The English Language

[Umberphoenix]

Obviously English doesn't suck as much as you say it does or people wouldn't be trying to learn it and it wouldn't be heading towards the world's first global language.

That or everybody except you is insane and stupid because they all think English is a good language to learn.

 

[Gl1tch]

Fun Fact: There will soon be more English Speakers in China than in America and the UK combined.

I think my brain just exploded.

OT: Yeah, the English language is horrible illogical, but I doubt there's any fixing that. Not as though we can just force everyone to change languages, so we'll have to make do.

(I would like to see more English speakers learning other languages they enjoy, however - and I mean really learning them, not just getting a loose grasp of the basics.)

 

[LongAndShort]

Yes because Britishization exists?

I'm trying to come off as "that guy" but seriously, Americanization has played a the major factor in the development of globalization, for better and for worse.

It did. Long before America was spreading its roots across the world, poms were civilizing a supposedly uncivilized world by making it more British. I point towards India, Africa, Asia and even North America. America has only built upon foundations made firm by British expansionism and self-righteous arrogance.

 

[peachadelic]

I've only ever lived in Germany and Japan, and so far I can tell that people in both countries seem to think that english is "cool". Especially japanese companies just have to have an english slogan, or else they're not cosmopolitan enough or whatever. They also need to have some english printed on everything you can buy in the supermarket, even though a lot of people can't even read it properly. German kids who want to be hip use a lot of english too. They're gonna call their father "Dad" and their mother "Mom", and their family will be, well... "Family", not Familie, like a proper german would say.
I guess it's not much different in many other non-english speaking countries of the world.

But make no mistake: These countries may use a lot of english, but it's nowhere near being their primary language. Yes, if you do business with japanese or german businessmen, they'll probably speak english fluently. But if you try talking to the average person in english, they'll probably stutter quite a lot. It might be ok in german, I guess most germans can do some basic converstation in english if they try (or maybe I'm overestimating them?) but in japan, since japanese grammar is so different from english, a lot people can't form any sentences. They do know a lot of words, since, like the OP said, they tend to replace a lot of japanese words with english ones, but grammar is a whole different matter.

Personally, I like english a lot. I haven't actually spoken a lot of english in my life yet, only read and occasionally written, but it's such a smooth language.
It's hard for me to explain without going into detail and making a lot of examples (and also I'm in a bit of a hurry), but if you compare it with driving a car: german and japanese handle like trucks. No doubt they can be beautiful, as I'm sure any language can be... but english in comparison is like a sports car. In english, for example, I can address anyone as "you". I could address my best friend or my teacher or doctor with "you". In german and japanese there is no universal word for that, and it's sometimes awkward even for a native speaker, whether to use the more polite form or not.
That's just one example.
English seems like a pretty flexible language, and it's also easy to learn. It might not be logical, but that is something that languages just aren't.
Compared to the clunky and needlessly complicated german grammar, or the barriers of the japanese kanji, english is pretty fit as the "world's language" I think.

 

[kampori]

Sure, but every English speaker needs to pay the Germans, Greek, Italians(Romans) and French for providing the origins of the language, since you are really using a mixture of their languages.

Kind of, but not really.
I agree & know the fact that English came from ancient Greek, Latin, German, French & other many gaelic variations of languages.. but that's not what I'm saying. What English is is an EVOLUTION of language.

What we have now is just simply copying.

 

[Oneirius]

Well, we Israelis never tried taxing everyone who practices a modified form of our homemade religion(christians and muslims, for example)...
One of many reasons is that the idea is unbelivebly stupid...
Seriously guys. That's not how the world works. Save precious calories by not even thinking about the idea.

 

[teisjm]

You know that patents run out after some years right? so even if you could track down who "invented" the language they will be long long looooooooooong dead, and their "patenet" would've run out centutire3, no more likely millenia ago.

So you have no more ownership over your language than i do, despite the fact that i'm not from england,or an english speaking country.

So why should i pay you or any otther currently living people? no offence, but you can't really take credit for your language, since you didn't create it or anything, you just speak it.

 

[Benjamin Grin]

So...speaking as an Irishman, I'm think we're going to either need an exemption from the tax, or a tax refund, giving that your ancestors took my ancestors' native tongue from them on pain of death.

I'm just saying.

 

[avatar_vii]

I believe that most of the reason that english is so widely spoken is a little thing a few years back called the BRITISH EMPIRE.

 

[Nickolai77]

As an Englishman myself, i am not quite sure if the OP is being sarcastic or not, chances are he is just being silly.

Now, since my native language is english and it is damn convienent that many other people across the world speak passable english. When i was in Germany for instance, it seemed that anyone under the age of 30 knew enough English to attempt an almost passable conversation. That said, it does feel harsh expecting foreginers to speak my language in their own country- that said, considering all the countries a native English speaker may visit, it seems equally difficult to learn the language of the respective countries that they may visit. Its especially hard for people like me who are naturally slower at learning a new language than others. I know some basic German, and when i am in Germany, i attempt to use that, although one thing i notice about the Germans is that they have a tendancy to switch to English because it makes commication more efficent- which is very German off them.

So...speaking as an Irishman, I'm think we're going to either need an exemption from the tax, or a tax refund, giving that your ancestors took my ancestors' native tongue from them on pain of death.

I'm just saying.

