5 ms·

Duolingo could have the unintended effect of making English even more dominant by teaching everyone English.

_Lemon_ 16y ago
I'm not sure whether you're intending to pose that as a problem -- why should language be a barrier to anything? It could open the possibilities to a lot of people in less well off countries. What would be a problem (and is kind of assumed in what you're saying) is if people stopped learning their native language in favour of English.
- amichail 16y ago
  I'm sure many people will feel that their culture is being threatened if English becomes even more dominant.
  - _Lemon_ 16y ago
    Yes, and I meant to say that would be a bad thing. For example, Welsh is compulsory in schools in Wales where most will know English fluently, there is quite a political effort to keep it going.
- thefreshteapot 16y ago
  Could you clarify the english? I have assumed British english. (the real one ;)) Honestly your comment sounds troll like. Languages bring richness and expression. Im going to guess your from an English speaking country and only have english speaking parents.
  - _Lemon_ 16y ago
    Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a troll! The OP originally struck me as a negative comment but reading it again makes me think it was more of just an observation. I wasn't trying to say having one language is a good/bad thing, but everyone having say, a common language, could benefit all as it opens up more possibilities with people. I'm not sure I came off right in the second sentence. I meant as if people only chose English and leaving behind their heritage / culture (as amichail suggested below) that would be bad. Yes, I'm an English only speaker (I believe the majority of the world are bilingual now too), and so are my parents :)
    - thefreshteapot 16y ago
      Im living at persent in Oslo, young and old talk about how english has altered Norwegian. Words have krept in, some phrases are now said in english. I think a common language would accelerate the decline of many languages with small populations. Glad you responded.
jhc 16y ago
It seems more likely to make English less dominant by (for example) letting people read all of Wikipedia in their native language. Same goes for countless other resources that are currently published only in English. Either way, if someone cares enough about learning English to put in the huge amount of time required to do it, I would bet they have a pretty good reason already. Giving them a free tool that helps is a clear win for everyone.

I'm not sure whether you're intending to pose that as a problem -- why should language be a barrier to anything? It could open the possibilities to a lot of people in less well off countries. What would be a problem (and is kind of assumed in what you're saying) is if people stopped learning their native language in favour of English.

amichail 16y ago
I'm sure many people will feel that their culture is being threatened if English becomes even more dominant.
- _Lemon_ 16y ago
  Yes, and I meant to say that would be a bad thing. For example, Welsh is compulsory in schools in Wales where most will know English fluently, there is quite a political effort to keep it going.
thefreshteapot 16y ago
Could you clarify the english? I have assumed British english. (the real one ;)) Honestly your comment sounds troll like. Languages bring richness and expression. Im going to guess your from an English speaking country and only have english speaking parents.
- _Lemon_ 16y ago
  Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a troll! The OP originally struck me as a negative comment but reading it again makes me think it was more of just an observation. I wasn't trying to say having one language is a good/bad thing, but everyone having say, a common language, could benefit all as it opens up more possibilities with people. I'm not sure I came off right in the second sentence. I meant as if people only chose English and leaving behind their heritage / culture (as amichail suggested below) that would be bad. Yes, I'm an English only speaker (I believe the majority of the world are bilingual now too), and so are my parents :)
  - thefreshteapot 16y ago
    Im living at persent in Oslo, young and old talk about how english has altered Norwegian. Words have krept in, some phrases are now said in english. I think a common language would accelerate the decline of many languages with small populations. Glad you responded.

jhc 16y ago

It seems more likely to make English less dominant by (for example) letting people read all of Wikipedia in their native language. Same goes for countless other resources that are currently published only in English. Either way, if someone cares enough about learning English to put in the huge amount of time required to do it, I would bet they have a pretty good reason already. Giving them a free tool that helps is a clear win for everyone.