The Invisible Immigrants
There is a lot of debate about immigration, but an incident last night got me thinking.
I was waiting to go in to see a performance of the Grand Hotel Budapest last night in the Barbican, when I got chatting to a lady sitting next to me.
She was speaking immaculate English, but I got the impression that she wasn’t from London. So I asked where she was from and was rather surprised she came from Austria.
A few weeks ago, I got talking to a well-dressed black guy on a train, who again spoke perfect English, but was surprised to find that he had been born and brought up in Dusseldorf in Germany. He was a temporary visitor and was going home for the weekend, but you wouldn’t have said immigrant immediately, although you might have thought he was a child of immigrants.
I could quote lots of examples over the years, but these days spotting immigrants is not always easy, as many do not follow the supposed stereotype.
Many immigrants like my American fitness trainer or my Australian physio, would not be picked out as immigrants say on the bus or train.
I do wonder how this all effects our views on immigration.
I also wonder, if Britons don’t go and work in say Germany or Sweden, as much as their natives might come here, because our language skills are so atrocious.
The Anonymous Widower 
What were your thoughts on the film?
Comment by Miss Chipie | March 30, 2014 |
I quite liked the film. But as with many films, it would have been better to see it with a lady and have something like a pizza afterwards.
Comment by AnonW | March 30, 2014 |
I agree about our language skills being atrocious. languages are badly taught in schools, and pupils are often 11 before they really start to learn them seriously
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 30, 2014 |