Ireland's history in relation to England/Britain is a tradjedy i think we can all agree to that. Am i right in thinking that they teach Irish in schools? Its a good thing that Irish is preserved. Of course, how much the Irish use their language over English is up to them.

I'm glad you said for better and for worse. Seriously England has been destroyed by Americanisation. I have no problem with America or Americans but when my country has almost completely lost its culture and identity due to Americanisation I hope people can understand the angle I am coming from. I mean all the kids at my school watch American shows talk like fucking Americans act like fucking Americans. Your fucking English ACT fucking English. England barely owns any of its own retailers and all the money goes out of the country. The country has turned into America's little brother and its total BS. England should go back to being English!

"England" is not a static and unchanging thing, the people who have inhabited England have taken in all sorts of foregin practises and tongues- our very language for one, that make us who we are today. More recently our experience of fighting two world wars and decolonisation has changed the face of the country, we are now a more international and diverse society. Thatcher brought about more changes in the 1980's, more changes came under New Labour- Americanisation is just one thing that has come in and changed elements of our society. No doubt England by the end of this century will be vastly different to recognise what we know today.

But if it is of any condolance to you, we have influensed the Americans more than they have influensed us. Their flag looks suspciously like the East Indian company flag, they speak our language, many of their cities are named after English cities, or have Anglo-Centric names like New York, Washington, New England, New Hampshire, Charlestown etc... Their buisness suits were invented by a Brit, their political idealogies borrow heavily from English philosophers like John Locke- Their WASP (White-Anglo Saxon Protestant) culture is a testiment to British influense in America. Of course America has influensed us as well, with a few notable additions to the English language, cultural practises and general economic dominance. Dont forget that the cultural exhange is mutual. The laptop software for the laptop i am using now is American designed, the internet is an American invention, but the World Wide Web was a British one...cultural exchange is mutual. We culturally influsensed them because many American colonists were English, and then later on they in turn influensed us.

I like how you can walk across england and hear like 50 different accents. Europe doesn't even come close.

I see. Another briton who thinks the UK is its own continent..?

Yeah, thats one thing about this country that does irk me. Don't get me wrong, Britons recognise that they are a European country- it's just that i think there is a general perception that Britain is somehow seperate to Europe, Britons do not "feel" European, and that's the crux of the problem- The cause of this is probably something to do with the fact that we live on an island.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

I agree & know the fact that English came from ancient Greek, Latin, German, French & other many gaelic variations of languages..

Well...yes and no, and by "no" I mean that English is primarily a Germanic language. (Specifically West Germanic, the group that includes German and Dutch. There's also a North Germanic group that became the Scandinavian languages, and a now-extinct East Germanic group that included Gothic.)

The language changed a bit with the invasions of Old Norse speakers in the 8th and 9th centuries, but it really changed when the Normans (who spoke an early form of French) invaded England in 1066 and their language became the language of law, religion, and government. English grammar, spelling, and vocabulary were irrevocably altered by living side-by-side with the Normans and their language, leading to the Middle English of Chaucer in roughly only 400 years.

Modern English is mostly an unusual Germanic/Romance hybrid, with the bulk of its vocabulary coming from Anglo-Saxon and Norman French (where a lot of our Latinate words come from) with a large number of borrowings from church-related Latin and Greek. ("Priest" and "bishop", for example, which come from presbyter and episkopos.) Most other Greek and Latin words are either second-hand borrowings from Norman French ("olive") or are later literary or scientific coinings. The Celtic/Brythonic languages have had almost no influence on English at all beyond the usual borrowing/stealing of vocabulary words.

 

[Davrel]

I like how you can walk across england and hear like 50 different accents. Europe doesn't even come close.

I see. Another briton who thinks the UK is its own continent..?

Most of us use that phraseology; its nothing to do with thinking of ourselves as being on a separate continent, despite our failing education system; its simply separating Britain from mainland Europe. Furthermore, its faster to say "Europe" than "the rest of Europe" etc; the meaning is clear, don't be pedantic.

 

[Jonabob87]

English isn't the most widely spoken language, Chinese is

 

[Tiny116]

Besides, IT'S COLOUR!

/Thread Damn straight.

OT: What a dumb assed idea.....freedom of speech anyone? Just because the rest of the world feel sorry for us not being able to speak their language dosn't mean we should charge them for it!

 

[Declan Driver]

English isnt simply a language, its like latin most languages are derived from latin, english is just that, every country/city/town has added in their own little piece to it and made it their own. If they start taxing i say we charge them whenever they use any words that we added in!

 

[Kiju]

America originally came from England, and brought the language along with them.

Other countries teach it, simply because it is one of the more widely used languages, so you might say it's a 'trade' language.

 

[riskroWe]

There's no benefit to everyone speaking different languages. We've spent millenia trying to ubiquitise one language and we finally get one that's spread to every country, then you naive primitivists pipe up about 'conserving cultural heritage'
Just shut up and speak in whatever language daddy tells you to.

 

[Iwata]

I like how you can walk across england and hear like 50 different accents. Europe doesn't even come close.

I see. Another briton who thinks the UK is its own continent..?

Most of us use that phraseology; its nothing to do with thinking of ourselves as being on a separate continent, despite our failing education system; its simply separating Britain from mainland Europe. Furthermore, its faster to say "Europe" than "the rest of Europe" etc; the meaning is clear, don't be pedantic.

That was by no means my intention. London is a second home to me, and as such I'm quite aware of how some english people regard us "continentals". Hence, my question.