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Is Chinese going to be the lingua franca? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Raчraч Ŋuɲa Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5816 days ago 154 posts - 233 votes  Speaks: Bikol languages*, Tagalog, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, Russian, Japanese | Message 41 of 249 18 October 2009 at 9:02am | IP Logged | ||
Do you know that Zen Buddhism originated from China? Its the most popular form of Buddhism in the West. A lot of seminal works on Zen are in Chinese. On a less general level, the board game 'go' is also from China and is being learned in the West. The writings of Sun Zi, Lao Zi, and Chuang Zi are being studied as well. Edited by Raчraч Ŋuɲa on 18 October 2009 at 9:11am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6270 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 42 of 249 19 October 2009 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't think Chinese will become a lingua franca. I do wonder whether English might change, a simplified version of it becoming the world lingua franca, perhaps with a more logical spelling system than the present form of English. There is a historical precedent, which is the way Greek in Koine form became a widespread second language, but in a simplified form compared to Classical Greek, probably because it was an L2 for lots of people who preferred to use a reduced vocabulary and inflections. Edited by William Camden on 19 October 2009 at 8:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| minus273 Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5763 days ago 288 posts - 346 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Ancient Greek, Tibetan | Message 43 of 249 19 October 2009 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | ||
They are in Zen Chinese, not modern Chinese. Besides, they're usually pronounced à la japonaise anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Matteo Diglot Groupie Brazil Joined 5578 days ago 88 posts - 85 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: ItalianB1, German | Message 44 of 249 19 October 2009 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Never.. chinese is too hard to become lingua franca.
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| Rikyu-san Diglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 5526 days ago 213 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Danish*, English Studies: German, French | Message 45 of 249 19 October 2009 at 9:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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From http://www.omniglot.com/blog/
Chinese in Liberia October 13th, 2009 China is apparently one of the largest overseas investors in Liberia and there are numerous Chinese people working there. As a result some Liberians have started learning Chinese and some of them are keen to visit China if they get the chance. Lessons are taking place in the Samuel Doe Stadium in Monrovia, and in the Confucius Institute, which opened in the University of Liberia in December 2008. If the locals learn to read Chinese as well they will be able to understand the Chinese versions of the numerous agreements that are signed. There is even a Chinese language radio station there for the Chinese migrants and expats. There are more than 20 Chinese language schools in Africa at the moment, according to this report [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/08/ap/africa/main5371631.shtml]. Rikyu-san's comment: I find that extremely interesting. So while we debate whether or not Mandarin becomes the new lingua franca, things are happening in Africa. Edited by Rikyu-san on 19 October 2009 at 9:50pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Envinyatar Diglot Senior Member Guatemala Joined 5534 days ago 147 posts - 240 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 46 of 249 19 October 2009 at 11:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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Something similar happened here in Guatemala: There was a big Chinese boom because Taiwan has been promoting Mandarin in Latin America, people heard about China becoming "the new superpower" and our creole anti-American leftists urging everybody to learn "the language of the 21th century" and "stop learning the language of the empire". Lots of Chinese schools opened, some journalists said Chinese was the new English! But it only lasted some months, Chinese schools are now empty, although those leftists still insist that everybody should learn Chinese, of course.
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| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6285 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 47 of 249 20 October 2009 at 1:30am | IP Logged | ||
That depends on what sector of the market you are looking at. Although, most educated Indians can speak English. Knowing Hindi will give you a considerable edge in developing rapport on the business front. Caucasians are sometimes taken with suspicion due to historical reasons. Speaking Hindi will demonstrate a level of personal open-mindedness and respect that can take you very far in business in India. In addition, many are not aware of Hindi's considerable influence in the Middle East. You can get far in Dubai (and the U.A.E.) speaking Hindi/Urdu than speaking Arabic (or even English in some cases!). Many Arabic and Persian speakers in the Middle East watch Hindi films and TV, because they tend to be the only "liberal" forms of entertainment in that part of the world - the native programming being restricted to many 'decency' and Islamic laws (Sharia). Many Afghani's can understand Hindi fluently. So I would not discount Hindi's slow but eventual spread in the upcoming years. I agree that I do not expect it to over-take English ever because English has transcended very huge boundaries - culture, religion and nationality/ethnicity. English has a secular feel to it. It doesn't feel connected to any religion or culture (although it does). Indian culture is slowly changing and many are proud of their own native language (Hindi). Often Indians may look down on other Indians that *only* speak English and can not speak their "mother tongue" fluently. Times are changing, previously if all you had spoken was English you would be considered 'unique/cool/intelligent' now if you can't speak both, you're considered 'washed'/'arrogant'/'ignorant.' Times have changed and it's not just about English anymore. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Olympia Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5979 days ago 195 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Old English, French | Message 48 of 249 20 October 2009 at 4:01am | IP Logged | ||
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It's been said over and over, but I'll say it again. Chinese is way too complex to be a lingua franca outside of Asia.
English has fairly simple phonology, morphology, syntax, and grammar, and many languages share common vocabulary roots with English. Not to mention the amount of media exports like TV shows, movies, and music that are made in English-speaking countries that are broadcast around the world. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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