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The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it. I remember usenet, I kno of geocities. You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Amer

The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it. I remember usenet, I kno of geocities. You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, some of the better I've encountered are not. Tbh, I'm bored with an American centric point of view. I consume a lot of culture tho. Which is my next point. The Internet isn't the first translated thing. You said countries should focus on their own language but that's absolutely bs. As if you've never read something originally written in another language. I kno a fair amount of Latin from my exposure to the stuff written during the era when all intellectuals had to know Latin or Greek - should we do that again? That was nice and uniform for the Western World at least. For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. I watched Three Kingdoms and the Qin Dynasty series and the Kings War - that's over 350 hour long episodes of Chinese history I've now seen - I only knew Three Kingdoms before hand. So you are wrong about that also. Additionally, I'm developing an appreciation for Mandarin itself, as far a language goes it seems to be as expressive as English and the Chinese speak in idioms just like Americans but obviously different idioms, so I now also understand that to truly appreciate Chinese content, just like American content, I do need to know the language it was made in. Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country, it's why we have no official language now. So I disagree with direct correlation of language and culture - it's often related but not always and English is an exception as today we live in a world where English is often used by people from countries that do not speak English to do business with other countries that do not speak English.

epoxia 2y ago
The "factoid" about the German vote is false. It was a vote to adjourn the discussion. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/
stonesthrowaway 2y ago
> The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it No it's not. > You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, Until fairly recently, almost everyone ( not just english speakers ) were american. > For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. The vast majority of the global population does not speak or understand english. It's strange how people with agenda make shit up. You write like a journalist. Also, what does this have anything to do with chinese people learning english? Surely chinese people can appreciate chinese culture in their own language? > Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country Dumbest thing I've ever read. A simple search shows it is dumb myth. Are you even american? > it's why we have no official language now. We have no official language because all the original 13 colonies were british colonies populated predominantly by british peoples - english, scots, irish. There was no need for it because everyone spoke english. All the documents were written in english. What language do you think the declaration of independence was written in? It's remarkable how stupid some people on hacker news truly are. Imagine being stupid enough to believe 13 british colonies would get together and make german the national language. Especially when there were anti-german sentiment during the 1700s.
- justinclift 2y ago
  > Until fairly recently What do you call "fairly recently"? Plenty of non-Americans have been on the internet before 2000, many even from the early 1990s though I'm not sure how much earlier than that had widespread non-US usage.
- OKRainbowKid 2y ago
  People would be more inclined to consider your points if you weren't so toxic about it.

epoxia 2y ago

The "factoid" about the German vote is false. It was a vote to adjourn the discussion. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/

stonesthrowaway 2y ago

> The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it No it's not. > You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, Until fairly recently, almost everyone ( not just english speakers ) were american. > For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. The vast majority of the global population does not speak or understand english. It's strange how people with agenda make shit up. You write like a journalist. Also, what does this have anything to do with chinese people learning english? Surely chinese people can appreciate chinese culture in their own language? > Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country Dumbest thing I've ever read. A simple search shows it is dumb myth. Are you even american? > it's why we have no official language now. We have no official language because all the original 13 colonies were british colonies populated predominantly by british peoples - english, scots, irish. There was no need for it because everyone spoke english. All the documents were written in english. What language do you think the declaration of independence was written in? It's remarkable how stupid some people on hacker news truly are. Imagine being stupid enough to believe 13 british colonies would get together and make german the national language. Especially when there were anti-german sentiment during the 1700s.

justinclift 2y ago
> Until fairly recently What do you call "fairly recently"? Plenty of non-Americans have been on the internet before 2000, many even from the early 1990s though I'm not sure how much earlier than that had widespread non-US usage.
OKRainbowKid 2y ago
People would be more inclined to consider your points if you weren't so toxic about it.