Hi Friends........ I have this question for the Czech people...... The czech radio is continously playing English songs, the Czech Fitness Classes/ malls etc everywhere you hear English songs..... English movies are shown in the Local Cinemas, and many Czech people are singing English songs ......... Then please tell me why do the Czechs say they can't speak English? You can sing English songs... and you can't speak English? I have often requested people to help me in the Super markets and they refuse to help saying they don't know English......... pls. pls pls SPEAK UP........
Maybe they're shy or unconfident in their ability. I found this with the Japanese. They would be adamant that they couldn't speak any English, but when encouraged it turned out thay they spoke more fluent than myself. They were just afraid of failure.
It could be what naychan says about confidence, but it could also be that they really don't know English. If you're not actively studying a language movies and music don't do a whole hell of a lot of good on their own. You could watch Ringu a thousand times with English subtitles and I'd bet you anything you wouldn't be able to hold a meaningful conversation in Japanese just from that. You can also learn to imitate the sounds of somebody singing so you can sing along but that doesn't mean you have any idea what those sounds mean. A strange thing about perception, though: I've found that the better people know a foreign language, the more modest they are about their ability. In general, of course.
