Questions I have for native English speakers

[Sailor Cat]

I'm German and I have some questions to native english speakers. I'm curious to hear your answers!^^

1. What is it like to have a language as a mother tongue that is spoken all over the world? I mean, if you come to other countries the chance is high that at last some people can speak English. In Germany it's most people. Does it suprise you, or do you think it's just natural?

2. I supose most songs played in your radios are English. In Germany also most of the songs are English and only a few are German. What does it feel like to hear songs in another language? Is it strange to hear a song that you don't understand? For me it's normal. (Of course I understand English, but I also listen to songs in other languages.) And are there also songs played in English radios in other languages?

3. What's up with the word "goddess"? Why do you pronounce it as "goodness"? Where does the n come from and why is it like oo and not o?

4. I've heard there is a superstition in the US that you have to hold your breath while being on a cemetery. But what do the people believing in this do at a funeral? And sometimes you are longer at a cemetery than 10 seconds when going to church, aren't you?

5. And there is this groundhog-think with his shadow and so on, right? (If it doesn't see his shadow, it's spring.) But how do you do this superstition? Maybe I've gotten this wrong, but do you really watch these animals then? I don't think it will work. Or is it just like a saying? And wouldn't it make more sense if the shadow would mean spring, cause it's sunny?

6. There are many "kinds" of English all over the world, like British English, American English, Australian... Does it still feel to you like English, just like a dialect, or is it something completely different?

7. If you are in other countries, do you just speak to people in English, because you expect them to understand you, or do you try it in their native language?

[Syllabic]

1. It's great, I don't take it for granted.   It's not surprising because I know that english is a common language for business and is basically the world's lingua franca now

 

2. I like songs in other languages, Despacito is a huge radio hit in America and it's mostly sung in spanish.  We don't get a lot of exposure to songs sung in other languages unless you deliberately look for it though

 

3. I've never heard it pronounced 'goodness', that's a different word entirely.  I've only heard it pronounced as gaw-dess, and that's how I would pronounce it.

4. I've never heard of this, it sounds like a thing little kids would tell each other.  Nobody going to a funeral would hold their breath.

5. The idea behind it is if there's no shadow, there's probably a lot of cloud cover which would act as insulation to keep the earth warm.  It's probably nonsense though.  

The most famous groundhog is in Pennsylvania, USA.  They keep the groundhog in a cage for most of the year and then pull him out on februrary 2nd for a small ceremony.  When the groundhog dies they get another one.

6. It all feels like english but some kinds are harder to understand.  Scottish-english I can only understand some of the words but I can make out the general meaning of what they are trying to say.  Most forms of english are very easy to understand.   I've never in my life had a problem understanding what a british or australian person is trying to say, although some slang words I might have to ask what they mean.

7. I would speak in english, and probably slower and with a simpler vocabulary than I might use with a native speaker.    If I'm confident in a foreign language I might try to use that.