Quietly sneaking this in here:

Quote Originally Posted by Furunculus View Post
as noted before, we english (read: British) are an arrogant bunch
No, the English/British are not at all an arrogant bunch. I think that's just you passing off private hypernationalism as a national character trait of a monolithic English/British identity.

The English are on the whole perfectly relaxed about their identity, and quite open. Inquisitive and embracing of the outsider and the foreign. There are few practical reasons for an Englishman to learn foreign languages, this is often, in Britain and elsewhere, mistaken for the British being oblivious of the world, of being culturally inward looking. Quod non!