Being an #English #teacher from the UK, I tend to teach learners that #numbers like this: 2.25 are spoken as two point two five. In Italian, decimals as read as two point twenty five and when I hear this, I correct it. However, I’ve noticed that non-native speakers often say two point twenty five - so, correct or not correct, that is the question. Probably depends on whether English #language learners interact with more with non native or native English speakers. Would you agree?
I guess so - the French habitually say numbers in tens+units pairs, eg. when telling you their phone number.
Over the 30 years or so I worked internationally, mainly in Europe, a clear phenomenon arose out of the use of English as a lingua franca. We called it 'Eurospeak', and in certain circumstances, such as writing EU transnational funding applications in English, it came to be seen as better for non-native speakers to do the final edit, so they could ensure the right emphasis was on the key Eurospeak terms and usages Brussels would be looking out for, rather than quaint outdated native English expressions.
@alex_p_roe in the context of currency I'd accept that. How would they say 3.142?
@alex_p_roe
Well, there's correct, two thousand and twenty five, and what a bunch of native English-speakers say, twenty twenty-five, so I wouldn't get too bothered about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqdoZcU9Iz4
@SmartmanApps Yup, I know about that. Then there’s how to read 1,500 or 7,500 or 12,500 if you are from the USA. And that’s not to mention how native speakers who work with financial markets read some numbers. As ever, context is king.
@PatrickOBeirne Three point one hundred and forty two! But if the number is 3.141593, provided the . and , don’t get mixed up, it’ll be ready as you would expect.
@GeofCox Yes, I feel the Eurospeak or Globish (global English) approach may be better nowadays. The people I teach English to tend to interact with other non-native speakers more than with native speakers. As you noted, English is used as a lingua franca - actually, being in Italy, when I come across someone who does not know English, Italian is my lingua franca - and the way I use Italian is influenced by my native tongue. I shall correct with a caveat!
Some years ago I sat in on an EFL session led by a friend of mine - there was much confusion then amusement when they came across the phrase 'the fire alarm went off' - which of course any native speaker knows means precisely the opposite of what it says.
@GeofCox Ah, the joys of phrasal verbs and literal translation! Non native speakers detest them, understandably and avoid using them. I teach commonly used phrasal verbs and then there’s really idiomatic English! I pity those trying to get to grips with English and find it odd it’s become a lingua Franca.