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Which world language? | ||
Tags: Lingua franca | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6016 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 33 of 38 25 October 2010 at 7:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I had a blog post queued up to go out in a few weeks' time on this topic, but seeing as this thread's going just now, I decided to publish and be damned, as they say.
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| stout Senior Member Ireland Joined 5376 days ago 108 posts - 140 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 34 of 38 27 October 2010 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Obviously English is the lingua franca of the world...However Spanish is very much a
lingua franca in the U.S,Central and South America...In many parts of Africa and parts of the Middle East...French is very useful to know... The three main lingua francas of this world... 1.English. 2.Spanish. 3.French. Edited by stout on 27 October 2010 at 3:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nebojats Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5201 days ago 89 posts - 120 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Thai Studies: French, Arabic (Written), Mandarin, Italian | Message 35 of 38 01 November 2010 at 2:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Is Spanish really a lingua franca? I thought that a lingua franca was a language used by non-native speakers to communicate with each other. Does Spanish really meet that qualification?
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| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6587 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 36 of 38 01 November 2010 at 2:41am | IP Logged | ||
I'm guessing native speakers of the original languages of South America maybe? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5579 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English* | Message 37 of 38 01 November 2010 at 7:58am | IP Logged | ||
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This is going back a few pages of discussion, but I think a lot of people here have undervalued Chinese as a lingua franca. Yes, it is only an official language in a small handful of countries, and except for PRC/ROC they are quite small countries at that. However, it is much more widely used as a language of commerce in all of Asia, and has native speakers spread throughout the globe.
My wife, who is Chinese, has had no trouble traveling through Europe using Mandarin (in Europe!). When traveling through Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, ...) we more frequently spoke Mandarin than English, except perhaps in Japan. In Asia this is because of history, tradition, and the current economic situation. But also, unlike many other immigrant communities the Chinese often stick together and generally don't lose their language even after many generations, and also develop ties with neighboring Chinese communities. In my hometown, there is a thriving hidden Chinese economy patronized by many but driven by Chinese businessmen that know no English and have no historical local ties--but have been able to build and expand their business through this social network of Chinese-speaking communities. My experience (as a white guy) is that the barrier of entry to this community is speaking Chinese, not being Chinese. A language is a 'lingua franca' when it is or can be the medium of communication between two geographically dispersed parties that otherwise share very little in common. English and Mandarin certainly fit that definition. I won't comment on the rest. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6039 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 38 of 38 01 November 2010 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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France Culture recently had an emission about the status of French as global language. They said the number of speakers and learners is declining in Europe and Canada. As an example they mentioned the UK dropping compulsory French at school; apparently more students opt for Mandarin*. Fortunately Africa more than compensates for that decline. If I remember correctly they said that by 2050 most French speakers will be concentrated on the "black continent". So there is a good trend for French, it's just that it won't be so Eruo-centric in the future.
My personal rating: 1. English 2. Spanish** 3. Mandarin and French, in different areas ( Asia and Europe-Africa ) --- * probably a bad idea, having in mind the results with French... ^_^' ** I'm not sure why everybody is putting it in 2nd place. I guess the rise of Latin America and immigration to the USA are two good reasons; still, is this enough to make Spanish a competitor to English? Edited by Sennin on 01 November 2010 at 9:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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