Should we (as a species) make one language our "go-to" language?

[General Twinkletoes]

Also a bit more on-topic there's a school of thought that believes the way you think is influenced by the language you speak, so every time a language dies humanity loses a unique cultural perspective on the world.

It's proven that the names of colours in a language affects how you see them. In some African languages, yellow, brown, red, and orange are all the same and speakers of it can't tell the difference. Japanese has no (or almost no) blue/green distincion.

OT: Well English is already becoming that, sort of. I believe in Denmark it's mandatory to write scientific journals in English, and if you count second language speakers it has the most speakers in the world. However forcing a single language for everyone probably won't happen. If it did happen it might splinter into new dialects, and not to mention that while a German might not have much trouble learning English, a Korean might. Any language we decide to make a universal language will be incredibly hard for some people who's native language is very different.

Probably won't happen, what English is at the moment is probably the closest we'll get. Go to a foreign country and signs will have English, all the tourist attractions are in English, and because it's mandatory in so many countries, well over half the people you talk to probably understand it.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Given that both Spanish and Mandarin are spoken by more people worldwide I certainly wouldn't assume English is the natural first choice, it's just the most convenient choice for all the English speakers posting here.

Also an attempt to create an international language was made in the form of Esperanto (which I learnt about from Red Dwarf) which is supposedly easier to learn than a lot of languages and is the most successful attempt made so far (although no doubt I've been ninja'd on this information).

Personally I like the future presented in Firefly where Mandarin and English are basically the only remaining languages and everyone speaks both although it took Earth being used up and its whole population being crammed into a bunch of arks for that to happen.

Well counting second language speakers, English now has more than both of them. Esperanto might be incredibly simple for a person who speaks English or a romance language, but I'm sure a monolingual Japanese person would have a lot of trouble.

That's the problem with a universal language, unless we wipe out native ones that are very different, it's always going to be very hard for some people to learn it.

 

[Battenberg]

Well counting second language speakers, English now has more than both of them. Esperanto might be incredibly simple for a person who speaks English or a romance language, but I'm sure a monolingual Japanese person would have a lot of trouble.

That's the problem with a universal language, unless we wipe out native ones that are very different, it's always going to be very hard for some people to learn it.

Do you have a link for that fact? Every site I looked at still lists Mandarin as more widely spoken, including second languages.

And your second point - well exactly. Esperanto may well be the most successful attempt at a universal language but it still hasn't reached especially far. I think maybe the real question is whether or not we are prepared to take the necessary steps to make any one language universal and whether it would even be worth it considering it would likely lead to many languages dying out.

 

[sextus the crazy]

A Polish doctor tried to do this in the late 1800's but it never really caught on. The language was called Esperanto, which mean "one who hopes" and there's a documentary on it called "The Universal Language". Most languages have been created naturally over time, this one was created logically and aimed to combine a lot of the 'best bits' from many other languages.

http://esperantodocumentary.com/en/about-the-film

The problem with that is that a bunch of people had the same idea, and created their own different universal languages, which worked out even less well than it sounds. Nowdays about 2 million or somesuch number people speak Esperanto, which is a fair few, but very small for a global language.

I dunno. Esperanto seems like a giant Romance/Germanic/European cluster language, which is kinda redundant.

OT: English is good for now considering all of the reasons people have already posted.

Honestly, I think spanish would be acceptable as a common language. It's pretty simple and widespread; good for basic communication.

 

[prpshrt]

Didn't that kinda already happen when the British took over a good chunk of the world and forced english upon it?

 

[BitterLemon]

Language is one of the most beautiful aspects of a culture. To me, understanding how language flows and evolved is one of the most intimate views of a culture that you can get. I've rambled on a bit, and I'm quite sorry for that, but I'd be markedly against any sort of language conversion on a global scale.

I agree with you. Having a enforced common language just... flattens the world, I guess. Visiting a place and ignoring the local language is almost like not leaving home, it defeats the purpose of visiting a place. Part of traveling is hearing new sounds, learn new ways of expression and thinking, how people interact with others, music... All of this is tightly connected with language. In my opinion, having a enforced common language just increases the lack of interest in other cultures, make us confortable in our own world and unwilling to make an effort to understand others fully. I can speak portuguese and english, and a little bit of spanish... and it's fascinating to see the differences, the different images that each language can form in my head, the meanings that each one can convey. I just can't imagine visiting some place like France without learning basic french at least...

Here we have obligatory english classes in school, but most people forget or never learn it properly because they feel no connection with it. Lots of adults have to learn again in private language schools to get a job and they do it just as an utility, with the minimum vocabulary possible just to get by. Such a sad way of learning a language.