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"Language of the Future" | ||
Tags: Lingua franca | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Rykketid Diglot Groupie Italy Joined 4836 days ago 88 posts - 146 votes  Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: French | Message 33 of 47 15 August 2012 at 6:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think that this debate is getting so boring, I hope that the next lingua franca will be
the weirdest and less spoken language on the Globe, so that all the speakers of the "major" languages will be disappointed with that. I'd pay to see that day come true. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Longinus Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4880 days ago 26 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Polish, Macedonian | Message 34 of 47 15 August 2012 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is an excellent point. I was recently in Warsaw, and was very surprised to hear a number of couples on the street, both speaking in accented, non-native English to each other. English - the language of love! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| aodhanc Diglot Groupie Iceland Joined 6263 days ago 92 posts - 130 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish | Message 35 of 47 16 August 2012 at 9:20am | IP Logged | |||||
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Although unlikely to displace English, I think the closely-related Spanish-Portuguese
language group will become very important in the future. Between them, they cover a significant geographical area in the world.... North America (Mexico), Central and South America, Europe (Iberian peninsula) and various African countries, where the potential for growth is greatest. The two languages are more similar than many Chinese or Arabic dialects. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5059 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 36 of 47 16 August 2012 at 11:43am | IP Logged | |||||
It all doesn't matter. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4625 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 37 of 47 16 August 2012 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It's true that Latin was once a European lingua franca and that this state of affairs persisted for centuries after the fall of the Roman empire but the language was the preserve of academic people, not the masses. Likewise, French had considerable clout as a cross-border political language in the 19th and early part of the 20th century, but never really broke out beyond the realms of bureaucracy.
English has become a truly worldwide international language and has has filtered down to ordinary citizens in many lands. I wouldn't go as far to say that you can go anywhere in the world and live your life through English (I doubt if that would work in Peru) but it has become the language of choice for young people to learn and I think its presence can only get stronger. English-speaking countries may well fade in the global market economies but the language will be difficult to dislodge. Even if business deals are increasingly concluded in Chinese, Russian or any other major language, it would take a long time for the general public to embrace a potential successor to English. Edited by beano on 16 August 2012 at 2:36pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| onurdolar Diglot Groupie TurkeyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4655 days ago 98 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Turkish*, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 38 of 47 16 August 2012 at 3:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
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English as common language of "masses" of the world can be easily replaced because the illusion of everyone knowing English disappears as soon as you leave well protected borders of Anglo-Saxon countries and Northern Europe.
In rest of the world you will find everyone is able to say "Helloooo" and "cool story bro" but as soon as you ask a question which requires usage of anything else then memorized popular phrases the illusion collapses. I strongly disagree the comment on English having common language of world status and french/latin not. English is lingua franca of our time as much as french and latin was before not more. Almost every country/culture outside Anglo-Saxon world+Scandinavia has their own pop culture based on their own language, people know American singers and actors too but it doesn't mean they don't have their own as well it just means Americans&British don't know that. We have noticed this attitude in closing ceremony of Olympic games where British hosts built the entire ceremony on British music on the assumption that everyone in world understands English. A lot of people i know got bored quickly and switched to something else because listening to peace messages in a language you don't understand for hours is "boring". Where as Chinese 4 years earlier gave their message in a more visual way and understood better. English language having effect on development of culture around the world depends on intellectuals and elites of world understanding English and passing the knowledge to their people's just as french and latin did. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7159 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 39 of 47 16 August 2012 at 4:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
Here's a thought: why doesn't someone resurrect a language that's recently gone extinct? There's more likely to be documentation including descriptive grammars and short word lists in some university's vault or eccentric professor's office somewhere. I would nominate Kamas. It's a Uralic language that's been extinct since 1989 but with quite a bit noted down including tape recordings from the 1960s when linguists realized that it comprised then 2 elderly native speakers. I read somewhere that when it was down to the last native speaker, she apparently used Kamas only when she prayed. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4641 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 40 of 47 16 August 2012 at 4:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree that Spanish and Portuguese have excellent potential. However, regarding Chinese, I believe that this discussion was more specifically referring to Mandarin, not the Chinese "macrolanguage" of Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and so on. From my understanding, most Mandarin dialects are mutually intelligible (someone with experience correct me if I'm wrong). As for Arabic, most dialects are mutually intelligible, contrary to popular belief. If you want to compare the dialects to Spanish and Portuguese, the only truly logical example would be when comparing the Mashriqi dialects (Egyptian, Levantine, Iraqi, Peninsular, Sudanese) to the Maghrebi dialects (Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian) - then it is when the dialects have as much in common with Spanish and Portuguese, not less (granted, in some areas, the Mashriqi and Maghrebi dialects have far more in common than Spanish and Portuguese, and in others, the differences may be slightly greater). Basically, don't underestimate the mutual intelligibility of the Arabic dialects. Still, I don't think the Arab world will see as much growth as quickly as the Hispanophone and Lusophone worlds will. @onurdolar: You bring up an excellent point. There are still many places in the world where English has not had much of a presence, be it minimal or even none at all. In my visits to Paraguay and several other Latin American countries, there are several areas - sometimes even in large cities, where English doesn't stand a chance versus Spanish when it comes to the domestic and even business sectors (unless it's international business with a non-Spanish-speaking country). It's similar in several Arab countries. Still, compared to other languages, it undoubtedly has the most extensive reach right now. It may be more "breadth" rather than "depth", but it still goes far. Edited by Jappy58 on 16 August 2012 at 4:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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