When in Germany, Speak German

I've just discovered on Der Spiegel's English-language pages that there's currently some sort of controversy taking place due to the insistence of Guido Westerwelle, Germany's new Foreign Minister, on answering a press conference question in German. Below is the video of said incident.

Supposedly the events shown above have unleashed a wave of sarcasm and derision at Mr. Westerwelle's expense, but I really can't see what is problematic about his statements: on the contrary, I think the opposite is true, and it is the British journalist who ought to be ashamed for arrogantly expecting Germany's Foreign Minister, speaking in Germany, to cater to the journalist's linguistic ignorance, as if Westerwelle were a local tribal chief reporting to a colonial overlord. Furthermore, there are genuine reasons of statecraft which justify Westerwelle's position; international politics is a field in which even small misunderstandings can lead to severe consequences, and however skilled in English a German politicians or diplomats may be, they will almost always be more fluent in their own language. As such, to conduct any dealings of state in a foreign language is usually a mistake, unless one happens to be an ambassador or a statesman uttering a few words just for rhetorical effect (e.g. "Ich bin ein Berliner").

I can understand to a certain extent why so many Germans should think there's something odd about what Westerwelle said: part of it has to do with the pride many Germans take in their English-language abilities, and another aspect is that semi-instinctive opposition to any form of national self-assertion stemming from Germany's 20th century history. Still, historical issues notwithstanding, I imagine that most Germans would like their Foreign Minister to conduct his duties to Germany's benefit in as far as possible, and that is best done by speaking the language he knows best, not by pandering to a dumb foreign journalist (and on the journalistic side, one has to wonder who was dumb enough to send to such an important country a representative without the linguistic skills or basic modicum of sensitivity to do his job in the native language). Deutsche! Dr. Westerwelle war völlig korrekt!

Going by the evidence of the following clip, Westerwelle's English seems perfectly fine. He does pause quite a bit to think, but then again, he's no worse in this respect than a certain recent former US President, and unlike said (supposedly native English-speaking) President, Westerwelle's response actually makes complete sense.

Comments

[twitter.com/loomnie]

I discussed this with some of my German colleagues, and for them, the point was not that Dr Westerwelle told the journalist to ask his question in English, but that he seemed to have taken things too seriously. They say that a foreign minister who would have to deal with other countries should be able handle the case of the journalist with better skills. He for instance could have made a joke out of it, they said.

The other point is that they feel Dr Westerwelle is actually unable to speak passable English. Like you pointed out, Germans take pride in their English-speaking abilities, and they wonder whether he would be able to represent them, in that regard, in international fora.

[Abiola]

Your German colleagues raise interesting points, but ultimately I don't find them convincing. I do happen to understand German fairly well, and having listened to what Westerwelle said, I found nothing in the least objectionable in either the content or the delivery; it seems pretty clear to me that he went out of his way to be polite to the journalist, which was why he closed his statements with the joking reference to speaking English over tea later. It is unthinkable that, say, a German journalist would dare ask Hillary Clinton to give a German-language answer to a German-language question, let alone at a conference being delivered on American soil, and going by Clinton's angry response to a much less presumptuous question,

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2009/08/11/hillary-clinton-in-congo/im-us-secretary-of-state-not-my-husband-bill.html

she wouldn't be half as diplomatic as Westerwelle was if she were put on the spot like he was.

As for Westerwelle's English-language skills, even if it were the case that he couldn't speak a word of English, I don't see how that would necessarily mean he was less qualified for the foreign minister post than any of the other contenders; there is a lot more to the job than being able to crack jokes with other countries' leaders in English, and for all one knows Westerwelle may have all the cunning and diplomatic savvy of an Otto von Bismarck, while there could be some brilliantly polyglot candidate out there who couldn't negotiate his or her way out of a wet paper bag ...

To be honest, it seems to me that what drives a lot of the German-language criticism of Westerwelle isn't really the man's English-language ability or supposed lack thereof, but his "free-markets, lower-taxes and cut-spending" politics, which many left-leaning Germans loathe; none of these same people uttered a word of criticism of Gerhard Schroeder despite his own self-admitted English-language incapacity. Unfortunately for Germany's left, their parties have just been routed at the polls, so like the Republican diehards in America, left-leaning Germans are now seizing upon the most ridiculous and far-fetched things to attack their political opponents.

[twitter.com/loomnie]

Hmmm... those are important points you've raised there. I confess, my colleagues are left-leaning, so I suppose you are right that the main point might be their aversion towards his politics.

I have been following him - I speak some German myself - and I do not have, and have not found, any grounds to have anything against him. In any case, it is still early to tell whether he is a von Bismarck or not.

You are also right about the arrogance that comes from English language speakers, an arrogance that makes them expect that others would speak to them in English.

Hmmm... I am trying to think about what would happen if this kind of thing were to happen in France. I am not sure that Sarkozy would not have retorted with some force.

As for the regime, their policy and all, it is all too early to tell. Mal sehen.