The Language Gatekeepers
The day after the German election in September, chancellor hopeful Olaf Scholz held a press conference at SPD headquarters. His party had not won a majority, but they had gained the highest percentage of votes. As the dust was settling on the election, it was clear any new government would include the SPD. Scholz is often accused of being robotic, but he seemed relaxed as he answered questions from the German media scrum. Eventually he reached British journalist Matt Frei, who began by requesting they speak English and then followed up with a question concerning truck driver shortages and the possibility of German support for Britain. Without missing a beat, Scholz switched to English. Europe had tried to convince Britain to stay in the EU, Scholz replied, but he hoped the UK government could solve their problems. Another journalist, seeing an opportunity, followed up Matt Frei’s question with another question in English. Scholz joked that they were in a German press conference, but answered in English anyway.
The optics of Scholz’s mini English press conference seemed quite obvious; he was speaking to the wider world, the way national leaders do. Of course, this went down a storm with English speaking journalists. He was believed to be “rehearsing” for the top job and showing his international leadership credentials. Let’s be clear here, he hadn’t wrestled Vladimir Putin into submission, he’d answered a question in English, but appealing to English speakers by speaking English is essentially shooting fish in a barrel. Most native-English speakers don’t speak a second language, so watching someone speak English at any level is akin to wizardry.
Scholz’s sojourn into English played well internationally, but it was also a message intended for his domestic audience. It wasn’t so long ago that Guido Westerwelle made a fool out of himself for refusing to speak English when asked a question by a British journalist. By taking the question he was showing German voters he was chancellor material and side-stepping a trap that had caught out many an aspiring public figure. Reports on the press conference seemed shocked that Scholz spoke in English, but there was also a little admiration that he had. Reactions from people in my own circle were mixed, with one person even suggesting that Scholz was showing off. Regardless, no one considered it wholly negative, most were rather impressed.
English speakers may be in awe when they hear English spoken as a second language, but then so are Germans. There are many ways a person can show their intelligence, in Germany the easiest way to show your credentials is to speak English. It’s often seen as a sign of a good education, as well as worldliness, or at least that’s the hope. It’s also seen as quite modern and dare I say cool (note: I appreciate by using the word cool I sound like I’m Methuselah…I’m ok with this.) The native English speakers of Germany know this very well, given how often we are confronted with our own language. English slang is dropped indiscriminately into sentences by Germans of all ages. The young German word of 2021 was ‘cringe’, nearly every horrific office buzzword is English or at least Denglisch, while advertising slogans are almost always in English.
All this English admiration does have a downside, not for English speakers, but for those whose English isn’t of a high level. If speaking English is a sign of intelligence or good schooling, then not speaking English or speaking poor English is considered the complete opposite. All native-English speakers in Germany will have come across people who apologise for their English when in conversation, even if that conversation happens to be in German. I often wonder if it’s a coded message that my German is terrible, maybe these people are actually apologising to themselves for having to suffer my rasping attempts at umlauts. Of course, no German would ever be that subtle with criticism.
As much as Germans appreciate English, many also enjoy gatekeeping it. I’ve had to intervene in meetings to stop people constantly correcting each other to the point that no one was actually able to finish a coherent sentence. I’ve helped people improve their English as a requirement of promotion within predominantly German speaking companies and in one memorable instance, reprimanded a manger who kept correcting his secretary’s English, despite the fact they spoke it better than he did. There’s an obvious power dynamic in all of this, a way to assert control or to actively humiliate. Often it’s based on little more than a simple error in pronunciation or misplaced grammar, or just a general sense of entitlement.
Of all the criticisms of people’s English I’ve heard thrown around, the most common is the criticism that someone “has an accent”. I’ve always found this the most inane and pointless of observations. We all have accents, even the people who claim not to. There isn’t a single person on earth without one of some kind, it’s perfectly normal. Sure pronunciation is important, but if I graded language competence predominantly on accents, almost no one would ever pass an exam. I wouldn’t, you wouldn’t and more than likely, neither would Olaf Scholz. Criticising accents is the last bastion of the language gatekeeper.
The gatekeepers of English were out in force only this week when the new German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, gave her first speech in English during an EU summit. No sooner had she begun to speak than social media erupted with criticism of Baerbock’s English, namely the fact the new German Foreign Minister had an accent. Something about Baerbock rubs a certain part of the German population up the wrong way. The fact that she’s younger than most politicians and has the temerity to be an outspoken woman in public seems to mean she’s fair game for any and all criticism. She’s only been in office a week and already she’s facing criticism, not for her actions of course, she’s barely had time for any. None of Baerbock's mostly male critics seemed to listen to what she actually said, it was the way she had said it that was the problem. If that sounds a familiar, it’s probably because it comes from the Big Book of Gaslighting for Boys.
The different treatment of Olaf Scholz and Annalena Baerbock highlights something. While Scholz response in English was celebrated, regardless of his obvious accent, Baerbock was pilloried for her own accented English. There is clearly an agenda in some sections of German society to question the credibility and suitability of Baerbock for one of the highest positions in German politics. Whether Baerbock is a success or not, time will tell, but any criticism she faces should at least focus on what she has to say and not the way she happens to say it. Language gatekeeping is nothing new, but weaponising English to criticise people’s intelligence is a particularly German habit that really needs to stop. The ability to stand in front of people and speak a second language, at any level, should be applauded. When your national representatives do it, you should feel pride. It shows real character. Not many British or American representatives can do it, which is quite damning really.
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