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I am a native English speaker. The problem I have with English as the Universal International Language is that it gives enormous economic and political power to

I am a native English speaker. The problem I have with English as the Universal International Language is that it gives enormous economic and political power to the United States. I am not convinced that the United States can be relied upon to use this power responsibly.

azangru 6y ago
> is that it gives enormous economic and political power to the United States All the best to them :-) I think having models in nations that actually use a language as their native tongue is far better than choosing a language for which there is no living model (such as Latin or Esperanto). But then, why don't you also add Britain, Australia, Canada or South Africa to your list?
- inetsee 6y ago
  I am aware that there are other countries that have English as their primary language. According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... the US GDP is approximately 3.45 times the combined GDP of the other countries you named. I stand by my statement that the US has "enormous economic and political power". edit: I personally think Esperanto would be a good choice as an International Language. I believe it's much easier to learn than English.
  - azangru 6y ago
    I am not disputing this statement. Moreover, it is well known to sociolinguists that political and economic power is something that makes a language spoken by that nation more prestigious and more desirable to attain, and, therefore, contributes to the spread of that language. So, for the purposes of my dream, I can only wish that the US remains as influential as it is (and doesn't switch to Spanish in the process) :-) I guess my point is that I am not sure that, say, having other countries where English is the primary language (as listed in the previous comment) contributes to the power of the US. Likewise, I am not sure that the further spread of English as an international language will by itself contribute significantly to the power of the US. > I personally think Esperanto would be a good choice as an International Language Ugh, not a fan. English is a vibrant, living language that already is being used by huge swathes of people for various purposes; Esperanto is not.
7786655 6y ago
You've got this backwards: English is the Universal International Language because the US has enormous economic and political power (and before that, the British Empire).

azangru 6y ago

> is that it gives enormous economic and political power to the United States All the best to them :-) I think having models in nations that actually use a language as their native tongue is far better than choosing a language for which there is no living model (such as Latin or Esperanto). But then, why don't you also add Britain, Australia, Canada or South Africa to your list?

inetsee 6y ago
I am aware that there are other countries that have English as their primary language. According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... the US GDP is approximately 3.45 times the combined GDP of the other countries you named. I stand by my statement that the US has "enormous economic and political power". edit: I personally think Esperanto would be a good choice as an International Language. I believe it's much easier to learn than English.
- azangru 6y ago
  I am not disputing this statement. Moreover, it is well known to sociolinguists that political and economic power is something that makes a language spoken by that nation more prestigious and more desirable to attain, and, therefore, contributes to the spread of that language. So, for the purposes of my dream, I can only wish that the US remains as influential as it is (and doesn't switch to Spanish in the process) :-) I guess my point is that I am not sure that, say, having other countries where English is the primary language (as listed in the previous comment) contributes to the power of the US. Likewise, I am not sure that the further spread of English as an international language will by itself contribute significantly to the power of the US. > I personally think Esperanto would be a good choice as an International Language Ugh, not a fan. English is a vibrant, living language that already is being used by huge swathes of people for various purposes; Esperanto is not.

7786655 6y ago

You've got this backwards: English is the Universal International Language because the US has enormous economic and political power (and before that, the British Empire).