How important is woman's English abilities?

[Trenchcoat]

English is made of Old English, Danish, Norse, and French, and has been changed by Latin, Greek,
Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Dutch and Spanish, along with some words from other languages.

The spelling of words doesn't have much rhyme or reason. The USA has different spelling from
the UK. However anyone educated has been taught to spell words correctly. As a schoolboy I
was tested every week until the 9th grade. In college I remember that I could lose a letter
grade for each error in writing class.

Some people have dyslexia and switch letters around seemingly randomly.

English comes from the Anglo Saxons, a Germanic tribe that came across and settled in England after the Romans left. So English is essentially a Germanic language, not the same nor very similar to German but another kind of German language with some similar sounding words spelt slightly different, for & fir, I & Ich, etc, etc. possibly Anglo Saxon might have used a Germanic language to other Germanic tribes at the time that were the same or similar. It's likely that the Anglo Saxon germanic language that became Old English and later modern English changed over time as did the Germanic language in the tribes that remain around present day Germany so the two English & German be and more different to each other over time. As you state, English took on some French words over time and probably a few Norse & Celtic influence also potentially.

Before the Anglo Saxons arrive England used the Celtic language mainly as the main inhabitants numerical wise were the Celts. The Romans that were here would have used Latin until they left or possibly a few absorbed into the population. The Anglo Saxons too got absorbed into the native Celtic population but the Celts in England took on their Germanic language. The Normans then came but were very few in number and again got absorbed into the native population.

Welsh is possibly the nearest language that might have been similar to what the Celts in England spoke. That can sound a little Germanic also, though that might just be my ears, the words are very different to English & German but the intonation sounds similar, but then the Celts were a central European tribe that spread out to many parts of Europe in patches roughly from Spain across to Eastern Europe before the Slavs came. Most Celts in Wales seem to come from Spain due to their black hair around the Basque region of present day Spain. Celts however could vary by region and we're not seen as one harmonious group, in central Europe many were apparently ginger and the Romans eventually killed many of them.

[krimster2]

and now ya got "Jaflaican"

[2tallbill]

English comes from the Anglo Saxons, a Germanic tribe that came across and settled in
England after the Romans left.

England was/is a trading island and adopted tons of words from everyone they traded with.

French examples (Googled)
chivalry, homage, liege, peasant, seigniorage, suzerain, vassal, villain, bailiff, chancellor, council, government,
mayor, minister, parliament, abbey, clergy, cloister, diocese, friar, mass, parish, prayer, preach, priest, sacristy,
vestment, vestry, vicar, baron, count, dame, duke, marquis, prince, sir, armor, baldric, dungeon, hauberk, mail,
portcullis, rampart, surcoat, escape from my spelling teacher (when dinosaurs ruled the Earth). 

Latin examples that begin with the letter A. Acumen, agenda, altruism, ambiguous, atrocity, avarice. There
are as many for each letter.

Greek
Acrobat, cemetary, therapy, talent, cynicism, theater, telescope, democracy, third, Europe, galaxy, dinosaur,
marathon, marmalade, melancholy, telescope, music, muse, panic, echo, phobia, planet, sarcasm, sycophant,
thespian, schizophrenia, guitar, angel, technology, syntax, archeology, bible, biology, bacteria, box, cynical,
microscope, panther, pepper, physics, type, philosophy, tone, third, theory, triumph, utopia, zoo, symbol.
 

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes studied English in school, but was very shy about it. She relearned it and I paid for English
lessons. We chatted every single day. She took English classes in the USA and learned more with various
jobs learning by talking to customers and coworkers.

[ML]

My now wife had pretty good spoken and listening English, but poor written English when she arrived in USA.

She took two semesters in Intensive English program and passed TOEFL Exam with highest score of those taking in program at that time.  Got a nice Certificate indicating such.

Her written was still not good enough but got better over time as she had to construct Syllabus, Tests, etc. when she got job teaching at the university.  I, of course, fixed up all the spelling and grammar errors that she had made. 

She pushed me to write many emails as replies to other faculty, students, etc., but I gradually weaned her off that . . . but not entirely for some difficult messages.

The biggest factor in her much improved English ?

