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The dark side of language dominance | ||
Tags: Language Map/Atlas | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4279 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 49 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:04am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I do not know the specific situation of each colony, but I know that my grandparents,
when in primary and secondary school, i.e. 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, were taught in nothing else but English, knew the geography of the UK better than their own colony, sang "God Save the King" every morning before lessons, spoke English at home and nothing else, and had British passports (the old, blue ones with a hard cover). This is undoubtedly due to the British Empire spanning every continent, covering one third of the land mass of the Earth, and one-fourth if one includes oceans. As much as I like the UK, I do not like this English language influence. My grandmother used to travel every so often to Dutch Guiana (Suriname), the Dutch having installed in various continents as well. But it would have been so much better if the Dutch offset English influence with language. I am unsure why they did not. French Guiana still exists, and France seem to not be as willing to incorporate English to that extent, so perhaps the future lies in Spain, Portugal, Latin America, France, and the French Empire countries. Francophone and Hispanophone countries could create a common union, cultural and/or economic to offset English. Surely there are other interesting televisio programmes in other languages? I, as a native Anglophone, cannot name a list of even three Anglophone television programmes that I know, since I watch none, and never really have besides Sky Sports cricket and football, perhaps some nature documentary, and the documentary It's Better Up North. How else do Spain, Portugal, Latin America, France, and Québec have so many television series then? Some television series from RTVE from Spain. As far as I know, these are more popular than anything from the Anglophone media. Edited by 1e4e6 on 30 May 2014 at 12:17am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4654 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 50 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
As odd as it might sound given the reputation France has for cultural and linguistic pride, I have in fact experienced this kind of thing with some French learners of English. :-) I'm not saying this is the norm, of course. But it does exist. Edited by tastyonions on 30 May 2014 at 12:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4696 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 51 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:08am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Why would it matter? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Darklight1216 Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5089 days ago 411 posts - 639 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German | Message 52 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:18am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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That lack of English skills in European countries has been mentioned a couple of times.
Ironically, I recently spoke to member of my church who travelled to Europe for 6 or 7 weeks; her exact words were "Everyone speaks Engish there. Absolutely everyone." (She did expound upon that by saying it was mostly younger people, but still...) I wish I had the money to find out what the truth is for myself. In case anyone wants to know, the countries visited were (among others which I don't remember) Denmark, France, either German or Austria, Ireland. And the trip happened 17 year ago, I believe.
I always feel so sorry for people who tell me that their parents speak a language and never bothered to teach them.
Can you please tell me where you found that information? I've been trying to find statistics on that sort of thing for the longest time.
To me it seems like relatively few native English speakers seem to be (seriously) interested in learning any foreign languages, but here in the US at least, German resources are very easy to find which suggests that there is a fair amount of demand for them. Edited by Darklight1216 on 30 May 2014 at 12:25am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4071 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 53 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:21am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Not in India. Our community spoke L1 at home. L2 outside. And L2 at school. With English (L3) in the english class So, not only was the British influence not strong enough to kill one language, it wasnt even strong enough to kill the second minority language. And still English flourishes in India. Edited by Gemuse on 30 May 2014 at 12:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4279 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 54 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:25am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I could say the same thing, and that could be the reason why I was stuck with English and am a native Anglophone instead of bilingual or trilingual from childhood... But despite not being a native Hispanophone, I would definitely teach them that instead. The reason obviously is that English an exception, consider I. I would wish to emigrate someday to a non-Anglophone country so that they grow up knowing that English is not like some god-like language that is worth more than others. I would rather teach them Spanish, French, Dutch, and Danish all simultaneously than just English. Edited by 1e4e6 on 30 May 2014 at 12:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4878 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 55 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:28am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thanks, I think I just found my next Super Challenge book! If nothing else, I love the cover. I'm also struggling to understand the English language hate in this thread. Would it be any different, in the end, if the common language were Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, or anything else? You'd have the same impacts on smaller languages, and the same (more or less) number of people having to learn a second language.  Edited by kanewai on 30 May 2014 at 12:36am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4071 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 56 of 176 30 May 2014 at 12:31am | IP Logged | ||||||||
How dare your parents raise you to be a native in the world's dominant language, with the sexiest accents of the existing English accents. They should be put in jail for the suffering endured by you as a result of their choice. Edited by Gemuse on 30 May 2014 at 12:34am 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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