[WillowTheWhisp]

I've just come back from several weeks in the Morcambe area and noticed a few signs up there in English and Polish. That struck me as odd until it dawned on me how many Polish people there seem to be around there.

I think it's better that people can understand things, especially if it's something important and official, but also do agree that when people choose to move to a country other than the one where they were born they should make an effort to learn the native language.

It seems kind of ironic to see the bilingual signs in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland which actively keep the native Gaelic alive, and rightly so. I love the Irish language.

When we were in Tunisia it was relatively easy to find our way around and to talk to people in the towns because most people spoke French and the signs were in French and Arabic but we had fun in the more rural areas where we didn't speak their language and they didn't speak ours - but we got by.

Words have always had a tendancy to drift over from other languages - like the French have had "le weekend" for generations and we've had "deja vu" etc. Where would we be without anoraks and jodhpurs? Maybe we'll all eventually end up speaking the same language some day - and it'll probably turn out to be mandarin!