Leezyjet From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2001, 4041 posts, RR: 55 Posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 1147 times:
Thought I'd actually start this one I'd mentioned on the thread about 'UK driving on right'.
When will the rest of the world adopt English as their first language ?
This would make it much easier for everyone to communicate and would also save the Chinese and Japanese alot of time whilst writing as they wouldn't have to do all those intricate letters.
"She Rolls, 45 knots, 90, 135, nose comes up to 20 degrees, she's airborne - She flies, Concorde Flies"
D-AIGW From Hong Kong, joined Jul 2001, 261 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 1124 times:
As a native Chinese, I don't think learning those characters is a waste of time. It doesn't take less time for me to get used to the English alphabet and grammatical system. However, I'm quite glad that I have good command of both.
I don't think the rest of the world would adopt English as their first language. It may become one of their official languages aside from their original native language, but come on the cultures have to be preserved. It's just impossible for everybody to get assimilated - undeniably though, English is the most understood language over the globe.
Indianguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 1046 times:
Lets nott get into this first language nonsense. English is agreat way to break communication barriers, but what is the point of making it the *first language*? This would only serve the purpose of fanatics who would consider this as *Western Imperialism* and call for a ban on English. So this would have the opposite effect wouldnt it?
KRIC777 From United States of America, joined Jun 2002, 242 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 1031 times:
When will the rest of the world adopt English as their first language ?
Whew....before I looked at the profile, I was just sure this guy was American based on that comment. What a relief!
I was ready for an anti-US flamefest.
How boring (but admittedly convenient) would the world be if everyone spoke the same language...no matter what it was?
Jessman From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 1506 posts, RR: 8 Reply 8, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 1031 times:
Vraiment? Je pense que tout le monde parlerait français.
Or whatever.
Saintsman From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2002, 2065 posts, RR: 2 Reply 9, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 1008 times:
We don't even speak the same language in England! The regional variations are amazing and if you listen to someone from the North East and compare them to the South West you wouldn't think that that there's only 400 miles between them. Different worlds more like.
QANTASforever From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 1002 times:
French is the official langauge of the United Nations and is spoken just about as widely as English. To me, French is the way to go. Egalitarially speaking lol.
AOMlover From France, joined Jul 2001, 1297 posts, RR: 12 Reply 11, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 999 times:
Hey, QANTASforever, it would be cool ! lol
Really, I find English a very beautiful language and I love it as an international language. But I hope English will never the first language of all the countries in the world.
Because it would be boring, and everyone would lose a part of his culture.
There are so many languages in the world, they're all beautiful.
First, I love French, I love to speak, to talk in French, I love French words, names, as I'm sure everyone loves his native language. Language is really a part of us...
For 4 years I'm learning Italian. I love this language too, so beautiful ! It would be a shame if Italians had to speak only English...they wouldn't be so Italian any more. To me, language is a part of nationality.
As my mother is a Chinese teacher, I know how beautiful the chinese language is. Chinese symbol are wonderful, and this language is sooooooooooooooooo old !
It's not only about the culture. It would be hard to persuade people to speak a unique language...
Only one language ! That would be terrific !
Shawn Patrick From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 2588 posts, RR: 18 Reply 12, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 947 times:
Screw English, French is great. I mean c'mon, it's the language of love and they don't call it *French* kissing for nothing. You'll get tons of chicks if you can speak French.
C'est pourquoi j'étudie le français... et parce que je l'aime
Cba From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 4530 posts, RR: 3 Reply 13, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 943 times:
LH423 From Canada, joined Jul 1999, 6501 posts, RR: 55 Reply 14, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 914 times:
Oui, je suis d'accord avec vous, et je pense aussi que le français devrait devenir une vraie force dans le monde linguistique. Cette langue est très belle, et après avoir pris beaucoup d'années de français à l'école, j'ai fait une décision que je veux parler couramment français, et je souhaite que tous le monde aient ce cadeau de la compréhension de cette langue interessante que j'ai reçu.
