6 ms·

I don't think English will stop being EU's lingua franca any time soon. Agreeing on a replacement would be politically impossible (the Germans wouldn't accept F

I don't think English will stop being EU's lingua franca any time soon. Agreeing on a replacement would be politically impossible (the Germans wouldn't accept French, the French wouldn't accept German, the Spanish would have good arguments to make in any of both cases); and having several languages in equal status would just be not practical (you cannot realistically expect every EU citizen to know their native language, French and German, for example). A "neutral" language like Esperanto is a nice idea, and I would also like Latin as the EU language, as it can be argued to be the language that historically shaped Europe the most. But let's not fool ourselves, no one is going to stand for learning a new language from scratch (even if it's easy) when English pretty much Just Works(tm), and provides a lot of utility also outside the EU. Personally, I'm from Spain and I'm not annoyed or upset about English being the lingua franca. I think we should abandon the idea of English "belonging" to its native speakers. When I talk to people from Germany, from China, or from Vietnam, for example our common language is almost always English, even if neither of us are natives. English is useful for us and belongs to us, as much as to someone from Gloucestershire.

barking 7y ago
I would also like Latin as the EU language It would be like deja veni vidi vici all over again.
- nabla9 7y ago
  Interlingua is artificial language where vocabulary is common to the widest possible range of western European languages. Many Europeans understand Interlingua without knowing it. Examples: Mi aeroglissator es plen de anguillas. Multo ben, gratias. E vos? Contente de facer vostre cognoscentia! Il es un placer facer vostre cognoscentia! Amarea vos dansar con me? Parla plus lentemente, per favor Patre nostre, qui es in le celos, que tu nomine sia sanctificate; que tu regno veni; que tu voluntate sia facite como in le celo, etiam super le terra.
  - barking 7y ago
    I'd suspect that a monoglot german speaker would understand nothing of that. Even an english speaker and despite our huge borrowing from french it's not too easy.
    - anoncake 7y ago
      Not a chance. I don't understand more of that than of any romance language. Speakers of romance languages probably feel the same way about Folkspraak: > All mensklik wesings âre boren frî on' gelîk in werđigheid on' rejte. Đê âre begifted mid ferstand on' gewitt on' skulde behandele êlkên in en gêst av brôđerhêd. Surprisingly, the language has been invented after the invention of keyboards with finite space for diacritics. In so far as it actually has been developed at all.
achamayou 7y ago
French here, I absolutely agree. Specifically, American English would be preferable because it is what’s spoken widely outside Europe, and its spelling is somewhat more regular (as well as historically accurate!). I wonder to what extent coming up with a new name for it would help adoption.
- liopleurodon 7y ago
  Upvoted for American English The English tend to speak English better and have better grammar than Americans in my experience, but I do prefer American spelling (disclaimer: I'm American)
  - anoncake 7y ago
    No. Like everyone else, Americans by definition speak their native language perfectly. There may very well be stylistic differences and you can aesthetically prefer a dialect, but native speakers do not commit grammatical errors.
    - DuskStar 7y ago
      There are multiple dialects of english even within the US and many of them have different grammar rules.
      - anoncake 7y ago
        Of course.
    - afiori 7y ago
      This is silly. It is like saying that native bipedal humans do not stumble when walking. There is a well recognized concept of mastering a language, you can claim (and I would agree) that dialects are respectable languages and AAVE is a proper English. Still some native speakers in any language cannot understand long sentences or know how to express complex information. Otherwise if we go with the truism "everyone speaks their native language perfectly" we simply end up essentially saying that languages are fragmented to the level of individuals and that some language are inherently "better" than others. Both are positions I would not like were they to become mainstream.
0815test 7y ago
> Personally, I'm from Spain and I'm not annoyed or upset about English being the lingua franca. I think we should abandon the idea of English "belonging" to its native speakers. When I talk to people from Germany, from China, or from Vietnam, for example our common language is almost always English, even if neither of us are natives. Agreed. The EU should do the needful.
- Uberphallus 7y ago
  Have you passed out your English classes?
  - anoncake 7y ago
    No, they demonstrated the official language of the future Indo-European Union. ("Do the needful" is Indian English)
- liopleurodon 7y ago
  I dint see this one coming
nabla9 7y ago
I think EU should adopt "Rally English" some Finns speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AtDEbHOcd8&t=12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AtDEbHOcd8&t=12
born2discover 7y ago
and having several languages in equal status would just be not practical - Sorry but I have to disagree here. Look at UN, they have Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish as official languages. Why is there an absolute must to only have one official language? Why not chose several most widely spoken ones, including English, and let each speaker chose the one that suits them best? I live in a country where we have 4 national languages and 3 official ones. Our members of parliament can express themselves in the language of their choosing and their speech/intervention is translated for the rest. That way people can express themselves in the language they are most comfortable in (that is often not English, unless it's their mother tongue) and that does not put older generations (who never learnt English) at a disadvantage. Having one single language in a multicultural setting can be tricky.
- isolli 7y ago
  Curious, what country is that?
  - ttoinou 7y ago
    Switzerland ?
    - valb 7y ago
      AFAIK Switzerland has 4 official languages
      - born2discover 7y ago
        Yes, we have 4 national languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh. However only three of them bear the title of official language, that is, language used in official communications. Romansh is spoken only in one of our "provinces" (Canton Graubünden) thus is considered too tiny to be supported on the national scale for official purposes.
- kstenerud 7y ago
  Because having multiple official languages adds more layers of bureaucracy to everything and amounts to a colossal waste of time and money. We have this in Canada, and outside of Quebec, nobody cares about the French language. In fact, many manufacturers specifically avoid Canada in some cases due to the requirement to put both English and French on the packaging. All government communication has to be written twice. Government employees must have fluency in both languages. All that waste, and for what? A language that nobody else uses.
7952 7y ago
A few years ago I was in a group of people using English to talk. I was the only native speaker,and honestly had more trouble communicating as a result. I have a strong west country accent and people are not used to it. And there are lots of colloquialisms that you use without thinking about it.
schuke 7y ago
With Brexit English has become even more neutral!

