,
Spain can be described as close-minded and incompetent; its use of the English is almost
insignificant and if there is no such a huge change, English will rarely take the place of
Spanish.

88
However, there are a few more conclusions worthy of being considered, three in relation to
Denmark, and one for each of the other three countries (Italy, Germany and Spain). Also,
we can infer others that are not specifically related to any of the countries in this project.
Denmark is the country which has the highest percentage of usage of the internet (with a
clear advantage) and it is also the one who has increased more since the beginning of the
century. In addition, due to its excellent cable and DSL infrastructure, has got the highest
broadband penetration in the world. Finally, not only is Denmark the best of Europe in
terms of level of English, it is also the best of the world (without including English speaking
countries).
Italy is the only country (of these four) that has no cable infrastructure and it has a very
evident effect: it is the country which has the lowest percentage of people who use the
internet (58%).
In Germany, the difference between male and female who use the internet was relatively
important at the beginning of the century but it has been inexistent in the last decade.
Spain is the European country where less people can hold a conversation in English (only
a 22% of the people theoretically can).
Focussing strictly on the level of English by age and gender: people who are 45 or older
have got a worse level of English than people 44 or younger; From 45 on, the older you
are, the worse your level is. Women have got a better level of English than males (despite
the difference not being very big).

89
Two relevant conclusions about social networks that I consider interesting to be included:
Facebook has got some fixed limits (for security reasons) and do not let people (who are
not you) take information from your wall and that is why I could not carry out my application
with this social network. Opposite to this, Twitter allows you to get the information from any
tweets wherever they have been written, but, as its system has not been so close
developed, you can only have access to some of them.
From the survey (which has basically been answered by teenagers), I have been capable
of inferring several conclusions: first, social networks are the place where people, mostly
teenagers, use English the most. Second, teenagers' opinion about the level of English in
the four countries has surprisingly been accurate; they have positioned them in their real
position: 1. Denmark 2.Germany 3.Italy 4. Spain. Third, teenagers believe that more hours
are needed to study English at schools. Fourth, most of the people who have answered
the survey reckon that social networks have helped them use English quite more. Fifth, the
words/expressions that people learn from social networks are colloquial but they are words
which can be used in an English language context.
Finally, there are two little conclusions than can be drawn from the interviews:
professionals find the vocabulary learnt in social networks very colloquial and generally
useless. Most of the professionals do not agree with the fact the level of English is good
enough in European non English speaking countries to have a fluent conversation.

90
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/de.htm
Date: 10/10/14
2. http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Germany-Broadband-Market-Insights-
Statistics-and-Forecasts.html
Date: 10/10/14
3. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-
agenda/files/DE%20internet%20use_0.pdf
Date: 10/10/14
4. http://www.dw.de/schools-online-program-gone-too-soon/a-16539994
Date: 10/10/14
5. http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/it.htm
Date: 12/10/14
6. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-
agenda/files/IT%20internet%20use_0.pdf
Date: 12/10/14
7. file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Desktop/School/Research%20Project/Innovation%20Strateg
y%20Working%20Paper%2090.pdf
Date: 12/10/14
8. http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/dk.htm
Date: 12/10/14
9. http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Denmark-Broadband-Market-Insights-Statistics-
and-Forecasts.html?r=51
Date: 12/10/14

91
10.http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/DanishNationalAssessmentSyst
em.pdf
Date: 12/10/14
11.https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-
agenda/files/DK%20internet%20use_0.pdf
Date: 12/10/14
12.http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/es.htm
Date: 14/10/14
13.https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Spain-Broadband-Market-Insights-Statistics-
and-Forecasts.html?r=51
Date: 14/10/14
14.https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-
agenda/files/ES%20internet%20use_0.pdf
Date: 14/10/14
15.http://www.internetworldstats.com/europa.htm
Date: 14/10/14
16.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_Internet_users
Date: 14/10/14
17.http://www.ef.co.uk/epi/spotlights/europe/
Date: 22/12/14
18.http://www.ef.co.uk/epi/
Date: 22/12/14
19.http://jakubmarian.com/map-of-the-percentage-of-people-speaking-english-in-the-
eu-by-country/
Date: 22/12/14

92
20.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface
Date: 23/12/14
21.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_(programming_language)
Date: 23/12/14
22.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_locator
Date: 23/12/14
23.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29
Date: 23/12/14
24.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_bytecode
Date: 23/12/14
25.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Translate
Date: 23/12/14
26.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_virtual_machine
Date: 23/12/14
27.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Date: 23/12/14
28.https://cloud.google.com/translate/?gclid=CPWLxrGR_cICFeHKtAodKHAAYQ
Date: 28/12/14
29.https://developers.google.com/
Date: 28/12/14
30.https://cloud.google.com/translate/v2/using_rest
Date: 28/12/14
31.http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11918957/how-to-add-all-external-jars-to-library-
on-eclipse-export-to-war
Date: 3/1/15

93
32.http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1070760/javascript-function-in-href-vs-onclick
Date: 3/1/15
33.https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-
login/permissions/v2.2?locale=ca_ES
Date: 3/1/15
34.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_standard
Date: 5/1/15
35.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)
Date: 5/1/15
36.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute%E2%80%93value_pair
Date: 5/1/15
37.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON
Date: 5/1/15
38.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
Date: 5/1/15
39.http://twitter4j.org/en/index.html
Date: 8/1/15
40.http://www.metamodpro.com/browser-language-codes
Date: 10/1/15
41.http://www.labnol.org/internet/identify-language-of-text/8441/
Date: 10/1/15
42.http://www.wikihow.com/Write-Your-First-Program-in-Java
Date: 10/1/15
43.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_server#Java_application_servers
Date: 12/1/15

