Funny but English as a Lingua Franca is a thing. English has become a widely understood international language so its not just used to talk to native English speakers but also as a common language between non-native speakers.
Italians (Latin) and Greeks were salty before them. And the Anglo-Saxons will be salty when Chinese, Indian or an African language becomes the new lingua franca. That's
The term lingua franca derives from Mediterranean Lingua Franca (also known as Sabir), the pidgin language that people around the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean Sea used as the main language of commerce and diplomacy from late medieval times to the 18th century, most notably during the Renaissance era. During that period, a simplified version of mainly Italian in the eastern and Spanish in the western Mediterranean that incorporated many loan words from Greek, the Slavic languages, Arabic, and Turkish came to be widely used as the "lingua franca" of the region, although some scholars claim that the Mediterranean Lingua Franca was just poorly used Italian.
Erm. English is the world language. In science and all international bodies. Why wouldn't we use English to communicate with people from other countries when not at least one person speaks the native language of the other (yes, that happens, and then we don't speak English)?
I learned Spanish in high school, but I never really had the opportunity to use it (grew up in a very insulated community where minorities weren’t exactly celebrated and ‘you’re in America speak English was a common sentiment) and lost it. I can still say ‘your mom smells like cheese when it’su see water’ and a few other things, but any semblance of conversational Spanish is gone.
I used to get mad at this meme because as an american we have a worse time in school learning other languages than europeans do. But I've dropped the shame and started spanish again from almost nothing. Maybe one day I'll be fluent.
This. I appreciate everyone who has learned English, but more so than that I think having to learn it before moving to an English speaking country like mine is like expecting a baby to walk before it has been born. Take it from a half-Colombian who can't understand a word of what my mom says on the phone to family members and friends, if you want someone to learn a language, the easiest way is complete immersion into a society that speaks it.
Worst of all is any asshole who, say, goes to Mexico and thinks "because I'm an American and we are nationally owed $$ by Mexico I am entitled to be so arrogant as to think people should have to speak English when I go to Mexico on vacation". It's not just America to Mexico obviously, I could say Quebecios to Western Canada or Englishman to (insert country here) or Chinese to (insert country here) but I'm sure you get the general formula. Arrogant wealthier-than-average tourist, different culture with less material wealth, inevitable offensively bigoted comment.
In such a case, I would absolutely tell the arrogant tourist that just because they're rich and live in Nation X, does not make them entitled to being catered to, albeit with more colorful language because somehow idiots like that tend to realise they've gone too far and either apologize and stop or give one last angry quip and storm off to ragequit the conversation.
The meme feels too accusatory, but I understand that language-wise I got lucky and most people have to work up to knowing a language with critical user mass. I will never expect anyone to HAVE to speak my language for any reason.
I mean, with the specific caveat that if it's an emergency and they know some English, ANY at all, we should probably go as far as we can to speak each other's languages in a temporary pidgin until nobody is hurt or in danger. Aside from such time-sensitive situations, I'm definitely willing to learn from them as long as they acknowledge I hope they try to learn some English from me, but no obligation should be involved either way.
En dit is waarom VS-Standaardisme zo'n groot probleem is op het internet. Iedereen spreekt Engels, en de Verenigde Staten zijn de grootsten wat betreft het aantal Engelssprekers. En daardoor ontstaat een situatie waardoor de meeste gebruikers worden gezien als Amerikaans tenzij anders vernomen.
"And this is why US-centrismis such a big problem in the internet. Everybody speaks Engliah, and the United States are the biggest in terms of English speakers. And through that a situation occurs where most users are seen as Americans, unless stated otherwise"
I honestly think we need to standardize language. English is the most widely spoken langauge in the world and (nearly) anyone can speak it so it's a good contender. Most programming languages use English
#include
int main(){
printf("hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
And honestly as much as it makes my heart cry to say this, American English is more efficient. After all it might be a one letter difference but why include "u" in color? If I remember correctly the "u" was dropped because adverts used to be payed per each character, and even today considering the usage of color tags in css it makes sense to drop the "u". Even if it is a small difference in terms of size, it still makes writing faster and adds up
in many cases, it's the only language that all participants in the conversation understand, not the only one for each.
but to be honest, if I could exchange my knowledge of my native language with the same amount of experience with something else (e.g. programming, math, etc.) I might take that deal (after moving to a primarily english speaking country of course).
Would you really? (: Language not only is everywhere, but also determines your ability to express your thoughs and moreso also shapes them, as your conciousness is deeply comnected with language. Your whole worldview is heavily intertwined with it.
I mostly realize this, when I do have to use another language to formulate my thoughs. It just feels like constantly having a giant headache. Just like right now :} I wouldn't for anything trade the skills in my native language.
not sure if I would, but I will definitely not rule that out. I think almost anything you learn changes how you think and can express your thoughts, although language does it in a more direct way.
Dude, I get it, but I don't have anything against you and I'm not demanding you learn English to cater to me.
Please stop assuming I'm racist or selfish for only knowing the language my parents spoke most when I was a baby, I probably could have picked up Spanish from my mom's family but sending a teenager with Asperger's like me to stay with relatives in South America in 2007 like my normal-brained brother did as a foreign exchange student would have been infeasible.
I just want to write speculative fiction in my own language and in return be grateful to people who are willing to learn a trade language, not be told I'm a monster just for speaking only a language that's commonplace, is that too much to ask?
Δεν είμαι Έλληνας, αλλά μαθαίνω τα ελληνικά! Ήθελα να διαβάζω κείμενα στα αρχαία ελληνικά, αλλά βρήκα αυτό πολύ δύσκολο. Λοιπόν, αποφάσισα να πρώτα μάθω τα νέα ελληνικά, καί μετά να προσπαθήσω ξανά τα αρχαία.
Yeah. The American education system sucks. They tried to teach me French, but starting in high school is stupid, so I barely scraped by. Also, Spanish should automatically be taught in most American schools at this point from grade 1. It's as much our unofficial second language as English is our unofficial first language.
To cut Anglophones some slack, quite a lot of people are bilingual by knowing their native language + english because it's pretty much the de facto international language, especially in Europe. For Anglophones it just happens that their native language is english, so they don't bother with learning a new one since realistically they don't need to, whereas for others knowing english is often mandatory for jobs.
Besides that it's much easier to learn english than any other language because media and culture in english is unavoidable unless you live without internet and TV.