| Original Message |
Julian (no login)
Posted Jul 13, 2000 1:12 AM
Controversial?
Like it or not, it is an inevitability that the English language will be the Lingua Franca (forgive the pun) of the future. Consider:
- the six billionth person was born in the last year of the last century (just 13 years after the 5 billionth person). This was at a time when one country represented 25% of world population, but which in reality has several 10's of real languages represented in the western world simply as "dialects". Nonetheless this person was born into a world in which these 25% were disproportionately represented in terms of language - in simple terms, the rest of the world didn't speak their language
- in the rest of the world, the "developed world" accounts for the majority of economic activity, the principal language of which is English
- continuing immigration from the developing world to the "first world" implies at least an understanding of a common language - usually English
- maybe an aside, but most commercial aviation ground to air conversations are conducted in English. International air travel will be a major force in future development as tourism continues to define the economic well-being of developing countries.
Thus we have to accept that English will be the major language of the future. Perhaps an ironic parallel today is that the British political establishment is still resisting the encroachment of the "Euro" on British life and culture. We are giving up our currency as we are continuing to impose our language on the rest of the world.
Are we going to end up in a "Star Trek" existence, in which all peoples of the earth speak English, and the rest of the inhabitants of the universe speak their own planetary languages? Probably.
Is this a good thing? Of course it is. If Europeans (especially British) can accept derogation of sovereignty of their currency to a centralised ideal for the sake of efficiency, then why not their language? If it makes economic sense to give away your currency, why not your language?
In the end, it comes down to economics. If you want play on the world stage, speak English. If not, lose. Your choice.
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