94
6. ANNEX
6.1 MAX PEIRÓ’S INTERVIEW
1. Age
32
Spain
China
Software, China CEO
Catalan (mother tongue), Spanish (mother tongue), English (professional), Portuguese
(intermediate), French (intermediate), Chinese (basic)
Yes, as first language in school
English is the only true international language and it is key to develop oneself without
boundaries (both professionally and personally) in this globalized era

95
in each of them.
Wechat – English
Whatsapp – English, Spanish, Catalan
Facebook – English
Yes to some extend, as they allow you to reach out beyond your regular friends network,
which is usually locally-based
Yes. Denmark
situation?
Yes, generally good
Best advice is to keep communication direct and simple and avoid literal translations from
your mother tongue to English

96
to hire someone:
· Very important
· Important
· Fair
· Not relevant
Very important
level of English?
I would rarely hire/buy services

97
life?
I believe people learn English to be able to better communicate with anyone, and social
networks might play an important role.
Social networks might be useful to practice, but I don’t think they can be the only tool to
learn a language, nor the type of language used to be the standard for daily
communication
Probably yes

98
6.2 JAUME PORTELL’S INTERVIEW
1. Age
42
Spain
Spain
IT. Digital Marketing.CEO
I speak 4 languages. Catalan, Spanish, English, Italian
Of course I would. English is the language of Business in at least half of the world, with
Spanish and Chinese the chances of being able to do business all around the world are
quite high.

99
in each of them.
Read: Facebook, Twitter.
Write: none
Social Networks have improved globalization of messages and so forth, perception of level
of penetration of English language. The presence of English in the Social Networks makes
more obvious how useful the knowledge of that language is and how many people you can
communicate with if you learn it. I honestly do not think that level of English in the Social
Networks is good.

100
situation?
Level of English in European countries is not good enough yet to have fluent business
conversations.
More exposure to English on public education, student exchange programs like Erasmus
and forcing touristic services (hotels, restaurants, shops…) to offer a certain minimum level
of language knowledge should help to improve it.
to hire someone:
· Very important X
· Important
· Fair
· Not relevant

101
level of English?
· I would rarely hire/buy services X
life?
I think they might learn a bit but most probably the vocabulary on SN is not very rich, so
not that useful in real life.
I do not thing it is replacing it.
One chooses the language according to who is supposed to talk to. Since local community
is not fluent in English, and won’t be for a long while, there is no replacement.

102
6.3 YUKA GHESQUIERE’S INTERVIEW
1. Age: 48 years old.
2. Country of origin: Japan
3. Country of residence: Spain
4. Which business are you working for? Which is your position? Localization/Language
Service Industry – Localization Specialist, Translator & Interpreter.
5. How many languages do you speak? Which are them? Four: Japanese, English,
Spanish, French
6. If you had children, would you encourage them to study English? Why? Yes, because it
is the language that you need to know to communicate with people from other countries.
in each of them. Facebook - English, Japanese, Spanish, French. LinkedIn – English and
Spanish. Twitter – Only English and Japanese.
their level of English? Explain why. No, I don’t think so.

103
Germany, Denmark, Italy and Spain. In this list, I would say Germany. (I went to all these
countries and have business or friends.) I have a Dutch friend. I think Holland is the
country where most English speaking (naturally) you can find. .(They broadcast TV
programs from the UK and USA in original version without placing voice over in Dutch.)
situation? Communication in Business in English and general conversation to get by are
two different stories. (I went to “Business in Communication” at Harvard Summer School.)
When you speak in English, you also need to know to whom you are talking. If you are
talking to a Japanese person in English, you need to interpret their words differently from
when you are speaking in English to a native person – English or American person. For
example, if a Japanese person says “it’s difficult” means “no.” You need to know cultural
background and differences to communicate effectively in business.
Depending on your mother tongue, how you “think” vary. So the construction of
conversation would vary…. I learned how to write English from there. They thought me
how I have to “think” first. When I translate text from Japanese into English, sometimes I
have to reengineer whole paragraph so the audience understands. Just putting the words
and sentences as they are doesn’t do the magic. This is about localizing and “not”
translating. This is the reason why machine translation could never take our job. Probably

104
we have more work because of machine translation – because somebody has to correct
them.
to hire someone:
· Very important
· Important
· Fair
· Not relevant – it depends on the job this person need to perform. Sometimes, I need to
hire somebody who speaks other languages.
level of English?
This, too, depends on where is the target market. I would rather hire somebody who
speaks Spanish and Catalan than Spanish and English for Catalunya.
life?
Well, this all depends too. My mother uses SNS but won’t be learning English.

105
Definitely not. Japanese people tried to replace Japanese with English in certain
environment but I consider it failed. For example, Softbank and Uniqlo tried… ask you dad
what he thinks of this. And also, imagine Catalunya… all the Catalonian people resisting
to use Spanish. I don’t believe that would happen. (I believe for Catalonian people to go
global they should keep Spanish alive more. It’s one of the global languages.)

106
6.4 AUGUSTO MODIGLIANI’S INTERVIEW
1. Age
45
Italy
Italy
Communication/Media – Senior position
2 (Italian- English)
Yes. Because it is the most useful language at the momento.
in each of them.
Facebook and Linkedin . I use Italian & English on Facebook, on Linkedin I use English.

THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3)

THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3)

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3)

Similar to THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3) (20)

THE USE OF THE ENGLISH IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (3)