Spanish (and other languages.)
I have always wondered, as an English-speaker born in Australia. Do students learn English because of the American influence or do some learn to visit countries such as England, Australia, New Zealand, etc? And if with that American influence, will languages (such as Spanish) progressively die because of the advance in technology and communication? I could not imagine a more boring world where one language is spoken, although it would be vastly easier to complete tasks.
Someone enlighten me!
3 Answers
People learning English probably started during the expansion of the British Empire. America (the US) probably has a big influence now on the rest of the world and so does the English language. English is a very easy language to use (if not learn) and is understood even if spoken very poorly. Spanish is a widely spoken language and has some of the advantages of English. It's always good for you and the world if you try to learn at least one other language besides the one you speak. Some languages will die out, and you can always google something like languages becoming extinct to see what they are. No matter how young you are, you won't see the world speaking one language in your lifetime.
I hope this helps a little. Try to explore world literature and you will see why so many languages will hang around for a long time.
Many years ago there was an attempt to introduce a universal language that everybody would be encouraged to learn, infact the idea was that they would have to speak it..it was called Esperanto and from what I can gather (understand) ..it was a huge flop/disaster! It was like a wet blanket or a plane without wings...it just didn't take off! lol
As for Spanish dying out?! Well, certainly not in my lifetime and I hope it never ever dies out ! It is, and still remains, one of the most popular European languages in the world....... I think second only to Chinese but that may simply be due to the large numbers of Chinese people living in China who speak one of the two principal dialects of Mandarin or Cantonese!
Top 3 langauges in the world:
1 Chinese
2.Spanish
3.English
I have learnt English because my parents are British and so it is their mother tongue, but also because I have lived in England for most of my life, (I was born in Peru and spent the first 18 monthsof my life in Lima) so learning British English was essential for me, but there are noticeable variations in how English is spoken throughout the world, eg Australia, USA, New Zealand and South Africa; to name but a few!
American English is much more informal than British English and for this reason many people, especially Spanish speaking natives, can experience varying degrees of difficulty in adjusting to the variations between the informal styles of English spoken in USA and the more formal style in England...which can be very confusing for them!
British people have a reputation (which is partly well-deserved) for being lazy and disinterested (to the point of apathy and arrogance) in learning a second language. I think this attitude was more common when Britian was an empire. After all, If everyone speaks English, was the attitude, why should I need to learn/bother to learn another language?!
I think this mentality (attitude) has changed over the years and I meet far more children and young people who not only positively enjoy learning other languages but show an aptitude for doing so!
I know that in Spain and France learning a second language is compulsory, and while I would prefer people to learn a scond language from choice..there is still something to be said for making learning a second language compulsory! (mandatory!) After all , if Britian wants to succeed in trading/doing business with other countries, more people need to recognize the central importance of speaking other world languages, apart from just English! If the English langauge were to ever lose its dominant position in the world, many British people could end up being considerably isolated if they have made little effort to learn another European or world language!
As Latin was the lingua franca of the ancient Roman empire due as always to conquest but particularly business and thus affecting culture, so, at present, English is the language of business in the modern world.
As Jubilado points out there are obvious historical reasons hence the reference to Rome
No doubt this is on the cusp of changing. My bet is Chinese will be the next lingua franca.
By "lingua franca" I mean not only is it a business language as one would expect but also a "bridge" language so that two people who have different native languages will use the most "universal" language, currently, English to get their message across.
An interesting by-product of this is that there is a third kind of English out there spoken and written by people whose mother tongue is not English
That does not imply that languages like Spanish or English will die out but that, as usual, the predominant economy and thus forceful political entity will prevail and establish the new lingua franca over time.
