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I’m a business English trainer, which basically means, I help German businesspeople to communicate more professionally and to sound more natural.  I find that most Germans translate what’s in their heads, into English, and that often comes across as sounding rude or too direct to native English speakers.  They know this, but they often don’t know how to correct it, and that’s where I come in. They’re not trying to be rude, it just sounds that way to us.  As native speakers of English, we set a very high standard and we expect other speakers to achieve that standard, which they often can’t unless they have lived in an English-speaking country for some time. Of course, there are rude people, be we have them in every country.

  Why would they?  Unless someone has even a passing interest in economics, which a lot of people don't, they're not going to be familiar with these references.  

  Yes, it's an economic reference to those 4 southern European countries.

  I teach my student "i for iPhone, e for email"  It works a treat too!

I came to the realisation some years ago that I don't fit in back home any longer.  I love to go there to visit family and friends, but I'm not sure I could live there today. Not only has Ireland changed a lot, but I have too.  

  It tasted nice, it was a summer soft drink. It could be called a cordial or a squash.  People in the UK and Ireland can still get it, Robnson's Lemon Barley Water.  Nothing strange about it.

  Yes, when I was young (in Ireland), we were often given barley water, which was a lemon flavoured barley juice.  Good for all sorts of ailments, apparently.

  That's what I always said, yet here I am, 40 years later.  I speak the language, not perfectly, but nobody seems to mind.  I have a good life here, a job I really like, good neighbours and friends, and family around me. I'm happy here and this is certainly home for me now.

  I was watching british TV yesterday over the evening and I heard it said a couple of times, not sure which channel it was though.    What made me smile was one royal journalist on ITV who, more than once, when talking about Charles, said "His Majesty, The Queen" and had to be corrected by the other journalist.  He admitted himself that it's going to take some getting used to.

I'm so very, very sorry for your loss.

  I would say you were very lucky, and lots of people are, but there is a risk these days and this type of scam is happening more and more as demand increases.      

  Have you ever heard the phrase, "The things we dislike most in others are the characheristics we like least about ourselves"   

  That's my opinion too.  They were coping with Chernobyl, it was very old technology and measures were being taken to avoid something like that happening again.  But once Fukushima happened, the outcry was huge and the government here desperately wanted to hold onto power.  Agreeing to shut down all the nuclear power stations in Germany was a popular decision.  Unfortunately, we may all be paying a price for that now.    

  This is the part I'm questioning

  This is completely untrue, why do you post things like this?