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Which language would be the best international language?
Does the language have a more precise vocabulary? Is it easier to learn than English? If you think it's English, then why?
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I don't know about you but I am getting really irritated by the way so many people are not bothering to read or reply to the question and babble on about something related but different. Your question is clear, why not answer it?
Anyway, the current international standard seems to be English; and, it has a lot going for it. English has a huge, rich vocabulary. It is completely up to date in all technical and scientific fields as the leaders in those fields have been using it. It has an enormous, rich, literature. However, it does have the baggage that comes with such a long and widespread history: difficult and unpredictable grammar and spelling.
Politics aside, the only competition would be from a purpose-built international language. The one which has stood the test of time is Esperanto. It's strengths and weaknesses are the reverse of those of English. It has logical, predictable, easy grammar and spelling. However, it is not widely used except by enthusiasts and hardly any literature is native to the language (although a lot has been translated).
Esperanto sites are a good place to find discussions of your particular question, as anyone who likes Esperanto is interested in the debate about a best international language. They have their own flag, by the way:
Anyway, the current international standard seems to be English; and, it has a lot going for it. English has a huge, rich vocabulary. It is completely up to date in all technical and scientific fields as the leaders in those fields have been using it. It has an enormous, rich, literature. However, it does have the baggage that comes with such a long and widespread history: difficult and unpredictable grammar and spelling.
Politics aside, the only competition would be from a purpose-built international language. The one which has stood the test of time is Esperanto. It's strengths and weaknesses are the reverse of those of English. It has logical, predictable, easy grammar and spelling. However, it is not widely used except by enthusiasts and hardly any literature is native to the language (although a lot has been translated).
Esperanto sites are a good place to find discussions of your particular question, as anyone who likes Esperanto is interested in the debate about a best international language. They have their own flag, by the way:
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Although I think that several languages which are more difficult to learn than Esperanto tend to give more ways to express yourself. You've got a point in that Esperanto is a language designed with a very specific purpose.
I believe it would be English, as it's spoken many places, and taught in many countries. It's native in the US, Australia, and UK, as well as various areas in Canada. International English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English
English is the official language of aviation.
French is the language of diplomacy.
C++ is the language of geeks.
French is the language of diplomacy.
C++ is the language of geeks.
I think it would be English, even though our spelling is wacko and our grammar ditto. Other languages are either inflected (many Asian languages) that can make it possible to make a major gaff just because you have the hiccups--saying "My horse" instead of "My mother" (Chinese) or "My corn" (Vietnamese).
English has also borrowed extensively from other languages, from early Celtic to Latin to middle German to French to various Native American languages, and that process shows no sign of stopping, thanks to British colonization all over the world. This means that many speakers of other languages will find at least something in English they can get a handle on.
I would love to say French, because it's much more regular in spelling and grammar, and it is also widely spoken in former French colonies. But its vocabulary is much smaller because it has not done as much borrowing--especially after its Language Congress started regulating it many generations ago.
And then, music is supposed to be the universal language...but try writing a legal contract in Opera...or heavy metal. Or Bob Dylan. Could make for really fun courtroom scenes.
English has also borrowed extensively from other languages, from early Celtic to Latin to middle German to French to various Native American languages, and that process shows no sign of stopping, thanks to British colonization all over the world. This means that many speakers of other languages will find at least something in English they can get a handle on.
I would love to say French, because it's much more regular in spelling and grammar, and it is also widely spoken in former French colonies. But its vocabulary is much smaller because it has not done as much borrowing--especially after its Language Congress started regulating it many generations ago.
And then, music is supposed to be the universal language...but try writing a legal contract in Opera...or heavy metal. Or Bob Dylan. Could make for really fun courtroom scenes.
For my graduate work I had to learn to read in 7 languages (including Latin) and speak three; since then I've added two spoken languages.
unfortunately, it's getting increasingly difficult to find native speakers. I know only four people who learned Yiddish as their first language and learned it from parents who were native speakers, too. And three of them are way beyond 70 years old. Interesting: one of them is a rare example of a non-jewish native Yiddish speaker. She grew up in a village with a jewish majority where Yiddish was the predominant language.
