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"Language of the Future" | ||
Tags: Lingua franca | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| cmmah Diglot Groupie Ireland Joined 4531 days ago 52 posts - 110 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Irish | Message 1 of 47 12 August 2012 at 11:50pm | IP Logged |
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At the moment, a person can go to anywhere in the world and get by using English. English is undoubtedly the
'world's language' or 'lingua franca'. The reasons for this are clear. English is widely spoken, there is only one inhabited continent without a country that has English as an official language. One anglophone world superpower (Britain) was succeeded by another (USA). A lot of people would tell you that English's status as a lingua franca is threatened by Mandarin, and that Mandarin (or sometimes Spanish) is the 'language of the future'. What do you think? Does English's lingua france status face any short-term threat? What really will be 'the language of the future'? After all, Spanish and Mandarin, although they have more native speakers, are not as widely (geographically) spoken. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| blackbrich Newbie United States Joined 5229 days ago 13 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 2 of 47 13 August 2012 at 12:05am | IP Logged |
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Probably not, unless all of a sudden top English speaking countries lose their economic power and ability to export culture in the form of movies, books, other media.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Kartof Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5066 days ago 391 posts - 550 votes Speaks: English*, Bulgarian*, Spanish Studies: Danish | Message 3 of 47 13 August 2012 at 12:26am | IP Logged |
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What's the inhabited continent that doesn't have a country that speaks English officially or predominantly?
North America - USA, Canada, Belize, several island countries South America - Guyana Europe - UK, Ireland Africa - South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and a number of other former British colonies Asia - Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Philippines Australia/Oceania - Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, many of the island countries Antarctica isn't inhabited 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4949 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 47 13 August 2012 at 1:42am | IP Logged |
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Well, the vast majority of South Americans do not consider Guyana to be part of South America (or Suriname), but that is a more "sensitive" matter.
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| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4527 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 5 of 47 13 August 2012 at 2:20am | IP Logged |
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Right now China's economy is the second largest in the world, as it just surpassed that of Japan's about a month ago. Who knows what the future will hold?
I however don't think it'll happen anytime soon... But when China overtakes America's economy (which it will in time, some say as soon as 15-20 years), Mandarin might become an important business language. I doubt it'll become a lingua franca like English though... At least not until China's influence on the world extends just beyond it's economic power, which might never really happen. Edited by ZombieKing on 13 August 2012 at 2:21am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| NickJS Senior Member United Kingdom flickr.com/photos/sg Joined 4959 days ago 264 posts - 334 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 6 of 47 13 August 2012 at 2:30am | IP Logged |
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I think it will be Latin ;). But on a more serious note it probably will be Mandarin -
regardless of economy. Who knows, time will tell. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4636 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 7 of 47 13 August 2012 at 2:47am | IP Logged |
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Even if China becomes a superpower, that doesn't mean that Mandarin will be the next lingua franca. Do you really think China would expect westerners to reach a high enough level of Mandarin to conduct business? Hell no. That could take a long time.
My prediction is that even if China surpasses the USA and becomes the next superpower in our lifetime, I think English, French, and Spanish will still have the same status and people will probably take Mandarin "more seriously", but I just can't see Mandarin ever becoming the world language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4868 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 8 of 47 13 August 2012 at 3:18am | IP Logged |
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I think Korean entertainment will slowly infiltrate all countries and its influence will be so immense that it will establish Korean as the next lingua franca. :D
4 persons have voted this message useful |
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