Thread: Летс ми спик фром май харррт

Originally Posted by Ramil

The truly 'international' language is Chinese. It's spoken by over 20% of the world's population and this number is growing.

It has a significant drawback - all the speakers are concentrated in just one state.

Originally Posted by Ramil

While English in USA will soon be replaced with Spanish. Researches estimate that by 2030 the majority of USA population will be native Spanish speakers.

If all states pass a law on immigration like the one in Arizona, I hope that will never happen.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

It has a significant drawback - all the speakers are concentrated in just one state.

Oh, they'll spread out, just wait. The Chinese workers will soon be demanding higher pay and the 'middle class' will appear. This will open even more business opportunities and they'll start expanding.

If all states pass a law on immigration like the one in Arizona, I hope that will never happen.

It's not just immigration. It's too late, btw. There are enough Spanish speaking people who are already citizens of USA. Taking that 'critical mass' into view, I doubt WASPs would be able to assimilate all of them.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Oh, they'll spread out, just wait. The Chinese workers will soon be demanding higher pay and the 'middle class' will appear. This will open even more business opportunities and they'll start expanding.



It's not just immigration. It's too late, btw. There are enough Spanish speaking people who are already citizens of USA. Taking that 'critical mass' into view, I doubt WASPs would be able to assimilate all of them.

The reason it will never happen is not because the Spanish-speaking won't come here or aren't already here. The reason it won't happen is the same reason that we don't currently speak Dutch or Irish. Part of a group's desire to maintain their original language IN PRIMACY when establishing roots in a second country is a feeling of division WITH that country. When that subsides, as it did for Dutch, Germans, French, Italians, Irish, Scottish, and then countless others who came here.. at least, MY bet is that English will be spoken by most of them, and will remain in primacy in this country.

Indian native languages never became the primary language of England. French never became the primary language of Canada. Yiddish didn't become the primary language of Germany, though in that last bit I think I've chosen a poor example.. Anyway, it's just my opinion, and my wager also.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

[Chinese] has a significant drawback [as an international language]- all the speakers are concentrated in just one state.

Actually, there are other drawbacks for Chinese: First, it has a writing system that is difficult to learn even for native Chinese speakers, and second, the "tonal" nature of Chinese makes it more difficult to learn as a language for spoken communication. So both of these factors make it less likely that Chinese could become an international lingua franca (i.e., a common second language for practical communication).

Hell, the Mandarin dialect isn't even a spoken "lingua franca" inside of China -- it may be the official national language of the PRC, but countless millions of Chinese citizens speak Mandarin poorly, or not at all.

So, while Ramil (and Hanna, I'm sure) might find glee in the idea of some other language knocking English "off the throne" as the world's most popular Second Language, I certainly wouldn't wager any money on Chinese being the language to replace English!