English as the universal language (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

English as the universal language
Tags: Language Supremacist \| Lingua franca \| Language Importance \| Language Politics \| English
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

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cordelia0507
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5658 days ago
1473 posts - 2176 votes

Speaks: Swedish*
Studies: German, Russian

Message 129 of 206

14 November 2009 at 11:39pm | IP Logged

Gusutafu wrote:

I must ask you again, why do you think that English will succeed where a thousand years of Latin, German and French failed? Swedish is still alive and well!

They didn't have Hollywood, record labels pushing music in Latin with massive campaigns, 24-hour TV, 50 different cable channels, hundreds of millions of websites, an army with 200,000 soldiers stationed across Europe, nuclear weapons, 1000s of multinational corporations relentlessly promoting their lifestyle as the ideal across the globe...

Look what we did to the Sami language - and it was not done with any bad intentions...
The number of spoken languages in Europe has been reducing fast for the last several hundred years... The UK had several languages which that are now "dead", likewise France... ETC! Don't imagine that Swedish couldn't be next - I bet the imminent death of their language would once have been just as ludicrous to the native speakers of Frisian, Sorbian etc as it is to you right now...

But anyway, this was about a culturally neutral Lingua Franca in the EU, not about the future of the Swedish language.

Edited by cordelia0507 on 15 November 2009 at 12:37am
2 persons have voted this message useful

kyknos
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5316 days ago
103 posts - 140 votes

Speaks: Slovak, Czech*, English
Studies: German, Spanish

Message 130 of 206

15 November 2009 at 12:43am | IP Logged

cordelia0507 wrote:

Obviously the native English speakers are biased to some degree...
But others.. Seriously ASK YOURSELF: Why do I love English?

I do love English because:

(in random order)

I love English because it is such a great, almost universal, communication tool. No other language compares.
I love English because the first time I heard "I love you" from a girl, it was in English.
I love English because it is super easy to learn. I was able to learn it using an English novel and an old dictionary. No textbooks, no classes. English is the only language I was able to learn this way. With any other, I failed miserably.
I love English because the immense culture behind it. Majority of my favourite literature, music etc is in English. From Edgar Alan Poe to the Swans, it is deep in my heart.
For me, it is a symbol of Freedom and Hope. I have spent my childhood in a grim, unhappy, unfree, and occupied country and Russian was the language of the oppressors. English was the oppressed language of dreams and hopes for better days to come. Now I live in the better days but I haven't forgotten my own history.
I love English because I had been force-fed with Russian while English had the magic taste of forbidden fruits.
I love English because it is beautiful.

6 persons have voted this message useful

mick33
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5744 days ago
1335 posts - 1632 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Finnish
Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish

Message 131 of 206

15 November 2009 at 1:39am | IP Logged

cordelia0507 wrote:

Look what we did to the Sami language - and it was not done with any bad intentions...
The number of spoken languages in Europe has been reducing fast for the last several hundred years... The UK had several languages which that are now "dead", likewise France... ETC! Don't imagine that Swedish couldn't be next - I bet the imminent death of their language would once have been just as ludicrous to the native speakers of Frisian, Sorbian etc as it is to you right now...

I know I may be straying a little bit off topic but part of the problem with really small native languages could be that many people who speak them just give up and say that it's better to learn the dominant language. I don't agree with this, but it happened and such thinking contributed to the near death of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and for a long time meant that Hebrew only existed in written form. Another thing to consider is what is happening in South Africa and Namibia. Yes, English does dominate in formal settings but after official business is done many people speak their own language in normal conversation.

I wonder if perhaps what will eventually happen is that there won't be one universal lingua franca, but rather many regional lingua francas that would be creoles such as Sranan Tongo, the default conversational language of Suriname that is often used interchangeably with Dutch.

Edited by mick33 on 15 November 2009 at 1:40am
1 person has voted this message useful

Paskwc
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5497 days ago
450 posts - 624 votes

Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English
Studies: Persian, Spanish

Message 132 of 206

15 November 2009 at 1:40am | IP Logged

If your youth are not interested in your culture, it is not your place to tell them
they have some obligation to uphold and preserve the customs and tastes of their
ancestors. Can you promote your own culture? Sure, but in the end the two (or however
many) cultures must be able to freely compete with each other for everyone's attention.

A relevant piece from the Toronto Star:

LINK:
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/725090--say-arri vederci-to-the-basimento

Edit: I've tried multiple times to make a hotlink but it won't work. Instead please
delete the space between "arri" and "vederci" in "arrivederci". Thanks

Edited by Paskwc on 15 November 2009 at 1:54am
2 persons have voted this message useful

Chung
Diglot
Senior Member
Joined 6976 days ago
4228 posts - 8259 votes

20 sounds
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish

Message 133 of 206

15 November 2009 at 1:48am | IP Logged

Hey Paskwc, that link doesn't work.
1 person has voted this message useful

Paskwc
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5497 days ago
450 posts - 624 votes

Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English
Studies: Persian, Spanish

Message 134 of 206

15 November 2009 at 1:55am | IP Logged

Chung wrote:

Hey Paskwc, that link doesn't work.

I try my hardest but computers just hate me =(.
1 person has voted this message useful

jeff_lindqvist
Diglot
Moderator
SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6729 days ago
4250 posts - 5710 votes

Speaks: Swedish*, English
Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French
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Message 135 of 206

15 November 2009 at 1:57am | IP Logged

How about now?
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/725090--say-arri vederci-to-the-basimento
1 person has voted this message useful

Paskwc
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5497 days ago
450 posts - 624 votes

Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English
Studies: Persian, Spanish

Message 136 of 206

15 November 2009 at 2:09am | IP Logged

jeff_lindqvist wrote:

How about now?
basimento"> http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/725090--say-arri vederci-to-the-
basimento

Thank you.

P.S.

I was going to thank you in a PM (so as to limit my spillage of spam) but it wouldn't
work. It says "jeff_lindqvist has exceeded the maximum number of Private Messages they
are allowed to receive."

Sorry for going off topic, I just thought you would like to know.

1 person has voted this message useful

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