Why do millions of English speaking people,  and people to whom English is a second language say 'you know'
369773
Using filler words such as "you know" allows your brain time to catch up to your mouth.  Many people (I would suspect it's not just English-speakers, too) feel some discomfort when there is silence during a conversation, even if the purpose of that silence is to think of what next to say.  So while the mind is working to formulate the next sentence or phrase, the mouth spits out "you know" to kill time.
34439
Because they are ignorant of the fact that, English is not the official language of the US & they are paranoid or curious about  the other peoples conversation.
1079822
Do you speak English?
440906
There are several reasons for this, first of all Yahoo is an international community that caters to different age groups and nationalities.  With respect to people whose first language is English, there are a lot of people actually who use this facility to learn and enhance their speaking and writing ability through web interaction.  Level of skills may likewise be in essence of priority and importance.  In some countries, English might not be used as frequently as the necessity for its use could be non-essential, although I think is a definite advantage.  In my country, English is learned through schools, interaction with other people, TV and through reading books, magazines and the like.  But does not ensure 100% compliance to grammar and sentence construction in the english context.  \n\nAnother reason would have to be technology.  As people nowadays speak shorter english and abbreviates words and sentences to relay their message (sms, etc) sometimes that habbit comes into play without the person realizing he/she has conveyed the message in a different format.  I am not an American or of English descent, but I think comparing to most English speaking countries, sometimes, we speak and may communicate in the english context at par or maybe better.
1127405
Part of the issue is ignorance, another part is ego-centrism.  People seem to always assume when they hear two people talking in another language that the speakers must be somehow talking about the non-speakers.\n\nAnother part is that many people here feel put off  and less 'superior' if there are people speaking other languages around them.  I speak three languages other than English.  I am a LEGAL immigrant.  I take every chance to speak any of my languages as a chance to share, develop and practice skills.\n\nIt also gives me an understanding of how people think from other cultures.  If you refuse to learn other languages/deal with non-English speakers, you limit yourself.\n\nEnglish, for the most part will always be 'under attack' and will also always be the common language in the US.  As new groups come here from other countries (not just South America and the Carribean) those languages will be heard as well.  Give the current group of immigrants two generations and let's see how many still can't speak English.
700219
why do you make that assumption?  In english speaking countries it is still important to be able to communicate.  I'm sure it's that way in other countries with their own languages, too.
837731
It's actually quoted as an example even in the Oxford Dictionary. They say it's spoken English and used instead of "why". I agree with those who think it's not excellent English, but you know, use sometimes is sovereign and creates rules of its own!
559958
The latest figures I can find are for 1995 (first source), when there were 15,000,000 speakers out of a population of 131,000,000, i.e. about 11%.  The population is now about 168,000,000, so if the proportion has stayed the same, that would make it around 19,000,000 speakers.\n\nThe second source (2005) gives a figure of 17,000,000.\n\nThe third source gives a rough estimate of 5,000,000 speakers in urban areas whose English is good enough to work in call centres.\n\nIn all cases these are almost entirely second language speakers.  However as English is used in nearly all universities as the language of education and as the working language of government, the civil service and the millitary, the level of ability should be high amongst the better educated.
569804
If English is a second language you already have a lot of diversity going for you.   Just describe your live.
1103715
Don't overgeneralize.  I have known many people from many countries, and I have lived in another country on the other side of the world.  \n\nThe truth of the matter is that the majority of people in any country do not want to learn another country.  Most often, people who have not learned a second language equate that with a lack of education -- those uneducated people will not have a job that brings them to the notice of a foreigner.  \n\nMany people learn a second language to a point, in order to survive in their own mult-lingual environment.  Americans are no exception to that rule, with the international areas of the country.  \n\nHowever, specialists in many fields, in many countries, are limited to one language themselves.  This is because a careful study of one field, such as physics, will preclude the type of careful attention needed to become fluent in another language.
266723
You already have better English than many of the people who post here who were born in English speaking countries.
1095151
We are speaking English
241653
It was not discovered.....people from different countries wanted to have a common language so they started this English...they took some words from Sanskrit...some from Greek and some from latin and now they call it has english....\n\nSince it was very easy to speak every one accepted this langauge....
218886
They all speak English better than you.
218343
Because they don't understand that word order, tenses, etc. may be different in different lands. The same would be true if an English-speaking person tried using perhaps Spanish or French for the first time: it would sound funny to a Spanish or French-speaking person.
339636
The British Council says "English is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science, technology, diplomacy, sport, international competitions, pop music and advertising.\n\n     Over two-thirds of the world's scientists read in English. Three quarters of the world's mail is written in English. Eighty per cent of the world's electronically stored information is in English. Of the estimated forty million users of the Internet, some eighty per cent communicate in English, but this is expected to decrease to forty per cent as speakers of other languages get online."\n\nWhat our students say about English \n\n     "English is an easy language. There are no accents, the tenses of verbs are simplified and the adjectives are invariable", says Gustavo O. after three years studying it at school. Anaelle S. agrees with him but she finds the many different ways words are pronounced and the spelling difficult to cope with. Nicolas de F. finds it interesting and cool because through it he can understand many films and songs. "You need English to travel around the world - it's a language almost everybody understands - so it's easier to communicate with people from different cultures", says Daniela K. . According to Aldebaran D., "you must speak English if you want a good job especially if you want to work with computers".
187516
Because only 10 to 20% of them have gone abroad and has the chance to see the world.  And their educational system is delivered only in English.  Unlike in non-English speaking countries, they have the option to study their native language plus English as a second language.  Some entertainment media are also typically available in English like the movies, music, etc. In a sense, they are luckier because they know more than one language.