I never tried to learn Ukrainian or Russian.  She totally agreed with this.

Plus she never had a gaggle of gossipy Ukrainian/Russian friends to converse with.  She actually prefers AW compared to FSUW.

We meet with a group of Ukrainian faculty at the University here and their family, but not frequently.  They all speak English if I am nearby, and switch to Ukrainian if they are some distance from me.

[krimster2]

yes, English is a "mongrel" language, spoken by Mongrels
Celtish Kettle makers who were conqured by roamin Romans
followed by crazy-assed Germans in spiked helmets rowing across the channel in tiny round boats by the thousands, like Dunkirk and start formin villages along the coast
the saxons are businessman and buy up everything, cuz Brittania is a poor place
and they become the nobility
then the 20th century came, and war and emmigration killed Britain
and now immigration is

every system has flaws and contradictions
even a liberal democracy
the key is how to fix it

in the USA
each political party is now "face to face" in conflict
but each is holding a knife behind their back
to stab the other

the republicans will go first, in a few more months, they have no other choice, like the last stand at Berlin
if democrats win in Nov
the democrats are planning on taking their time before they sink the blade
cuz the gravity of demographics will thrust the blade for them

republicans will go all in on voter suppression
and even if he loses, Trump is still gonna show up on inaugeration day with his OWN $60 Bible
and will inaugerate himself

[Trenchcoat]

England was/is a trading island and adopted tons of words from everyone they traded with.

French examples (Googled)
chivalry, homage, liege, peasant, seigniorage, suzerain, vassal, villain, bailiff, chancellor, council, government,
mayor, minister, parliament, abbey, clergy, cloister, diocese, friar, mass, parish, prayer, preach, priest, sacristy,
vestment, vestry, vicar, baron, count, dame, duke, marquis, prince, sir, armor, baldric, dungeon, hauberk, mail,
portcullis, rampart, surcoat, escape from my spelling teacher (when dinosaurs ruled the Earth). 

Latin examples that begin with the letter A. Acumen, agenda, altruism, ambiguous, atrocity, avarice. There
are as many for each letter.

Greek
Acrobat, cemetary, therapy, talent, cynicism, theater, telescope, democracy, third, Europe, galaxy, dinosaur,
marathon, marmalade, melancholy, telescope, music, muse, panic, echo, phobia, planet, sarcasm, sycophant,
thespian, schizophrenia, guitar, angel, technology, syntax, archeology, bible, biology, bacteria, box, cynical,
microscope, panther, pepper, physics, type, philosophy, tone, third, theory, triumph, utopia, zoo, symbol.

Oh do pipe down Wilhelm

English is a Germanic language more than any other. Most languages have some foreign words. Russian for example has Computer, Vauxhall, etc

The French words probably came from the Normans. The Normans were originally Vikings who settled along the northern French coast. Romans would have brought some Latin words and possibly Greek ones. True Britons were engaged with shipping trade around Europe and some words may have been picked up there.

But the majority of English words are Germanic, and the intonation is more similar to the German language then any other.

Take the English & German numbers 0 to 10 for example;

Nil.     -   NullIne
One    -    Eins
Two.  -    Zwei
Three  -   Drei
Four   -   Vier
Five.   -   Fünf
Six.     -    Sechs
Seven -   Sieben
Eight  -   Acht
Nine   -   Neun
Ten    -    Zehn

Most (but not quite all) sound similar. Same for much of the English Language. The Dutch language is Germanic too and again similar sounding words and intonation to German but not the same. Danish as I vaguely recall is also Germanic, same deal.

[Trenchcoat]

Angel Eyes studied English in school, but was very shy about it. She relearned it and I paid for English
lessons. We chatted every single day. She took English classes in the USA and learned more with various
jobs learning by talking to customers and coworkers.

Noo...!!! It's a SCAM!!!! 

You didn't fall for the old English lesson scam did you Beel

[2tallbill]

Noo...!!! It's a SCAM!!!! 

You didn't fall for the old English lesson scam did you Beel

I did pay for some English lessons for a previous girl who was
trying to scam me.

Don't worry with Angel Eyes I got a life time warranty when we got married.