3 ms·

Yes we could also create N! districts, where N is the number of languages spoken in the EU... On a more practical level, I and my wife already speak English fl

Yes we could also create N! districts, where N is the number of languages spoken in the EU... On a more practical level, I and my wife already speak English fluently, I have two remote teams composed with people from three different nations with whom I speak English, and having to learn eg German would make me need to use 3 different languages (4 for my wife, who is Russian). Seriously, the only shot we have at a European lingua franca at the moment is English. Well, maybe I'll just have to move to Ireland or Canada if I actually move.

wolfgke 10y ago
> Seriously, the only shot we have at a European lingua franca at the moment is English. If we look at the language knowledge in the EU > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union#Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Unio... 51% knowledge for English is far from a lingua franca in Europe. At least German (32%) and French (26%) are also very common to know. In this sense you shouldn't think that there is some European lingua franca, but rather a small set of languages which has the property that if you know them, the probability is high that you will be understood.
- danmaz74 10y ago
  As a matter of fact I wrote that English is our only shot (= hope) to have a lingua franca. If it has to be two separate languages... that means you just don't want a lingua franca. Which of course is perfectly legitimate, but I look forward to a future where my daughter will be able to work and live in any EU country without having to learn dozens of languages.
  - solidsnack9000 10y ago
    > ...I look forward to a future where my daughter will be able to work and live in any EU country without having to learn dozens of languages. But that is already true. Learn German, French, maybe Russian or English -- and you can speak with a lot of people.

wolfgke 10y ago

> Seriously, the only shot we have at a European lingua franca at the moment is English. If we look at the language knowledge in the EU > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union#Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Unio... 51% knowledge for English is far from a lingua franca in Europe. At least German (32%) and French (26%) are also very common to know. In this sense you shouldn't think that there is some European lingua franca, but rather a small set of languages which has the property that if you know them, the probability is high that you will be understood.

danmaz74 10y ago
As a matter of fact I wrote that English is our only shot (= hope) to have a lingua franca. If it has to be two separate languages... that means you just don't want a lingua franca. Which of course is perfectly legitimate, but I look forward to a future where my daughter will be able to work and live in any EU country without having to learn dozens of languages.
- solidsnack9000 10y ago
  > ...I look forward to a future where my daughter will be able to work and live in any EU country without having to learn dozens of languages. But that is already true. Learn German, French, maybe Russian or English -- and you can speak with a lot of people.