LH423
Je sais que nos mots devrait en anglais, mais j'ai pensé que d'être en français, il ferait le peuple réalise la beauté et la fluidité de la langue française.
I know that our posts are supposed to be in English, but I thought that putting it in French would make people realize the beauty and flow of the French language.
« On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux » Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
DPrush From United States of America, joined May 2002, 97 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 905 times:
Franzuskiy, eto yazik tex kto bistro zdautsya...i ploxo paxnut...i kushaut lyagooshek...Ya ne dymau shto ves mir zaxochet govorit' na etom yazike...
With that said, I am glad to be in command of at least three languages that might get me out of trouble and help me order some killer grub in places far away from the States
Hurricane From United States of America, joined Feb 2002, 1440 posts, RR: 1 Reply 16, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 898 times:
Screw English, French is great. I mean c'mon, it's the language of love and they don't call it *French* kissing for nothing. You'll get tons of chicks if you can speak French.
What? A German Kiss doesn't sound appealing?O come on......
Language is a part of culture. Culture is a part of language. The Chinese would not be so Chinese if they didn't speak Chinese. The Portuguese would not be so Portuguese if they didn't speak Portuguese. So on & so forth.
And I like being able to ask for two beers in Spanish (the only Spanish I know) Dos cervezas por favor
As those corny public service commercials say on NBC, "How boring would it be if everybody were the same? Celebrate your differences." *Cue the jingle*
PHX-LJU From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 17, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 887 times:
Preprican sem, da bo v nasem globaliziranem svetu Anglescina postajala vse bolj razsirjena, vendar ne bo izpodrinila drugih jezikov. Kot se ze dogaja v mnogih drzavah, bo vecina izobrazenih ljudi bo govorila svoj jezik IN anglesko. Za njih bo Anglescina se vedno "drugi jezik", vendar jo bodo uporabljali skoraj vsak dan, se posebej v poslovnem svetu in v stikih s tujci.
Strinjam se, da bi bilo res dolgocasno, ce bi vsi govorili samo anglesko. Saj lahko anglescina in drugi jeziki zivijo drug ob drugem.
BTW, that is what Slovenian looks like. Here are the same comments in English:
I'm sure that English will become increasingly widespread in our globalized world, but it will never replace other languages. As is already the case in many countries, most educated people will speak English AND their native language. English will remain a second language for them, but they will use it almost on a daily basis, especially in business life and when dealing with foreigners.
I agree that it would be very boring if everybody spoke just English. After all, English can exist side-by-side with other languages.
DPrush From United States of America, joined May 2002, 97 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 883 times:
Wow, I never knew Russian and Slovenian were so close...I can read and understand 85% of what's written above...Pretty keeeewl!
Shawn Patrick From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 2588 posts, RR: 18 Reply 20, posted (10 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 856 times:
DPrush, do you know how to write what you just said .... in Russian? no roman characters! I love that Cryllic alphabet, it's one of the reasons I wanna learn Russian!
Shawn Patrick From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 2588 posts, RR: 18 Reply 22, posted (10 years 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 772 times:
AOMlover, teach us some dirty French words, aiight?
LH423 From Canada, joined Jul 1999, 6501 posts, RR: 55 Reply 24, posted (10 years 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 759 times:
I'm with Shawn. I need some naughty slang to add to my vocabulary.
fais pas chier
Umm, chier means "to sh*t", no? so, does that mean "don't sh*t", or is there another meaning?
LH423
« On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux » Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
25 Hartsfieldboy: French is the official langauge of the United Nations and is spoken just about as widely as English According to this, http://www.yindii.com/ref/50_la
26 Shawn Patrick: Soon, French speakers will not be able to express exactly what they want, so they´ll go to another language that suits them better. That's a little f
27 B777: I think all countires should retain their own language because that is a part of uniqueness of each country. However, English is a great international
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