barking 7y ago

I would also like Latin as the EU language It would be like deja veni vidi vici all over again.

nabla9 7y ago
Interlingua is artificial language where vocabulary is common to the widest possible range of western European languages. Many Europeans understand Interlingua without knowing it. Examples: Mi aeroglissator es plen de anguillas. Multo ben, gratias. E vos? Contente de facer vostre cognoscentia! Il es un placer facer vostre cognoscentia! Amarea vos dansar con me? Parla plus lentemente, per favor Patre nostre, qui es in le celos, que tu nomine sia sanctificate; que tu regno veni; que tu voluntate sia facite como in le celo, etiam super le terra.
- barking 7y ago
  I'd suspect that a monoglot german speaker would understand nothing of that. Even an english speaker and despite our huge borrowing from french it's not too easy.
  - anoncake 7y ago
    Not a chance. I don't understand more of that than of any romance language. Speakers of romance languages probably feel the same way about Folkspraak: > All mensklik wesings âre boren frî on' gelîk in werđigheid on' rejte. Đê âre begifted mid ferstand on' gewitt on' skulde behandele êlkên in en gêst av brôđerhêd. Surprisingly, the language has been invented after the invention of keyboards with finite space for diacritics. In so far as it actually has been developed at all.

achamayou 7y ago

French here, I absolutely agree. Specifically, American English would be preferable because it is what’s spoken widely outside Europe, and its spelling is somewhat more regular (as well as historically accurate!). I wonder to what extent coming up with a new name for it would help adoption.

liopleurodon 7y ago
Upvoted for American English The English tend to speak English better and have better grammar than Americans in my experience, but I do prefer American spelling (disclaimer: I'm American)
- anoncake 7y ago
  No. Like everyone else, Americans by definition speak their native language perfectly. There may very well be stylistic differences and you can aesthetically prefer a dialect, but native speakers do not commit grammatical errors.
  - DuskStar 7y ago
    There are multiple dialects of english even within the US and many of them have different grammar rules.
    - anoncake 7y ago
      Of course.
  - afiori 7y ago
    This is silly. It is like saying that native bipedal humans do not stumble when walking. There is a well recognized concept of mastering a language, you can claim (and I would agree) that dialects are respectable languages and AAVE is a proper English. Still some native speakers in any language cannot understand long sentences or know how to express complex information. Otherwise if we go with the truism "everyone speaks their native language perfectly" we simply end up essentially saying that languages are fragmented to the level of individuals and that some language are inherently "better" than others. Both are positions I would not like were they to become mainstream.

0815test 7y ago

> Personally, I'm from Spain and I'm not annoyed or upset about English being the lingua franca. I think we should abandon the idea of English "belonging" to its native speakers. When I talk to people from Germany, from China, or from Vietnam, for example our common language is almost always English, even if neither of us are natives. Agreed. The EU should do the needful.

Uberphallus 7y ago
Have you passed out your English classes?
- anoncake 7y ago
  No, they demonstrated the official language of the future Indo-European Union. ("Do the needful" is Indian English)
liopleurodon 7y ago
I dint see this one coming

nabla9 7y ago

I think EU should adopt "Rally English" some Finns speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AtDEbHOcd8&t=12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AtDEbHOcd8&t=12

born2discover 7y ago

and having several languages in equal status would just be not practical - Sorry but I have to disagree here. Look at UN, they have Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish as official languages. Why is there an absolute must to only have one official language? Why not chose several most widely spoken ones, including English, and let each speaker chose the one that suits them best? I live in a country where we have 4 national languages and 3 official ones. Our members of parliament can express themselves in the language of their choosing and their speech/intervention is translated for the rest. That way people can express themselves in the language they are most comfortable in (that is often not English, unless it's their mother tongue) and that does not put older generations (who never learnt English) at a disadvantage. Having one single language in a multicultural setting can be tricky.

isolli 7y ago
Curious, what country is that?
- ttoinou 7y ago
  Switzerland ?
  - valb 7y ago
    AFAIK Switzerland has 4 official languages
    - born2discover 7y ago
      Yes, we have 4 national languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh. However only three of them bear the title of official language, that is, language used in official communications. Romansh is spoken only in one of our "provinces" (Canton Graubünden) thus is considered too tiny to be supported on the national scale for official purposes.
kstenerud 7y ago
Because having multiple official languages adds more layers of bureaucracy to everything and amounts to a colossal waste of time and money. We have this in Canada, and outside of Quebec, nobody cares about the French language. In fact, many manufacturers specifically avoid Canada in some cases due to the requirement to put both English and French on the packaging. All government communication has to be written twice. Government employees must have fluency in both languages. All that waste, and for what? A language that nobody else uses.

7952 7y ago

A few years ago I was in a group of people using English to talk. I was the only native speaker,and honestly had more trouble communicating as a result. I have a strong west country accent and people are not used to it. And there are lots of colloquialisms that you use without thinking about it.

schuke 7y ago

With Brexit English has become even more neutral!