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> think the example of Switzerland shows that there is no problem if spoken language is different from official language. Most Swiss speak at least two of thei

> think the example of Switzerland shows that there is no problem if spoken language is different from official language. Most Swiss speak at least two of their four official languages. It's actually an example of how having multiple official languages isn't expensive nor hard to achieve (and the country is on top of most human index charts). But the EU should make Latin it's official language.

samus 4y ago
I can understands some of the merits of adopting Latin, but maybe forking English would be enough. The EU is already publishing guidelines about correct English usage[0]. Dropping these and formalizing something else, as the Americans have done thanks to Noah Webster's efforts[1], would be enough to complete the split. Edit: since most English speakers in the EU speak it as a second language, it would be an opportunity to adopt a radical, pronunciation-based spelling system. It would massively simplify efforts to learn it, and if it works well enough, it could spread outside the EU as well. It would be ironic if the deliverance of English from its broken ortography would come from the EU. [0] https://eca.europa.eu/other%20publications/en_terminology_publication/en_terminology_publication.pdf https://eca.europa.eu/other%20publications/en_terminology_pu... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Blue-backed_speller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Blue-backed_spell...
Foobar8568 4y ago
Most Swiss people don't speak two of their official language
- kuboble 4y ago
  Most swiss I met do. It feels like a random non-educated person in the city speaks at least German and French. Any person working is services like a supermarket cashier normally speaks 3+ languages (which you know as they usually are indicated on their badges).
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  What I found was that they often did but wouldn't claim to speak it. As in couldn't discuss literature or hold a job in language X but fluent enough that they had no issues reading directions or interacting with locals.

samus 4y ago

I can understands some of the merits of adopting Latin, but maybe forking English would be enough. The EU is already publishing guidelines about correct English usage[0]. Dropping these and formalizing something else, as the Americans have done thanks to Noah Webster's efforts[1], would be enough to complete the split. Edit: since most English speakers in the EU speak it as a second language, it would be an opportunity to adopt a radical, pronunciation-based spelling system. It would massively simplify efforts to learn it, and if it works well enough, it could spread outside the EU as well. It would be ironic if the deliverance of English from its broken ortography would come from the EU. [0] https://eca.europa.eu/other%20publications/en_terminology_publication/en_terminology_publication.pdf https://eca.europa.eu/other%20publications/en_terminology_pu... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Blue-backed_speller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Blue-backed_spell...

Foobar8568 4y ago

Most Swiss people don't speak two of their official language

kuboble 4y ago
Most swiss I met do. It feels like a random non-educated person in the city speaks at least German and French. Any person working is services like a supermarket cashier normally speaks 3+ languages (which you know as they usually are indicated on their badges).
908B64B197 4y ago
What I found was that they often did but wouldn't claim to speak it. As in couldn't discuss literature or hold a job in language X but fluent enough that they had no issues reading directions or interacting with locals.