Worldwide Common Language

[Brickjectivity]

Would it make a difference?

What language would stick the longest and be the most universal?

Why should/shouldn't we promote a worldwide language?

How should it be chosen?

 

[Polymath257]

Esperanto.

 

[Revoltingest]

Esperanto.

Tried, but never caught on.
I recommend Revoltistanian.
(It's remarkably similar to English.)

 

[joe1776]

We have a common language in progress. English and American imperialism, and Christian missionary work from those two countries, have spread the English language worldwide.

It has been the only positive result of those two efforts, IMO.

 

[ChristineM]

Would it make a difference?

What language would stick the longest and be the most universal?

Why should/shouldn't we promote a worldwide language?

How should it be chosen?

French was the common language of international liaison between government and diplomacy. Now French still plays an important role but English has taken over.

English is also the language of the air and sea. Since 2008 international pilots and tower staff must speak english in a measure to improve safety. Likewise the common language of shipping (seaspeak) is based on english.

I guess if an international language is chosen it should follow what already exists for safety reasons.

 

[ChristineM]

Tried, but never caught on.
I recommend Revoltistanian.
(It's remarkably similar to English.)

Too many 'Jocks', 'Jimmies' and 'Stitch this'

 

[Polymath257]

Tried, but never caught on.
I recommend Revoltistanian.
(It's remarkably similar to English.)

And English is remarkably close to being a universal language. That may change as the US loses some of its influence. Perhaps Mandarin will replace it.

 

[Polymath257]

French was the common language of international liaison between government and diplomacy. Now French still plays an important role but English has taken over.

English is also the language of the air and sea. Since 2008 international pilots and tower staff must speak english in a measure to improve safety. Likewise the common language of shipping (seaspeak) is based on english.

I guess if an international language is chosen it should follow what already exists for safety reasons.

Good points. Now, if we could only get the US to go metric....

 

[Revoltingest]

And English is remarkably close to being a universal language. That may change as the US loses some of its influence. Perhaps Mandarin will replace it.

Bu shi!

 

[Revoltingest]

Good points. Now, if we could only get the US to go metric....

And give up simple measurements like foot candles per furlong?
Never!

 

[Brickjectivity]

Esperanto.

A good start!

It is designed to be easy for Europeans; but for some reason it has not taken off despite being around for a century and a half There is not a lot of literature in it. It wasn't offered in my schools. I like that it doesn't require memorizing le and la forms for every noun, but Russian also has that feature as do several other languages.

I mean its great that its easy, but not many people use it. If that never changes then it can't be the worldwide language.

We have a common language in progress. English and American imperialism, and Christian missionary work from those two countries, have spread the English language worldwide.

The only positive result of those two efforts, IMO.

Unfortunately a lot of people hate English. Many learn it, because its required for business. They don't learn it well usually and prefer some sort of a creole. The spelling is challenging, and native speakers are picky. Its hard to speak without an accent. Maybe this is why it hasn't caught on everywhere? Look at all the Spanish speaking people in the USA. They haven't learned English. Why? They must not like it. Like many other languages it seems like it can't fill the bill for a permanent worldwide language.

 

[BSM1]

French was the common language of international liaison between government and diplomacy. Now French still plays an important role but English has taken over.

English is also the language of the air and sea. Since 2008 international pilots and tower staff must speak english in a measure to improve safety. Likewise the common language of shipping (seaspeak) is based on english.

I guess if an international language is chosen it should follow what already exists for safety reasons.

Beat me to it! As an aside, when we operated with NATO ships in the Med everyone was required to use English for radio transmission. Oy Vey, talk about a Chinese Fire Drill!

 

[Brickjectivity]

French was the common language of international liaison between government and diplomacy. Now French still plays an important role but English has taken over.

English is also the language of the air and sea. Since 2008 international pilots and tower staff must speak english in a measure to improve safety. Likewise the common language of shipping (seaspeak) is based on english.

I guess if an international language is chosen it should follow what already exists for safety reasons.

French is a good entry, but it requires all of that le and la memorization. Its very pretty, but it doesn't offer a lot of ease compared to English, so how can it replace it? It is an old language, and many masterful works are written in it and much poetry; so people would benefit from learning it for that reason. It hasn't spread as well as some easier languages, and its notoriously difficult for some people to pronounce.

 

[Revoltingest]

A good start!

It is designed to be easy for Europeans; but for some reason it has not taken off despite being around for a century and a half There is not a lot of literature in it. It wasn't offered in my schools. I like that it doesn't require memorizing le and la forms for every noun, but Russian also has that feature as do several other languages.

I mean its great that its easy, but not many people use it. If that never changes then it can't be the worldwide language.



Unfortunately a lot of people hate English. Many learn it, because its required for business. They don't learn it well usually and prefer some sort of a creole. The spelling is challenging, and native speakers are picky. Its hard to speak without an accent. Maybe this is why it hasn't caught on everywhere? Look at all the Spanish speaking people in the USA. They haven't learned English. Why? They must not like it. Like many other languages it seems like it can't fill the bill for a permanent worldwide language.

Rather than introducing a whole new language, just alter English to simply it.
Notice that I use "thru" instead of "through"?

 

[Brickjectivity]

Rather than introducing a whole new language, just alter English to simply it.
Notice that I use "thru" instead of "through"?

You might be joking, but people are already doing that internationally. Its the creole I was talking about, which people here in the USA probably wouldn't understand if we heard it.

 

[Polymath257]

French is a good entry, but it requires all of that le and la memorization. Its very pretty, but it doesn't offer a lot of ease compared to English, so how can it replace it? It is an old language, and many masterful works are written in it and much poetry; so people would benefit from learning it for that reason. It hasn't spread as well as some easier languages, and its notoriously difficult for some people to pronounce.

Mandarin actually has a lot in favor of it, especially if the written form is pinyin. It has a large population base and literature already, a long history, rather simple conjugation of verbs (as far as I can see....still learning it). The main difficulty is the character set, which is relieved by the use of pinyin.

 

[ChristineM]

Good points. Now, if we could only get the US to go metric....

Only if you believe in miracles

 

[joe1776]

Rather than introducing a whole new language, just alter English to simply it.
Notice that I use "thru" instead of "through"?

For starters, we shouldn't need a pronunciation guide in the dictionary. The sounds should have consistent spellings. We'll need a Spelling Czar to invent and enforce Simple Spelling.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Mandarin actually has a lot in favor of it, especially if the written form is pinyin. It has a large population base and literature already, a long history, rather simple conjugation of verbs (as far as I can see....still learning it). The main difficulty is the character set, which is relieved by the use of pinyin.

I agree the spoken language is easy. The concept of the Chinese letters is interesting, but nobody wants to learn pinyin. Its like tangerines versus oranges. "I will learn the second-best way to write Mandarin, so that I can almost say that I know Mandarin." Its like two stage language. When I think about learning Mandarin I want to skip the pinyin.

 

[ChristineM]

French is a good entry, but it requires all of that le and la memorization. Its very pretty, but it doesn't offer a lot of ease compared to English, so how can it replace it? It is an old language, and many masterful works are written in it and much poetry; so people would benefit from learning it for that reason. It hasn't spread as well as some easier languages, and its notoriously difficult for some people to pronounce.

French has almost half a billion speakers, is really quite easy for english speakers considering over 40,000 english words are french or derived from french.

When the NY times regularly uses less than 1000 words in its publication you can be quite confident that you already know enough french to communicate.

Assuming of course you learn the basic inflection first and can speak through your nose

As for pronunciation, try it with a Lancashire accent