4 ms·
Can't the same argument be made of almost any language unless you live in a bilingual neighborhood?
by shaneoh 3y ago
Can't the same argument be made of almost any language unless you live in a bilingual neighborhood?
- nonethewiser 3y agoNo because English is the de-facto language for trade.
- shaneoh 3y agoFair point, but I meant for English-native speakers in this context.
- rcme 3y agoYes, which is why most languages are only spoken by native speaker.
- jeroenhd 3y ago"unless you live in a bilingual neighborhood" is key here. Many countries across the world teach English as a second language and in western trade it's the lingua franca. Mandarin is spoken in various countries, but many of the Mandarin-speaking countries also have English as a common second language. Going by [this list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_num...), you can see how if you want to expand your reach, some languages make more sense to learn than others.
- naniwaduni 3y agoFunctionally bilingual neighborhoods are, in fact, quite common.