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The dark side of language dominance

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply
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shk00design
Triglot
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Canada
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 Message 25 of 176
29 May 2014 at 5:56pm | IP Logged 
Historically in Latin America the Spanish & Portuguese forced millions to adopt the Catholic faith and
learn their languages. The Mayans who kept their knowledge in books that were burned until more
recently their language has been deciphered.

In various parts of the world 1 or several languages dominate for practical reasons. In Africa & India the
people still recognize few European languages as official because they have too many ethnic groups
speaking many languages. You wouldn't make 1 local language the official and cause anger among
others because their languages are not chosen as the official. In many countries in W. Africa you have
French as the uniting factor across many countries where the people would have trouble talking to one
another in neighbouring countries.

In China with a large population they managed to introduce Mandarin as the official "dialect" in a
country where every region has their own local dialects. At least the population around the country can
communicate with each other.

Edited by shk00design on 02 June 2014 at 2:34am

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Gemuse
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 Message 26 of 176
29 May 2014 at 6:59pm | IP Logged 
PeterMollenburg wrote:

Let's face it an English dominated Europe would suck!


Why?
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James29
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 Message 27 of 176
29 May 2014 at 7:10pm | IP Logged 
Are there any places where people are forced to learn English nowadays? (I don't mean school "requirements"... I mean literally forced through some sort of state punishment if they refuse). Or, is essentially everyone now voluntarily learning English because they think it will make them better off than without English?


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Fuenf_Katzen
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 Message 28 of 176
29 May 2014 at 7:13pm | IP Logged 
In all honesty, English "dominance" has always bothered me, just because I've seen it as a detriment to my own ability to learn languages. But I wonder if it's really as dominant as is typically assumed.

When I was on vacation a few weeks ago, there were a lot of people who had limited English ability, including younger western Europeans (from Germany). I saw on more than one awkward encounter between guests and resort workers trying to speak with each other in very basic English. Even in the airport, where you would think the English level would be higher, it still wasn't that well-spoken; at least, it was limited enough that I asked twice about the seating assignment and then gave up after I realized there was a communication issue.    

As far as English-speaking ideologies being forced by the dominance of English, I suppose that's possible--language media does to a certain extent reflect the culture in which it's produced. I don't know how likely it would be to cause a major large-scale change though. I definitely wouldn't say English speaking countries have the same cultural perspectives (even within the US I could count at least four different regional "cultures" which have very little to do with language).
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1e4e6
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 Message 29 of 176
29 May 2014 at 8:48pm | IP Logged 
Gemuse wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote:

Let's face it an English dominated Europe would suck!


Why?


Continental Europe, barring Gibraltar which actually is not even a country but rather a
colony, have no native Anglophone country, nor a country where English is even an
official language. Why would English deserve such a high position where no one even
speaks it natively?

Also, some (not I), believe that the UK are not in Europe, despite Iceland, Greenland,
and the Færoe Islands being considered Europe. Were this the case, that means that
English deserves much less status than it currently has.

Also, should I have children, I would refuse to teach them English. I wish that a
movement to boycott the teaching of English commences, especially in places that
already have some semblance thereof--Latin America and Spain and Portugal in
particular, are not the most ready to stop their languages and change to English, and I
must commend them therefore.

However, I doubt that the main reason for Latin America's refusal to adopt Anglophone
culture and language and submit thereto, is due to things such as English being an
overly simplified language or Hollywood, rather Anglophone imperialism, specifically,
the U.S.-backed fascist
dictatorships in Latin America
, and the UK imperialism via the
Falklands, Anglo-American oil, etc. I know that in Chile, there is a reason why (a)
English is not regarded as important but rather as an imperialism imposition, like the
rest of Latin America, and (b) the Communist and Socialist Parties have strong
followings.

I followed the Chilean Presidential Election and Parliamentary Elections last year.
These two Diputadas del Partido
Comunista
, who are only one year older than I, won seats in Parliament in Chile
last year, 40 years after the U.S.-backed imperialist imposition of Pinochet and the
overthrow of Allende. Multiply this by 11, add the Falklands, and why would anyone in
Latin America have sympathy towards Anglophone language, much less the culture? I would
not expect, "You took the resources from my country, implanted an severe right-wing
fascist dictator(s) who ruled for more than two decades, use corporations to guide my
national government, but sure, I shall learn your language and embrace your culture."

I have been switched many times to English, but one region wherein I have never been
switched is the Hispanophone world. Either they cannot speak English or they might have
refused to, viewing it as an imperialist language. There must also be a reason why
Socialist leaders that are not keen on expanding globalist Anglophone ideals are in
power in Latin America, viz. Rafael Correa (Ecuador), José (Pepe) Mujica (Uruguay),
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina), Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Nicolás Maduro
(and formerly, Hugo Chávez) (Venezuela), Dilma Rousseff (and formerly Lula) (Brasil),
Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua), and of course the most famous, Fidel Castro (Cuba).

Edited by 1e4e6 on 29 May 2014 at 9:19pm

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tastyonions
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 Message 30 of 176
29 May 2014 at 9:27pm | IP Logged 
Sometimes I feel like commending the countries that still show a strong resistance to English, but at the same time it would feel a bit perverse for me to do so, since that resistance may not be in their best economic interest. But it is indeed kind of goofy that English should emerge as a universal "European" language when it is spoken natively by just one country -- and not the most populated or economically powerful one, at that.

Edited by tastyonions on 29 May 2014 at 9:27pm

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1e4e6
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 Message 31 of 176
29 May 2014 at 9:45pm | IP Logged 
I shall add that I fail to understand what the obsession with Anglophone films and
television is. The last time that I had went to a cinema and watched Anglophone movies
was in 1997, when I saw both Titanic and some Mr Bean film (the one wherein he had
diarrhoea). I cannot stand any Anglophone movies thereafter, nor television. The only
exception is cricket, which basically is only broadcast in English.

tastyonions wrote:
Sometimes I feel like commending the countries that still show a
strong resistance to English, but at the same time it would feel a bit perverse for me to
do so, since that resistance may not be in their best economic interest.


Dignity and principle are worth more than profit.
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Gemuse
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Studies: German

 
 Message 32 of 176
29 May 2014 at 9:47pm | IP Logged 
So much English hate by native English speakers!

tastyonions wrote:
But it is indeed kind of goofy that English should emerge as a
universal "European" language when it is spoken natively by just one country -- and not
the most populated or economically powerful one, at that.


The reason for the rise of English is not UK, but USA.
If USA was French speaking, French would have been dominant around the world.

The phenomenon of a universal language getting that status due to other communities is
not unusual. Hindi is often a language medium between communities none of which speak
it in India.


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