<p>
[quote]
And tell me, what do India and England, South Africa and India have to offer exactly?
[/quote]
I can speak English. They speak English. It's a match made in heaven.</p>
<p>I have lived in England for a year, and some aspects of it are not so great, such as the constant traffic jams, irritable people, and small island. However, it does have some great cities--london, oxford, cambridge--and is very close to Europe for travel. I have also been to Switzerland which is absolutely amazing. However, not many people live there, and there are not many large cities or cultural hotspots.</p>
<p>How are the people irritable?</p>
<p>Maybe Canda, Australia, or Japan.</p>
<p>Canada ftw.</p>
<p>Spain's a close second.</p>
<p>Mr. Payne, only 20%-30% of Indians speak English. And South Africa is truly beautiful, but most South Africans I know are currently planning to leave because of the impossible crime rate (murders and violent rapes occur at a rate 100 times greater than those in Western Europe and 30 times greater than in the US) and the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS. Hardly a place worth living in if you ask me.</p>
<p>India - English is an official language and is the language to know there.</p>
<p>South Africa - I answered the question incorrectly. These are the only countries I would consider living in.</p>
<p>Mr Payne, even if English is an "offical" language of India, it does not mean it is widely spoken. India was part of the British Commonwealth and as such, English was indeed an offical language. But India is a huge country and the majority of the population is living in poverty. Besides, India has like 20+ official languages. Do you really believe that all 20+ are spoken by a majority of the population? </p>
<p>Trust me, I live in the UAE. Roughly 60% of the population is Indian and many of them don't speak English well enough to be considered conversational. Of course, if you live in a major city like Bangalore or Mumbai, you will probably have no trouble communicating in English, but overall, most Indians don't speak English well enough to communicate. You'd have an easier time communicating in English with the French than with Indians.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If money is no object, Europe or Japan, but those places are so expensive.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is somewhat overstated. You can live fairly cheaply in Japan pretty much anywhere outside of Tokyo.</p>
<p>haha, what about Hong Kong (though it's not a country) for those who want a place where people speak English? </p>
<p>For me it's: England, France, Canada (<--Lol, places where I can read signs and hopefully then won't get lost =P)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Mr Payne, even if English is an "offical" language of India, it does not mean it is widely spoken. India was part of the British Commonwealth and as such, English was indeed an offical language. But India is a huge country and the majority of the population is living in poverty. Besides, India has like 20+ official languages. Do you really believe that all 20+ are spoken by a majority of the population?</p>
<p>Trust me, I live in the UAE. Roughly 60% of the population is Indian and many of them don't speak English well enough to be considered conversational. Of course, if you live in a major city like Bangalore or Mumbai, you will probably have no trouble communicating in English, but overall, most Indians don't speak English well enough to communicate. You'd have an easier time communicating in English with the French than with Indians.
[/quote]
I'm not sure what your going for. I've been to France - I didn't like it. You didn't disagree with my previous statement involving India so I'll just leave that as my position. If you want to disagree with why the stated reasons for wanting to live in India you are arguing against an opinion. Do I really need to further the statement? :)</p>
<p>BTW, I would only live in a sizeable metro area.</p>
<p>I am not trying to change your mind about France. But India and South Africa are horrible places to live in. Australia, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the US are good/great, but India and South Africa wouldn't make my top 50 list. I would sooner live in Lebanon, which I personally dislike, than live in those two countries.</p>
<p>I think it's apparent I value different things than you.</p>
<p>Maybe that's it. To each his own I guess.</p>
<p>England : 9 Votes
Canada : 12 Votes
Australia : 6 Votes
Spain : 5 Votes
Japan : 6 Votes
France: 4 Votes
Germany: 2 Votes
Isreal: 3 Votes
Italy : 3 Votes
Fiji, Switzerland , Greece ,Madagascar , Ireland, Aregentina , Venezuela, S.Africa , India , Scandinavian Countries , Austria, Carribean Isl.: 1 Vote</p>
<p>English is an official language of India, and among urbanites it is very widely spoken. That 20-30% bollocks comes from including peasants, farmers, rural bumpkins, untouchables, illiterates, etc. As someone who has spent most of their life in India, I should know this. India is not a bad place to live in, provided you live in a major city or a really developed state (like Goa). If you are poor, its hard to move up the social ladder due to the statist government there (incidentally, they are to blame for India still being a 3rd world country). Yeah, you can go live in France. Just be wary that its a typical EU nation with rather opressive policies. If I was to choose a country other than the US, Ireland, HK, Australia would top the list. In fact, Ireland is probably the only country I would care to live in anywhere in Europe (maybe an island in Italy or a coastal town in Spain).</p>
<p>France has oppressive policies? Please, it is one of the freest societies on Earth. Only the Scandinavian countries and Canada can match France. And yes, I was definitely including the rural areas when I said that only 20%-30% of the population spoke English in India. Last time I checked, the rural areas were part of India.</p>
<p>Alexandre,</p>
<p>Mnsr. iloveagoodbrew makes little libertarian me sound like a statist.</p>
<p>BTW, to all of you people who said Japan and haven't lived there, PLEASE PM me so we can talk about it. Japan is not a fairytale gumdrop happyland like you think!</p>
<p>In response to post 43, the people are irritable because they live in such cramped conditions. They have 60 million people in a country about the size of New England. They also don't have many wild places like the forests, glaciers, deserts, and so on that we have in the States.</p>
<p>While there are people who have dreams of living in Japan because they watch way too much anime and listen to Jpop and think its a magical land there are people who are realistic such as myself. I understand its not a perfect no country is but there are many people who moved there and love it.</p>