ENGLISH. I don't know if it's the best international language (sometimes I think German would be more precise, Arabic would be richer in romantic or curse vocabulary and there are things that can only be expressed in Mandarin...) , but English is definitely the one most likely to be accepted as the most universal and widespread language.
One important reason: Already for some time, non-native English-speakers vastly outnumber native English-speakers. Therefore, English is the first and only language that is being spoken by more people as a second than a first. This is remarkable. The inventors of Esperanto were dreaming about such a widespread acceptance, but with English, it's a reality.
One important reason: Already for some time, non-native English-speakers vastly outnumber native English-speakers. Therefore, English is the first and only language that is being spoken by more people as a second than a first. This is remarkable. The inventors of Esperanto were dreaming about such a widespread acceptance, but with English, it's a reality.
source(s):
Interesting Article about how nowadays' English is increasingly shaped by non-native speakers: http://www.newsweek.com/id/49079
Interesting Article about how nowadays' English is increasingly shaped by non-native speakers: http://www.newsweek.com/id/49079
If you already speak English, I would recommend learning Chinese. In my experience working for two massively international companies, most folks will have one or the other as a second (or third) language.
source(s):
Personal Experience
Personal Experience
I would say English just because the US is currently the world's most major superpower. But it's more than that. I think the fact that we use the same alphabet as most of the major languages around the world makes a huge difference. No special hardware is required to type English in pretty much every country.
For now it's English, although it may be Chinese in the future. Think of all the interesting places around the world that you can travel to and speak English and be understood. South Africa, India, Australia, Belize, Texas.
The most commonly used language is Mandarin. It has the most precise vocabulary, and, although people think it has a complex grammar, it actually is just the opposite - it has no grammar at all.
The only problem is that it's a pain in the *** to learn.
The most commonly used language when dealing with matters of science and diplomacy internationally is French.
The only problem is that it's a pain in the *** to learn.
The most commonly used language when dealing with matters of science and diplomacy internationally is French.
Your question is "which language would be the best" and that's slightly loaded. I'm not an expert on the design of languages so I can not tell you which is the easiest to learn and why.
However, I've been to 15-20 countries in the last three or four years and I can tell you that almost every country I've gone to the standard language of business was english. In Japan, China, Greece, and Korea for example, I didn't need a translator except in rare circumstances.
In many countries english is being taught in schools at a young age, and with the spread of english-based websites, you're going to see a large percentage of people under the age of 30 being able to speak english.
Pop culture such as movies, music, and magazine are also pushing this trend.
That being said, the population of China is much larger than that of America--in fact all countries--so it will remain a powerful language for some time to come.
It's my belief that in another 50 years the majority of the planet will speak english.
The Wikipedia has a list of english speaking countries by %:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population
This graph shows: "Percentage of the population with a knowledge of English"
However, I've been to 15-20 countries in the last three or four years and I can tell you that almost every country I've gone to the standard language of business was english. In Japan, China, Greece, and Korea for example, I didn't need a translator except in rare circumstances.
In many countries english is being taught in schools at a young age, and with the spread of english-based websites, you're going to see a large percentage of people under the age of 30 being able to speak english.
Pop culture such as movies, music, and magazine are also pushing this trend.
That being said, the population of China is much larger than that of America--in fact all countries--so it will remain a powerful language for some time to come.
It's my belief that in another 50 years the majority of the planet will speak english.
The Wikipedia has a list of english speaking countries by %:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population
This graph shows: "Percentage of the population with a knowledge of English"
While English is currently used in many countries, I believe Latin would be the best international language. Most of the English language are based on Latin and Latin is a sort of scientific language because it is used by many scientists. For instance, the scientific names of animals are literal in latin. For this reason, I believe that latin is a better language than English, which would be my second choice.
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