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English protects languages | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Esperanto | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Socrates Groupie United Kingdom Joined 7065 days ago 40 posts - 40 votes | Message 1 of 46 10 August 2005 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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With the increased domination of English around the globe I can't help but think of the positive effect this can have on minority languages.
In places such as India and Nigeria without English the dominant language of the ruling class would be imposed on the minorities eroding that languages use. English a 'neutral' language ensures the minority population can keep their language and communicate across the nation and across borders. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| randy310 Senior Member United States Joined 7069 days ago 117 posts - 117 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 46 11 August 2005 at 12:43am | IP Logged | ||
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You are quite right Socrates. I believe in time the EU will follow those examples by declaring English as the offical language of the entire continent while allowing the minority languages such as French, German, Greek, Albanian etc to continue to exist on the fringes.
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| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7156 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 3 of 46 11 August 2005 at 2:00am | IP Logged | ||
I really hope it will never happen. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Shusaku Senior Member United States Joined 7104 days ago 145 posts - 157 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese | Message 4 of 46 11 August 2005 at 7:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm interested to see what will happen in China in a generation or two from now. Even though Mandarin was declared the official dialect, most people I've spoken to much prefer their local flavor of Chinese. The younger generation is now learning English and it seems to be pretty popular. I wonder if English, being more neutral, will ultimately replace Mandarin as the common language for communication?
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| czech Senior Member United States Joined 7198 days ago 395 posts - 378 votes Studies: English* | Message 5 of 46 11 August 2005 at 8:31am | IP Logged | ||
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I hope this never happens.
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| Giordano Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7178 days ago 213 posts - 218 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Cantonese, Greek | Message 6 of 46 11 August 2005 at 8:50am | IP Logged | ||
This is ridiculous. English is the language of the UK, a member of the EU. To favour English would be to favour the United Kingdom. Why would Europe choose English and not French or Esperanto? Both are closer to the widely-spoken Romance Languages, and French was and continues to be the lingua franca of diplomacy. Esperanto favours no particular Romance Language, making it an even more neutral choice. Admittedly, with every round of EU expansion, translation costs skyrocket. However, the solution may in fact be to select one well-known language from each group to act as a main language, allowing the EU to function is just a few languages rather than twenty or so. Even such a decision would be highly controversial. Would the Romance representative be French for its historical association with diplomacy, Spanish for its ease of learning, etc... Or would they choose Esperanto? All are unlikely. If people were so willing to give up their culture, heritage, and language, then the EU would not have over 20 official languages. If people were so willing to give up their culture, heritage, and language, then everyone in Quebec would be speaking English, no one would be worried about Spanish becoming the United States' official language, and no one would be speaking Cantonese. Socrates, while you are right in a way, you should also consider that English is the language of the "Ruling Class". First British and later American success have made English-speaking countries and English itself very important. For example, English is the language of 3 of the G7 nations. However, it is true that the remoteness of "English" (not only language but also culture) to many people makes it unlikely that they will adopt English as a first language, as they might Hindi or Mandarin. At the same time, however, I am not even sure how likely people would be to adopt these languages. There is a recent trend of minority languages gaining respect, as Catalan, Basque, etc.. and some Italian Languages. Not to mention the huge revival of Irish Gaelic (does anyone know if it's mandatory in schools?) By the way, I was reading about a proposal to write all EU patents in Lobjan (?), an artificial language which is supremely logical and machine-parsable. Has anyone heard about this? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Socrates Groupie United Kingdom Joined 7065 days ago 40 posts - 40 votes | Message 7 of 46 11 August 2005 at 9:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Artificial languages are a nice idea in theory, however they will never supplant real languages like English. For they have no literature, art or poetry that stems from the heart and that is after all what makes us human.
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| vincenthychow Tetraglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 7108 days ago 136 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English, GermanB1, Japanese Studies: French | Message 8 of 46 11 August 2005 at 9:21am | IP Logged | ||
I don't think it will happen. Although we speak in a different way, we write the same. Moreover, although we prefer our own dialects, we fully understand that the national position of Madarin is unreplacable. Learning English is a step towards the world and it is nothing concerning communicating in English between us. Eventhough here in Hong Kong, where English is one of the official languages, daily communication in English is only preserved for someone who speak neither Cantonese nor Mandarin. Same thing is just happening in other countries. There are dialects of French even in France, but it doesn't mean that French will be replaced by any other languages. Dialects also exists in Japanese in a variety way. "Standard" Japanese is that spoken in Tokyo. The dialects in some regions are quite imcomprehensable for thoes living in Tokyo. However, they still respect the role of "Standard" Japanese. They learn it, use it, and speak it. Yet, when talking with people in the same region, they are also using dialects. Of course, dialects in Chinese is far more complicated than in Japanese, but in no sense will it cause Madarin to be replaced by any other languages. Edited by vincenthychow on 11 August 2005 at 9:23am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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